Increased Chucking of 5th Wheel Trailer After Installing Curt Q16 5th Wheel Trailer Hitch

Question:

I purchased a new curt Q16k hitch it has excessive chuck in king pin hole at least 1/4 inch. trailer is new also. My old slide bar never had this problem. If there is not a adjustment, what then.

asked by: Jon

Expert Reply:

It is a little strange that you are experiencing more chucking with a cushioned dual-jaw hitch that you were with a slide bar hitch with an non-cushioned head. But it could be because the head of the Q16 pivots on a large pin and could be moving a little bit back and forth causing the issues. But there are other things to check just to be sure.

If the jaw is not closed and locked all the way or if you are high hitched then it would have that symptom but then again the trailer would also come uncoupled which is an even bigger problem.

If the jaws are not closing all the way then they may need to be lubricated. I have included a link to the manual for the Q16 hitch. The maintenance section explains where to lubricate the hitch.

You would know you are high hitched if the jaws are not wrapped around that narrower part of the king pin.

If the issue is that it is moving slightly along that pin there really isn't a fix for that. If you can manually move the head forward and back (would still take some strength for a person to do it) then that is what is going on.

expert reply by: Michael H