Disaster avoided

[norty1]

We were camped with a friend a few weeks ago about 100 mile from home and the day before we were to leave he said he was going to lubricate his springs because they were squeaking when he pulled 2 days before.

He was shocked to find that his hitch was held on by a couple of loose bolts and 5 more were broken three more were missing where they were attached to the frame. The reason they were missing was that the frame was torn in half on both sides. If he had pulled that trailer another mile, it would have let go attached to the bumper.

I am going to finish this when I can post some pictures and tell the rest of the story.

[Atlee]

Dang. He was lucky. Hopefully, the fix will be relatively quick and financially relatively painless.

[norty1]

Here are some pictures. He got it repaired at a hitch/welding shop this week for $350. They beefed it up for added strength. He had the factory hitch break last year out west and figures the shop did not bolt it on good. I towed his rig home and drove back to pickup my rig.

Long day.

[norty1]

One more.

This lesson is to inspect your hitch on a regular basis no matter which kind. Especially after someone works on it. If this thing had come loose, the trailer and bumper would have gone who know where and done who knows what damage.

This was a 28' tt and a GMC SUV.

[Rustic Eagle]

That was a good catch...., would have been a disaster had it broken loose while in-tow.

Bob

[BigJohnD]

And that wasn’t even built by lippert. I agree, check your equipment. You never know.

[Tunce the traveler]

Never thought to check that item but I will now. It's just like the bolts that hold the trailer box to the frame, if it wasn't for this forum I would never have thought to check those either or the A/C bolts till it was too late.
Boy I love this place!

[North of 49°]

I knew someone on a different message board that were looking at the underside of their SUV for some reason, and noticed that their hitch was rusty. Not surface rust that you could scrub off with a wire brush and repaint, but crumble-in-your-hand rust.

[JohnWedell]

The breakaway switch is connected to the hitch. I often wondered if it should be connected to the chassis.

[norty1]

Originally Posted by JohnWedell

The breakaway switch is connected to the hitch. I often wondered if it should be connected to the chassis.

Good point. I have thought about that same thing on my fifth wheel.

I have made it a habit to check the pins that hold my hitch to the floor racks after reading about sicko's pulling them or the hitch pin latch at rest areas.

Never had a problem but don't want one.

[Crabman]

Originally Posted by North of 49°

I knew someone on a different message board that were looking at the underside of their SUV for some reason, and noticed that their hitch was rusty. Not surface rust that you could scrub off with a wire brush and repaint, but crumble-in-your-hand rust.

Mine was pretty rusty as well on my previous TV then I switched out.

https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...date-3127.html

[norty1]

Crabman, his OEM looked like your picture. It failed him a couple of years on a trip and was replaced. Only they did not replace all the mounting bolts.

My buddy got it welded and mounted properly with gussets supporting the stress points. He has completed a several hundred mile tow and all is well again.

We are camping with them this weekend and I will try and get some pictures of the repair.

[Marine71-76]

Originally Posted by norty1

after reading about sicko's pulling them or the hitch pin latch at rest areas.

A friend who used to drive semi was aware of pins being pulled on semis. He strongly encouraged us to start putting a padlock on our hitch pin, which we now do. We still walk around the truck/trailer when leaving rest areas or any where we have pulled into & left the unit unsupervised.