Unhitching the CT prior to setting up - Pro's and Cons

[muzza01]

Unless doing an single overnighter, I normally unhitch the CT from the tug and chock the wheels. I used to wind down the four stabiliser legs but now I don't bother unless on in level ground.

I was speaking to some other campers with rear fold hard floor CT's recently and they said that they rarely unhook the CT unless they need the tug to go somewhere.

So question is, if you don't need to use the tug and the ground is reasonably level, why unhitch?

Next question is, how often do you use your stabiliser legs?

[chester ver2.0]

I wont unhitch for an overnighter but will use the jockey wheel and front stabiliser legs for stability or else there is to much movement when i roll over or move in the bed

[wilson79]

on my old soft floor  (home made job) I rarely unhitched, but if I did unhitch I needed the stabilizers ( old car stands that I used to throw under) on the rear as it could tip if someone lent on the tailgate while it was opened. I never had anything on the front just the jockey wheel..

[GraemeL]

I suppose it depends where you are, If you would be blocking others then you would unhitch. But if there was plenty of room and you don't need the tug, provided your camper is stable enough.

There are different views for different situations...

Some believe it is better to have the tug hitched in case of an emergency, it means saving a little time if you need to pack up in a hurry.

But if it was a life threatening situation, it may be better to have the tug unhitched, this way, there is no time required to vacate and you simply leave the camper/van behind.

I prefer to leave mine hitched, but with the chains off, if it meant we had to leave the camper, it is only a matter of pulling a pin, from the tow bar.
If we had time to pack up the camper, I would have time to put the chains back on there and then, or further away if needed.

[Traveller]

Like GraemeL said, as long as we are not blocking anyone, for an overnighter we leave the trailer hitched. We don't have stabiliser legs, but I do wind down the jockey wheel to take the strain off the back of the tug.

The only time this caught us out was a trip from home, up through Tibooburra, the Santos roads, Dig Tree, camped beside the Arrabury Road, into Welford NP, and finally arrived in Blackall. Hadn't had taken the trailer off once, but as we had propped in the caravan park, I needed to drop it off now.

This is where the fun started. I half heartedly backed the trailer into our spot (was turning in from blind side for some strange reason) and decided that instead of shuffling it around with the tug, I would drop it off and line it up by hand. Dropped the chains and cables and then went to pull the pin out of the Treg, No luck. Took out the WD40 and gave it a good spray, still no luck. It must have been a bit slack in Blackall that day because by now there was a good crowd gathering with chairs and beers to watch. Of course this didn't help my temperament one bit (I still think I was robbed in those anger management classes). Took to the pin with all my strength, crowd cheering, only to see the pin laugh at my efforts. Thinking, thinking, right I will drop the tongue out of the tow bar. This is met with a general murmur of approval and the hiss of another couple of stubbies being opened. Murphy had struck again as I had the tug swung around so far that the tongue wouldn't let go. A general moan escaped from the crowd. No problems, chock the trailer up with the handbrake on and slowly drive forward. I could tell from the sudden start of a Mexican Wave in the crowd that this had been successful. A bit of pushing of the trailer and we were set for the night. The crowd, now robbed of the free entertainment, slowly drifted back to their own vans.

To get the pin out of the hitch, I swung the coupling over 180 and sprayed a lot of WD40 in from the other end and let it soak while we went into town. On return I took out the trusty tent peg alignment tool No.1 (a mash hammer) and gave it a couple of love taps. With a lot of twisting, a fair bit of sweat, and a muttered profanity or two, it finally came free. There had been enough dust and fine grit drop down between pin and hole liner that the WD40 wasn't able to penetrate the mixture by more than half an inch.

All this drama could have been avoided by taking the pin out every day or two, give it a quick wipe and slide it back home, a procedure I have adopted ever since and highly recommend.

[KingBilly]

Leaving it hitched may restrict access to fridge in back of tug?  Can't think of any other negatives.

