RE: Reese Mini 350 Questions

[Dayton Dave]

 
I have just bought a Reese Mini 350, and I am searching for suggestions to make the install and everyday use easier.  I have searched the forums for posts that talk about it, but have not really found any extra tips.  What is the easiest way to get the " arms"  on the pads?  The instructions say to raise the tow vehicle, but what is the best way to do that.  Looking for experienced folks to speak up.  We are going to put about 1500 miles on over the next week or so, and this should help out a lot from what I have read.
 
 Thanks,  Dave

[MtnCamper]

 Dayton Dave
I had one with my other truck, You got to hook up the ball, then use the jack on the trailer, to lift the rear of the tow vehicle. What it does is raise the hitch point up, both the trailer and tow vehicle about 3 inches or so. Then you hook the arms on the head of the hitch, and lift the pads onto the brackets. I hope that helps. Kind of hard to explain.
 
 Some people (Austin?) put lynx levelers in front of the Tow Vehicle s rear tires, drive up on them, then put the arms on.
 
 When you put the hitch on, make sure you have the correct friction pad on the correct side of the tongue. You can get them reversed. If you do the bars will not stay on when you turn a corner. The dealer had mine reversed, and I fought with that for a couple trips. Took it back and told him to take the whole hitch off. He looked at it, then realized they were backwards. Never had a problem after that.

[6Quigs]

 Dayton Dave
I bought a Reese Mini 350 over a year ago, and installed it myself(with a little help from CWB and from reading here and people s websites).
 I have a description and some photos on my website.
 
 http://the6quigleys.tripod.com/camping/id6.html
 
 To make taking it on and off, it helps if the front of the tow vehicle is lowered, or the rear of the tow vehicle is raised.
 So if you can find any dips or bumps in the road this helps.
 As we leave our street, there is a dip in the road, and we stop when the front tires are in it, jump out, crank on the dolly jack, and install the two sway bars.
 Takes less than 30 seconds, as you don t have to raise the dolly jack as much as if you were on level ground.
 Same when we enter the campground, we are always looking for some speed bump, or dip in the road, stop the van, and the 2 of us jump out, and take them off the same way.
 Good luck,

[AustinBoston]

 Dayton Dave
We use both of the above hookup suggestions, and one more.
 
 To recap: Drop the front of the tow vehicle (in a dip in the road) or raise the rear of the tow vehicle (speed bump, lynx levelers, etc.) to make cranking easier.
 
 The third suggestion, which is our first choice, is the " near jacknife"  approach.  If you have a big parking lot or open area, swing around so that the trailer approaches jacknife.  The inside bar will lift right off, no jacking.  Swing around the other way to remove the other side.  Of course, if there s no handy-dandy open parking lot, we have to use one of the other two methods.
 
 Additional notes:
 
 I have heard from other people (and experienced it myself) that the Mini-350 seems to have a " break-in"  period.  After about 500 miles or so, it may need to be tightened one notch (the square washers on the drawbar/ball assembly have to be rotated so that the spring bars end up applying more pressure).  After that, it should be all set.  If adjusting it during your 1500 mile trip is going to be difficult, you should be able to wait until you get back.
 
 We clean the friction pads from time to time.  The cast gizmo that presses on the pad is painted, and the paint comes off onto the pad.  This reduces the friction between the two, resulting in less sway absorbtion.  Never had a problem with that, though.
 
 Keep your tongue jack in good condition and grease it annually.  You will be loading it close to it s maximum rating.  I didn t, and eventually needed to replace it.  Thankfully, it gave way gently while the ball was still under the coupler. I don t know if greasing it would have prevented the failure, but greasing the new one sure does make it easier to crank under load!
 
 Austin