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Old 08-21-2019, 09:23 AM   #41
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When I took delivery of our new AS, the dealer went over the Blue Ox hitching process so fast, it didn't register so my first experience was a "surprise" but since, I've always adjusted the tongue jack to relieve the tension, hitching and unhitching. I've never had an issue since even with the provided tool. I suppose a breaker bar would make it easier but for me, the tool they supplied is more than enough for me.
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Old 08-21-2019, 09:38 AM   #42
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Spartanguy View Post
Hi everyone, I could and need to post about my recent trip from Colorado to Kentucky, lots to share, but something happened to me tonight that I wanted to get posted. I recently just drove from Grand Junction near the Utah Border to Kentucky and unhitched for the first time since the trip.

I thought I was going to be in the hospital tonight with severely injured hands and broken fingers, but somehow came through with just a cut to my hand.

So, I was unhitching the Blue Ox hitch (the one with the chains). I’ll try to articulate this well enough because I don’t want this happening again. I’m sure it was user error, but can’t quite figure out why this happened.

So again, I’m using the tool to make the half turn required to unhitch the chain, when the chain and “wheel” it sits on slipped with such force it immediately lodged my fingers up into and against the propane cover with my fingers and hand pressed into the cover by the release tool with such force I could not dislodge my fingers from either hand. After a few minutes (maybe seconds, but it felt like minutes) of trying to dislodge my fingers or the force without success I began to yell for help (I’m not at a campground right now or around other experienced campers), fortunately someone from the family shop heard me yelling for help and ran over. I guess the obvious solution at this point would have been to remove the propane cover, but first we tried him assisting by putting force on the tool or trying to slip my fingers loose with no avail. He eventually ran for more help after not being able to instruct him on how to remove the propane cover (this was all happening emergency thinking fast as I think we both thought I was about to lose my fingers) and I was somehow able to dislodge my fingers without any serious injuries while he went for more help.

Any clues on why this happened? Do I have the process wrong? At what step should I release the “sway bars”, while it’s still hitched or after? Could the long trip have played a role? Why does unhitching the blue ox chains happen with such force and seem/is so dangerous? Any guidance appreciated. This hitch is not like the ones I’m familiar with and while people on this forum seem to love it, I just don’t know if it’s safe.Attachment 349465
I have been using Blue Ox for 4 years and nothing like you describe ever happened to me. There isn't enough stored energy to make it work like a sling shot. I find as soon as the chain retainer is rotated past the peak it simply collapses.
It sounds to me you placed the handle on it at the wrong angle not leaving enough room to make the full rotation for release before it wedged your hand against the cover.
Another important point is that the higher you lift the rear end the less tension remains in the spring bar.
With my new UF Phoenix 5500 Jack I can get it up high where I can release all of the tension.
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Old 08-21-2019, 09:40 AM   #43
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wolfwhistle View Post
I’ve used several brands of WDH in several campers and only the BO released with such force it scared me.

I was in a jackknifed position. So one bar had massive tension on it.

The release knob works easily so I’m thinking must not be under static tension.

I was using a socket and breaker bar.

Releasing tension as it spun it flipped the breaker bar off with such force it stuck into the ground an inch from my foot.

Part of the issue was that the clearance in the pocket of the rotary piece wasnt enough for the factory supplied chain. And it could be very difficult to turn. It would catch.

I sold the BO since it didn’t dork for me and have a Hensley now
Clint

Friend of mine with lots of towing experience, decades, had the same happen to him, one side loose, unexpected tension on the other. Busted his big toe. He now has a Propride and reports improvements in his towing stress level. His comment, "it works exactly as advertised".
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Old 08-21-2019, 11:17 AM   #44
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I concur - even though I have a Reese WD and anti-sway hitch - the secret for us has been to extend the tongue jack fairly high (as high as goes) to take all force off the cam arms. I also think important that TV is level with trailer as that dynamic can cause some extra force. The Reese has a tool to release the chain hooks from the cam arm - and to take pressure off safety pin - and raising jack high almost always makes unhooking easy. Of course, after this to release the TV from the coupler - you have to lower much further.
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Old 08-21-2019, 11:30 AM   #45
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Of course the ‘raise the tongue as far as you can’ trick depends on the jack being able to do that easily. Mine seems to be ok doing it, and it’s a lot easier on my WD jacks as well.
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Old 08-21-2019, 12:15 PM   #46
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The Blue Ox supplied tool is "adequate" only for a few people - those who have large, well-callused, non-arthritic hands and have not yet missed the visual cue that the tow vehicle and trailer aren't in a perfectly straight line.

