Unhitching caravan troubles

If you had moved the caravan back a little with the car in reverse it would have probably released the hitch I would have thought, had you tried that ?

I didn't try this at the time. Was too flustered at the time and worried if I moved the van I might have caused inadvertent damage.

Sounds like the coupling was under tension.

It can happen - particularly if unhitching on an incline or leveling using the car/ramps. 

When it does, you need to move the van closer to the car by an inch or so closer (not too close as the hitch will naturally extend back out out when you unhook).

Either move the van closer to the car using the mover or the car closer to the van applying the van's handbrake and rolling the car back slightly until you see a slight movement in the hitch bellows.

Another item to check when you have a uncoupling issue is the stabiliser pads,especially the top one.

The top one is fitted with a screw and can foul if the securing section breaks.I had two uncoupling issues,and on the second one,the broken top pad fell out,when coupling released.

It can be awkward to check,as you need a mirror and torch to see up inside.

Firstly well done on reversing out of trouble. Caravanning is a learning for us all so do not worry. As said above the coupling could be under tension, or it could have been under compression. Now your van is unhitched have a look at the bellows on the coupling. When you next park up with the van on the back you wan to get the bellows to look as they are now, by rolling one or the other back or forwards, whichever is the easier. If your coupling is free of wear and tear then this should solve your problem.

Colin

It does sound like tension remained in the system. Sometimes ensuring a direct line through the vehicle tow hitch and A frame helps, something to do with angles of tension I’m told. 

If having problems unhitching, invariably I need to move the car forwards relative to the caravan. Apply the caravan hand break and move forwards 50mm or use the mover to move the caravan backwards.

Exactly! That rubber gaiter needs to be extended, not compressed.

If you were on a downhill slope MikeyA is the correct way the caravan has compressed the gator and the hitch is tight on the towball I put the caravan handbrake on go back  to the car put it in neutral take the car handbrake off and let the car roll forward slightly to take the tension off don't go to far forward or you will extend the hitch to far forward and end up with the hitch locked again which can happen if you stop on a incline in that case you have to reverse the car slightly, the hitch getting locked on is a common problem you will see it often on sites when people arrive and try to unhitch.

Thank you all for your advice, we were on an incline at the time so the hitch would have been on tension. I didn't realise this would have caused the issue. Hopefully I won't need to do this in future.