Troubleshooting Excess Play with Trailer Coupler and Hitch Ball Connection

Published 09/14/2018

Products Featured in This Question

Anti-Rattle Trailer Hitch Receiver Lock for 2" Hitches - 3-1/2" Span

(1793)

$43.19

2-5/16" Hitch Ball - 1-1/4" Diameter x 2-3/4" Long Shank - Chrome - 12,000 lbs

(2635)

$24.74

Question:

There seems to be slop in the coupler/ball department. On rougher roads there is quite a bit of clunking going on. There is no play in the receiver. There seems to be no adjustment to tighten that ball some. Using a 2in ball. Is there anything that can be done short of replacing the coupler?

asked by: Heinz W

Expert Reply:

There will be a little bit of play with any hitch ball and coupler combination just because there needs to be some room for the trailer coupler to rotate, however it sounds like you might be getting a bit more than normal. I recommend first just making sure that you are using a compatible hitch ball size for the coupler on the trailer. Usually the size ball a coupler works with will be stamped underneath the coupler itself. Make sure it is compatible with a 2 inch hitch ball like what you are using and not a larger 2-5/16 inch ball like # 19286.

There are multi-fit couplers available like the Titan # T2343400183 that can be used with multiple ball sizes. These will usually feature a knob style mechanism that is used to tighten the coupler around the ball. If you don't have anything like this on your coupler then there's not much else you can do to tighten the fit with your existing components.

What you might want to do just to test the safety of your current fit is use a jack to lift the nose of your trailer while the coupler is hitched to your tow vehicle. As long as the coupler remains locked to the hitch ball when the jack is raised then you can at least be confident in the security of the attachment.

If you find that a new coupler is needed I have attached a couple links that will take you to our available selection that you can look through. You can filter through the different capacities and styles by using the facets on the page.

expert reply by: Chris R