trucker tools?

It's commonly referred to as a "fifth wheel puller". The better ones can be found at the TA in the shop areas. They run about $15 - $20 for a heavy gauge steel one. They last the longest and are the most durable.

 

Only tip I can think of that would be a little help would be when he's going to drop the trailer to set just the trailer brakes, back into the trailer a bit to take pressure off the kingpin, set the tractor brakes and then try pulling the fifth wheel.

 

Is he putting the landing gear down prior to attempting to pull the 5th wheel? If so tell him not to crank the landing gear all the way down (leave an inch or 2 between landing gear and the ground THEN pull the pin. This won't always make the pin easier to pull, but in my experience it works about 9/10x

 

No a 5th wheel puller is just used to pull the pin on the 5th wheel on the tractor to unlock the kingpin on bottom of trailer).

The tandom puller is used to pull the tandom (moving portion of frame on the back of trailer to simplify things) it has a catch and is spring operated that catches on another portion of the trailer.

5th wheel puller as already posted by Tarps


Tandem Puller (1 of multiple varieties)

 

Tell him to look around on the docks when he is loading or unloading, if they have or had older docks then they probably have something that looks exactly like a fifth wheel puller but might be just a little bit heavier. Could be his for the asking.

 

this should do it