Why is my trailer's jockey wheel so darn hard to wind up?

[Hack4fun]

It does not sound right, particularly if it has been greased. I assume it is stiff without the weight of the trailer on it (and it should not be too stiff with the weight of the trailer as that would overload the towing vehicle). Can you remove the whole thing from the trailer? If is, is it still very stiff? If so, it sounds like it may be bent or have a defective thread. Take it up with the dealer or replace the whole thing.

 

[Keith_Beef]

Take it up with the dealer o̶r̶ ̶r̶e̶p̶l̶a̶c̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶w̶h̶o̶l̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶.

As pointed out in post 16.

 

[JFTDWS]

I quoted the post I was responding to which said it shouldn't be bent it was brand new, I've now clarified what I was saying based on my experiences so there should be no further confusion .

It was perfectly obvious to me that you were referring to the notoriously poor build quality of Equitreks. One good example doesn't negate all the poor ones, or the awful customer service.

 

[Xanthoria]

Well aside from the poor build quality which I will just have to live with as I'm in the US and the dealer is 600+ miles away... I went and looked at the tube for the jockey wheel and it does not appear bent. I will need to disassemble again to check.

I will say the hitch handle part is not one I'm familiar with. It looks just like this, and actually I don't understand what the "- + x" on the side with the three positions is all about? Anyone?

It does sometimes get stuck clamped ON, which needless to say doesn't help with lifting it off the ball, as I am then lifting the truck AND the trailer nose! (but the jockey wheel is still hard to lift - even when not hitched up)

 

[madamebonnie]

Only when the pin is in the green + position is it properly attached to the tow bar. Thats exactly the same as my Cheval. Have you properly winched it all the way up? When I did it with mine it was sat at such an angle to be able to take out the wheel. You couldnt see the thread as that is internal on the shaft.

 

[madamebonnie]

The green + shows when it is properly secured to the tow bar. Exactly the same as my cheval. Have you properly winched it all the way up? Mine sat at quite an angle to be able to take the whole shaft off. Heres the picture of what we found. A broken washer was getting stuck. No wonder it was hard to winch! Cleaned it up, re greased and now you can do it with your little finger!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/HtbpXzCQLoV62LCF3

 

[Xanthoria]

scary!

thanks for the tip on the + sign.... makes sense.