Replacement Actuator for Atwood Surge 85778 that Stopped Securing to Hitch Ball

Question:

i have an old trailer with the atwood 85778 hitch. the part of the hitch that couples with the ball on my truck the part that sits down on the ball pivots up and down. you can see from the picture that it can pivot down. i also have a trailer valet xl that i want to use. however, when i hook the valet up to the trailer and try to move it, the hitch pivots down and the valet starts to angle in towards the trailer. the more i try to crank the valet the more extreme the angle becomes. eventually the angle becomes too much and the force of the trailer pressing down on the valet causes the valet to become uncoupled and the trailer drops to the ground. how can i prevent this pivoting in the hitch? or is my hitch broken and need to be replaced? any insight is greatly appreciated.

asked by: Brian M

Expert Reply:

Your coupler is broken and is not latching to your hitch ball. This is somewhat common for the Atwood coupler that you have so it would be time to replace it since there are no repair kits for it either.

The best replacement option we offer for an Atwood Surge Brake Actuator 85778 is the Demco Hydraulic Brake Actuator part # DM62VR. It has the same ball size, offers a bolt-on install, and has a greater capacity.

expert reply by: Jameson C