Floridianson

What truck do you have. The plate on the 915 is different than on the 818.
We have a small pull and big pull leaver. Not the swing trap door style.

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James
1 Bobbed 5 ton with lockers in rear and W/W
30 Outher Military Trucks
4 Military Cranes
3 Military semitrailers
2 Military expandable semitrailers
3 military gens. 3k 5k 10k
And storage of to many Military parts that it might be a sin.

jimk

Usually the handle needs to go past the safety catch then lifted to hook on the edge of the opening. It helps to keep the 5th wheel surface greased. A dry 5th wheel can also cause erratic/dangerous steering behavior (ex-understeer snaps to oversteer).

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MVPA 34662, NRA Life member

Glen Donnach

Thanks for all the tips. I removed a bunch of built up gunk, oiled and greased everything, raised the trailer just a tad, and it worked first time. I think it was a combination of many things but the gunk buildup and very little grease kept it from working correctly. I have not owned the truck very long and I should have done that first thing. Thanks to everyone for the wisdom. If you ever get stuck in Mid Missouri, and need a favor, keep me in mind.

fasttruck

In snow season keep the tractor under a trailer or cover the fifth wheel jaw with something to keep snow out of the jaw. The presense of snow in the jaw could resujlt in a false lock up of the jaw with the subsequent release of the trailer at speed. Very embarassing: landing gear fold up, air and electric lines break; try and figure out how to raise the trailer top recover it etc. If the combo was last moving forward the king pin will be in the rear of the jaw which puits pressure on the latch and makes uncoupling difficult. As others have suggested backing up to get the pin in the front of the jaw will usually solve the problem. You are allowed 1/2" slack in the jaw.

Stan

No daylight between the fifth wheel and the trailer.

Old Lincoln County Iron

Have any of you all used Lucas 5th wheel and slider lubricant? Just curious I haven't found anyone thats using it, to get thier input on it. Thanks!

powerhouseduece

I had similar issues with the 5th wheel on my m818. The truck has the m915 style 5th wheel on it when I got it. My problem was when trying to unhook from my m127a2c, I had to leave the trailer brakes hooked up (air/hydro brakes) and have someone pull the latch handle while I backed up a little bit causing the jaws to release. I would then pull forward a inch or 2, unhook the air lines and pull out. After all that I decided to pull the 5th wheel off and bob it