Question:
My father has a teardrop trailer he pulls with a Subaru Outback. The
hitch for whatever reason was installed too high to be able to jack the
tongue of the trailer high enough to get it onto the hitch without
lifting. He used to lift it no problem, but has since hurt his back
and is real scared to lift it again. Is there anything that can be
done to rectify this situation such as a longer piece allowing it to be
jacked up higher? I'm a real noob and don't have the trailer in front
of me to look at it, but I plan to stop by there later this evening to
look at it.
Answer:
-Sounds like the easiest solution would be to get a drop hitch. It allows
the trailer tongue, to be hooked up in a lower position. If his trailer
ball "hitch" is attached to a bar going into a receiver under the Outback,
it is a simple thing to go buy a drop hitch and just replace the one on the
Outback.
-You have heard 2 things here, TD and they address two different situations.
If the camper is level when it is on the hitch, than blocks of wood under
the front wheel or jack (or whatever you have that holds if off of the
ground) will 'raise the ground' for it to work better. (I did just this
this past weekend as the angle that the trailer and van were at when I was
to disconnect was such that the wheel did not hit the ground enough [I camp
in odd spots sometimes...], so I put 2 2x4s under it and all was fine)
If the camper is not level when it is on the hitch and is pointing upwards
as it points to the car, then the drop hitch is the way to go and you will
need to measure to get the right one as they come in different 'drops'. The
best thing to do would be to take the Outback and trailer to the parts store
so you can try out a couple to ensure that you get one that makes the
trailer the levelest when hooked up.
2x4s are a handy thing to keep in the camper anyway. You can put them under
the feet if the ground is soft (I use them all the time anyway there), you
can use them to run one wheel up on to level the camper from side to side
(another thing done this weekend), you can use them as wheel chocks, they
can level tables and furniture too. I keep about 10 of them cut maybe a
foot long in the camper. Handy little things.