It is safe if it is used perfectly... as are many things. Even if you have used that 2inch wide hunk of steel successfully for years, I beg you to replace it with a breaker bar and socket. It takes one second of distraction to get a serious injury. I AM a 70 year old female with tiny hands... but i have always thought that big beautiful men are even more attractive when they are SMART, too.

I NEVER NEEDED a reserve parachute. Why bother with the extra weight and bulk? (I didn't make that many jumps.) I routinely use seat belts.... and once in the half century that I wore them, I was in a wreck that was not anyone else's fault. I STILL don't know how I got INTO that trouble... but I have actually chosen to go off the pavement and onto the berm at speed twice since then - and have recovered relatively calmly. These incidents were both caused because oblivious drivers in the inside lane were about to become one with my trailer. The seatbelt? I probably would have lived without it at least one of the times.
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Old 08-21-2019, 02:39 PM   #47
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I have a EAZ Lift WD and the same thing. I raise the TV until I can wiggle the chains. Then I know it is high enough not to come smack me in the face. Also have a long breaker bar. And mine came with clear instructions BTW!!! And also learned the hard way, that the first thing you do before leveling the trailer is remove the WD bars.
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Old 08-21-2019, 03:17 PM   #48
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This looks like a great solution, you can find it cheaper in Amazon, a couple of bad reviews tho.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rgentum View Post
But the true solution is getting rid of the Blue Ox chains etc. and using a Lippert Strap-Tec, which is available for around $150 and ELIMINATES the problem.

https://store.lci1.com/straptek-weig...it-335852.html

Did I say ELIMINATES? Yes, and I mean ELIMINATES!!! As in "no more busted knuckles."
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Old 08-21-2019, 03:45 PM   #49
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Injury avoidence

The reason for the violent reaction to the release of the Blue OX chain is that the chain was still under pressure.
Prior to releasing the chain you must first release the pressure from the chain.
In order to do this you must raise the trailer (remove the weight from the hitch) in so doing you will release the stress on the chains. Once that is done you will see a slack in the chain and then you can release the chains using the tool and you will not have the violent reaction you experienced.
I hope this helps.
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Old 08-21-2019, 04:03 PM   #50
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I can so see this happening ... the dents that we have on our propane covers are from the Blue Ox, it's wrench, and unhitching. From my experience, ESPECIALLY when ground is NOT level ... hike that tongue hitch up as far as possible to relieve stress any upon those chains! It makes it so much easier and they don't "pop". Just be sure to have your Airstream wheels chocked!
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Old 08-21-2019, 04:20 PM   #51
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I'll add to the long list of advice to lift the tongue as high as possible which takes the load off the bars, granted that doing so while TV and TT are significantly out of line may not be possible.
I also switched to ProPride as the amount of TT sway using Blue Ox was more than I found comfortable.
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Old 08-21-2019, 05:26 PM   #52
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All good advise above. I did a 24” breaker bar but that might not clear in all applications. Definitely need to raise jack to remove pressure. If
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Old 08-22-2019, 09:01 AM   #53
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rebeccacrna View Post
I can so see this happening ... the dents that we have on our propane covers are from the Blue Ox, it's wrench, and unhitching. From my experience, ESPECIALLY when ground is NOT level ... hike that tongue hitch up as far as possible to relieve stress any upon those chains! It makes it so much easier and they don't "pop". Just be sure to have your Airstream wheels chocked!
As I mentioned earlier, if your not on level ground, or have an angle causing too much tension/pressure on your sway bars when installing/ de-installing, move the trailer to level ground before proceeding. I have this happen often when in some of these older state/Federal park campgrounds, and notice when unhitching. One side is still very "loaded" (tension) more then the other side, which sometimes is easily rotated with just your hand to remove the chain. When I am ready to leave and reconnect, I just hook up, pull onto level ground, drop the jack and take pressure off the sway bars, load up and go. I keep a couple pieces of wood blocks to help make this go fast; both 12" long: 6x6 and 2x6. Takes only a few min to do this if your on level ground. YMMV
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Old 08-22-2019, 10:58 AM   #54
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dugster View Post
I wonder if Blue Ox has any idea how many people have experienced injuries or near misses. They should have large warnings to lift weight off bars before disengaging. In my case I was instructed how to do this on the day of our delivery during walk thru inspection. That was like drinking water from a fire hose. Too much info at one time. Visible warnings on the hitch might have saved my near miss. I scratched my nose but would have broken it if I were one inch closer!


Here's another warning for people. I have a Reese hitch that has the spring bar/chain system. I've included two photos of the mechanism that puts the load on the bar. You use a lever bar to pull up on the chain, and then lock it in place with the bent silver pin. Sometimes getting the silver locking pin in place is fiddly, and I have to wiggle the mechanism back & forth to get the pin to go in.

