Shasta hitch - I don't get it

Hi and Welcome,

Jesse notes what I noticed about the clamp being bent upward.

I remember the first time I saw one of those couplers. I scratched my head and asked myself, “How does that work?” They are unusual, but they do work if not bent.

Here is a picture of how the clamp on those is supposed to look when it’s properly engaged.


The two rear slots on the coupler are for the insertion of the two tabs to the rear (left) of the ball clamp. The two tabs or “teeth” fit into those two slots more to the rear (left). Your clamp looks unusually bent to me, though.

The way those clamps work is for you to lift up and pull back on the handle in what I might call an arcing motion. As you left it up the handle, the collar will move backward and slide to the rear (left). That loosens the ball. In the configuration you show in your picture, the collar is down which would lock the ball, but those two tabs need to fit back and into the tow slots for it to be safe and locked. It looks bent.

Here is a related thread, not quite what your looking for, but it may offer some additional information. vintagetrailertalk.freeforums.net/thread/10690/replace-keep-shasta-compact-coupler or vintagetrailertalk.freeforums.net/thread/6247/fix-hitch Both threads mention a replacement kit, I looked several years ago for one of those kits and they were extremely hard to find and were probably no longer manufactured. Today, maybe they are or you would have to look on ebay for one made of unobtainium.

Cheers,
Rod