KB

[bully]

We never un hitch unless we need to go somewhere. Main reason is I have solar panels mounted on the tug and movable panels connected to the other ones, then it all charges the camper when all hooked together. Also when we go camping the rule normally is if the sun is up the beers are on

[Marcus73]

Leaving it hitched may restrict access to fridge in back of tug?  Can't think of any other negatives.

KB

But that is one very big negative, hence why I've always unhitched and moved my car closer to my chair


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[Banjo16]

Have had one trip in our new hard floor,just assumed it was best to unhook as the tug would be needed.
We were on a slight downslope so I went overboard,handbrake on hard,wheels chocked and all 4 stabiliser legs down. Still my better half was concerned as she thought the fence before the drop to the ocean did not look strong enough to stop us.

Guess what, nothing happened but we had a great time.

[bobnrob]

Would leave it hooked up for overnighters like others have written, but when camping, we always unhook.
After setup, we go collecting firewood, and we like to explore the area

[SteveandViv]

I like to wind down the Jocky to help take the load off the rear springs as well. Only do that for a one righter and yes it does restrict some access to the rear of the 4WD but over all it takes it nice and easy to get away the next day.

[weeds]

Always unhitch........


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[Redcherokee]

If in doubt, unhitch.  Once ours is set up it is close to impossible to get to the back legs to adjust them to get it nicely level. 

[NewieCamper]

We havent had many single night stays since getting the camper, but overall I find unhooking easier to unload the car and move around the camper. It gets old pretty quickly stepping up and over the draw bar for every lap of the camper. If we do a big trip with more single night stays that might change.

Also lining up the camper to our current tug is very easy with the reverse camera. There is barely any to and fro lining it up, and very little shoving it around too.

[woolgoolgaoffroad]

I like to wind down the Jocky to help take the load off the rear springs as well. Only do that for a one righter and yes it does restrict some access to the rear of the 4WD but over all it takes it nice and easy to get away the next day.

I agree.....

[nab]

Always unhitch. Then use the Pajero as a wind break/privacy screen. Makes access to the fridge/food much easier.

[ozstickman]

It's like the scrunch or fold question hey!

I'm a unhitcher.


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[Beachman]

We rarely do overnights, so always unhitch as apart from using the car for trips, we always park the car beside the camper for easy access to the fridge.

Mind you the other week I left the trailer attached to the car while I set up the trailer. Stabilisers down and all pegged out nicely. Then I realised I had to unhook the trailer which meant winding up the stabilisers and pull out some pegs to raise the drawbar high enough to get if off the towbar.   

As for stabilisers, I always wind them down as just gives piece of mind especially seeing it only takes 30 seconds per side.

On the rare occasion we have done an overnighter. I have kept it attached the car, but have used the jockey wheel to take a little bit of weight off the car springs. But in this scenario I don’t use the stabilisers.

[HEM19X]

As above, usually unhitch unless overnighting... can certainly relate to Traveller.. had a similar problem at Menindee.. same solution, pull the tow tongue pin & drive forward.. bloody black soil/dust.

[gibbo301]

Unless overnighter with plenty of room i always unhitch can't open large back door of patrol otherwise 

[swanny]

As above, but I don't have any dramas getting into the back of my patrol while still hitched, however I need to drop the passenger side of our stone guard (stone stomper design), which is attached the car.

Swanny

[elle.mac]

With 3 kids in tow we unhitch - never know what they may do so one less thing to worry about.  Also makes it easier to get things out of the Prado.

[ewoksta]

We always unhitch, jockey wheel and 4 stabilisers down. Haven't stayed anything less than 3 night yet so that might change. We also have an awning that comes out over the draw bar and is secured with ropes and pegs. Bit hard to get the ropes and pegs in if the tug is in the way.

Cheers
Andrew

[JCOJ]

We always unhitch.

Often need to get stuff out the back of the 4wd and this just makes it easier.

[Bird]

We always unhitch.

Often need to get stuff out the back of the 4wd and this just makes it easier.

and trailer toolbox, saves jumping over walkin round car 200 times..
just makes life easier.. it only takes 5mins to unhitch. if your putting legs and jockey wheel down, why wouldn't you unhitch if your not unhitching, I wouldn't bother