So, one day I'm on California Highway 49- I DO NOT recommend it- narrow, mountainous, no guardrails. White-knuckle day. When we got to the campground and hit a bad spot in the road, one of the spring bars FELL OFF.

That morning, in the process of wigging the mechanism to insert the silver locking pin, I accidentally inserted it BEHIND the holes it should go through. IT WAS NOT LOCKED. I don't know what would have happened if it had come off on that mountain road.
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Old 08-22-2019, 11:12 AM   #55
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Blue Ox and Weight Transfer bars/chains

I currently use the Husky/Center Line System of weight transfer bar/hitch.

This is a high quality hitch with a good pivot system, however appears to be a good place for mindful safety precautions because of the large amounts of weight and tension on equipment we handle regularly. (and often with no adult supervision which is also no bueno.

I bought a Husky/Center Line hitch with my new 27FB and like my old system, straight and level was best for relieving the bar pressure using the fully locked and engaged hitch and the tongue jack to push the tongue up and relieve the considerable pressure on the bars before removing them.

My system came with a complex-tip, lever bar that is useful but relieving that pressure is central to safety.

Suggestion II: I keep thinking I should have a set of heavy gloves to protect my fingers during every hitch/un-hitch event, because a ripped fingernail or cut or a dinged finger is pretty common and the opportunity for a more serious injury is always lingering. With so many parts to the hitch a mental checklist is mandatory before departure, all pins and keys in place, chains, electrical cable, etc.

Pete
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Old 08-23-2019, 02:07 AM   #56
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Raising the hitch before unhitching is the right thing to do! But also raise the hitch after latching the trailer to the ball before hooking up the load bars! This will also make hookup a lot easier as well. This should be common knowledge to all that use a weight distribution hitch.
Just my $0.02 worth. Good luck and always safe travels.
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Old 08-23-2019, 08:30 AM   #57
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MetalMissile View Post
I currently use the Husky/Center Line System of weight transfer bar/hitch.

This is a high quality hitch with a good pivot system, however appears to be a good place for mindful safety precautions because of the large amounts of weight and tension on equipment we handle regularly. (and often with no adult supervision which is also no bueno.

I bought a Husky/Center Line hitch with my new 27FB and like my old system, straight and level was best for relieving the bar pressure using the fully locked and engaged hitch and the tongue jack to push the tongue up and relieve the considerable pressure on the bars before removing them.

My system came with a complex-tip, lever bar that is useful but relieving that pressure is central to safety.

Suggestion II: I keep thinking I should have a set of heavy gloves to protect my fingers during every hitch/un-hitch event, because a ripped fingernail or cut or a dinged finger is pretty common and the opportunity for a more serious injury is always lingering. With so many parts to the hitch a mental checklist is mandatory before departure, all pins and keys in place, chains, electrical cable, etc.

Pete
Wearing heavy leather gloves while hooking up is just plain smart! Not only protection for your hands, better griping, and keeps your hands clean from grease. I always wipe the ball off with a paper towel and re-apply grease with same paper towel; I wipe the joints of the sway bar on the hitch also, and carry a small grease gun to re-supply with grease when needed. Again, the paper towel used to wipe excess off from the joints. The gloves help keep my hands clean..(keep the pants or shorts from grease, not so much!). Gloves are cheap protection.
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Old 08-26-2019, 08:38 PM   #58
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Blue ox concerns

Since we are talking Blue Ox-Thought I would ask about a issue I have with mine.
During a recent six week trip I had unhooked and hooked up many times,about half way through the trip when trying to hook up one side I noticed the swivel part (the part I put my breaker bar on) seamed quite loose. When I took a closer look the bolt inside(with the funny shaped head) was in fact loose.I was able to remove it completly with a few easy part turns with my channel lock wrench.Inside I found a bearing. This scared the %$^& out of me so I called Blue Ox asking what I could do about it and was told to tighten and it should still be OK but if it kept happening I should replace the whole hitch.
I asked if there were any servicable part ie the bearing/nut and was told no.
Wondering if anyone else has experinced an issue like this?
Seams to me that one should be able to service/change the bearing and tack weld the bolt in place rather then throw the entire hitch out and buy a new one
It worked fine for the remainder of the trip -though I tighted it several times to be sure it would not fall apart.

Any advise would be helpfull

Jim Kew
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Old 08-26-2019, 10:28 PM   #59
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Not heard of this. Was this hitch first installed on your 2019 or was it moved from an older trailer? Pat
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Old 08-28-2019, 07:27 AM   #60
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Sorry -I must revise that info acually a 2004 -hitch came with the trailer!
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