High Hooked Another Trailer Today...... Had To Do The Crank Of Shame

Well I did it again...... I High hooked another trailer at the same place I did back in January.... I got lined up and stopped before I went under the trailer to double check my alignment of the 5th wheel and the king pin the alignment was good to go; but the gap between the trailer edge and the 5th wheel was just wide enough that the king pin slid right over.....Dough!!!! So I had to crank the trailer up and dump my air bags so the king pin would clear the 5th wheel. It didn't help that my nose was running and I was gagging while I was cranking up the trailer.....and Yes the trailer was loaded....I think from now on when I jump out to check the alignment I'm going to give the landing legs a couple of cranks down just to be on the safe side. The bright side is I didn't slam into the tractor like I did last time.

You need to slow down and start learning from these mistakes, Chris. Twice in about two months? C'mon Man!

Try this:

Don't worry so much about the alignment of the kingpin with the fifth wheel. There's about 14 to 18 inches of play in there to couple. Get it close and the trailer will move some sideways.

Get the rear and front of your truck perfectly straight in relation to the trailer you are grabbing. Use your driver's mirror ONLY. Angle the mirror down enough so you can see the rear set of drives in relation to the trailer as you back up. If these are close to being even spacing with the side of the trailer, you're fine.

Next, back up to where your rear tangs of the fifth wheel are just barely under the trailer, then set the brakes. GOAL and kneel down so you are eye level with the fifth wheel. Is it lower than the bottom of the trailer? If so, lower the trailer slightly.

Get back in, then back up one foot. GOAL it again. The tractor will drop sometimes on gravel lots because of depressions left from previous drivers.

Take mental notes of just how far under the trailer you need to be for the hook up to occur. If you have any lingering feeling that you have backed under it too far, stop immediately, then reassess what action you need to do.

Always have both windows down, radios off, and complete silence while backing so you can also hear what's going on back there. No distractions!

Incidentally, a scrap piece of a 4 X 4 is the perfect thickness for holding the fifth wheel level (in case you ever high hook). It also takes up very little room in the side box. It also can serve as a wheel chock in a pinch.

PackRat you are right! I've got to slow myself down. I've should have anticipated that the yard spotters at this place always drop the trailers high. When I got out to check the alignment my gut told me the trailer looked a little high and I should have lowered it down. I will have another opportunity practice hooking up tomorrow when I drop the one I currently have for an empty-handed one for the next load.

Another thing I thought about for trailers that are low

You have an airbag dump valve switch on your truck?

If so, always figure the trailer will be high, unless you bounce off it with the top 1/4 tread area on your drives.

If you do bump off one that happens to actually be sitting low, then use your dump. Hopefully, that's all you would need to get under it. With the warmer weather coming in a few more months, plan on the trailers sitting lower. Asphalt gets squishy when it gets hot, then add the trailer/cargo weight.

If carry an empty 12 oz drink can or two. If you high hook, stand the drink can under the tail of the fifth wheel. This will hold the fifth wheel level. Should the tail of the fifth wheel come down while getting out from under there you will crush the can and not risk damage to the fifth wheel.

Best prevention is GOAL.

Don't feel bad Chris, I've done twice in a day haha. Long day as you can imagine. Not a huge deal as along as you are not damaging anything. You'll get it all figured out eventually. What Schneider taught me that I always used with the exception of that day I was in a hurry and thought I could eyeball it is the following:

When you back up under the trailer, back up until the hole of the fifth wheel is under nose of the trailer, get out and square your shoulders up towards the fifth wheel, and crank down until the nose of the trailer has made contact with the fifth wheel. Or no daylight showing as Schneider put it.

Recently I started using the back drive tires as my reference. As soon as the nose of the trailer aligns with the back tires I crank down until I can make a fist between the tire and trailer. On ice ill go a fist and a half. Eventually you'll find what works for you. Don't beat yourself up too much.

I was taught to do the fist trick where you lay your fist on top of the rear wheel as it’s under the trailer as your GOAL’in at the coupling and if the fist fits perfectly in between with not too big of a gap at the top of the fist you’re golden.

Hasn’t failed me yet so far.

Chris...take your time. G.O.A.L. when your rear drive tire is just under the trailer.

If it looks like this; too high...

If it looks like this; good to go...

Also I’ve found if you don’t feel the kingpin touch the trailer you may want to double check it.

Also I’ve found if you don’t feel the kingpin touch the trailer you may want to double check it.

Yeah, I think you meant the fifth wheel? The kingpin is an integral part of the trailer.