Shade tree mechanic! Whatcha workin on.

[Resonator]

Hood looks real good from here!

"When ya kinda squint, it looks mint!" (Old car restoration saying).

[TimW]

I found a 14-15 inch crack today on my gooseneck coupler. The scary part is the crack is all rusted. No telling how long it has been cracked. The trailer and coupler was new in 2012. Should I weld it up or replace it?

I am leaning on replacing, as it is a Bull dog coupler. Can I remove the jam nut, unscrew the handle on top and just replace the bottom part? Or will the old one need to be cut out and welded in as a unit?

[doc henderson]

rust alone did not make that crack.  I would remove it and inspect the upper part and if ok replace the bottom.  It looks like it filled with water and froze, and not in the past 6 weeks.      I would be inclined to contact bulldog, and they may be so embarrassed they fix you up.  Or at least they are aware of this failure and can give insight to you, or fix it on their end.  I would look and see if the bottom of the tube is plugged and holding water.  I think the crack is rusted and the rust did not cause the crack.  Sadly, the parts may all be manufactured overseas, and quality is no longer what is used to be.

[doc henderson]

You might look to see if this was a seam in the tube, and therefore a poor-quality material.

[TimW]

Doc,
    What I mean by the crack is rusted means it is old, not a new shiny crack.  Contacting Bulldog might help.
I located a new coupler, but my old one's square sides have rounded a little and wedged into the uppper tube.  The welder that fixed my telehandler is gonna come out and weld it so I can take it to a trailer shop.  I will know when the welder gets here if he can unwedge the lower tube.  Trouble is, the crank on top only turns about a quarter turn and gets hard.  Both directions.  Not sure what way to turn it to unscrew it.

[Hilltop366]

With the crack opened up like that it does look like it had had water in it and froze but could just be tension in the tubing that spread as it cracked.

Stuck a bit by expansion or rust (or both) I would be tempted to crank until it gets resistance and tap down on the foot and see if it drops a bit. Another option would be to hook it up to a hitch and do the same but also crank down the dolly legs a bit (lifting up the trailer) to keep some pressure on it.

Disclaimer: I don't know much about gooseneck hitches but I have plenty of experience with rust and stuck things.

[TimW]

Each side of the lower square tube has expanded and is pressing the upper tube at the center of each side.  Like the lower square tube tried to start ballooning  out inside the square upper tube.

I don't wanna start beating on anything until I know...., 1. We can get it apart.  2. we won't make the coupler messed up enough not be able to hitch and move the trailer to a shop if needed and 3. I strained my wrist last week moving to many 8x8s and 4x4s off of the sawmill and stacking. So it hurts to swing a ball peen or sledge hammer.
The problem really is what way does it unscrew so we can reuse the upper parts again.  I think when we know that, we can heat and bang away on it.
Now hitching up and raising the leg jacks might help hold tension during the wacking.  Good idea.  But then again, I don't wanna strain the jackscrew on the coupler in case I have to use that again.

I know it will be clearer after sleeping on it.

[Resonator]

May have to find another way to lift the front of the trailer up (hydraulic jack, loader, etc.), and block it up to take the weight off the landing gear. If it is like semi trailers, there is a high gear and low gear for cranking the legs down, and there is also a connecting rod between the two leg gearboxes, any of these could cause the jam up. Also rust can build up inside the legs where they telescope. I would try WD40, grease, and hammering to try to free it up.

[doc henderson]

mine on the PJ is square but has pins with a set screw and no jack on the hitch.  could attach it to the ball and put a hi reach jack on dunnage to dissipate the force and try to jack it up and turn at the same time.  I also really like blue creeper for an application like this.  drizzle the penetrant down the screw at the top in case it is also rusted as is likely.

[TimW]

May have to find another way to lift the front of the trailer up (hydraulic jack, loader, etc.), and block it up to take the weight off the landing gear. If it is like semi trailers, there is a high gear and low gear for cranking the legs down, and there is also a connecting rod between the two leg gearboxes, any of these could cause the jam up. Also rust can build up inside the legs where they telescope. I would try WD40, grease, and hammering to try to free it up.

It is not the landing gear jack.  It is the gooseneck hitch coupler.  It has a crank handle to raise or lower the coupler, after loosening the jam bolt.  It is stuck, the crank won't turn and I have no idea which way to force it while banging on it.

[Hilltop366]

My guess is it is standard jack parts, any I have seen is clockwise is lower, if there is any up/down play in the crank shaft it would push the shaft up when trying to lower the stuck leg. I would start with a small hammer.

[TimW]

Where should I start with this hammer?

[Resonator]

OK, different then a semi. The few times I pulled a gooseneck behind a pickup, the one I had did not have a jack in the coupler tube itself. Agree with doc blue creeper would be of help on rusted stuck parts.

[TimW]

When I bought this trailer 12 years ago, it was the first coupler I ever saw that had a jack handle on top.  Probably paid extra for something that never has been used. 

 I can see if you have different pickups with different rear end heights in would come in handy.  Dang thing should have grease fittings on it. ......and drain holes

[YellowHammer]

Replace the whole thing.  Don't try to fix it.  Get it to a shop, safely, have them cut it off and put on a brand new tube and coupler.   It's not cranking, it's got a rusted internal mechanism, and it's a road hazard risk.  In other words, in my opinion, It's done.

I've had trailers come off my truck and it's a bad scene, think of who could be killed if it does.

Cut it off, put on a new one, and get it back on the road safely would be my advice.

[TimW]

That is what I decided to do this evening, YH.  That way any wear from the ball is gone also.
Add a new ball and I will have a tight trailer once again.
Thanks to all who commented!

[barbender]

 Good choice👍