Check EVERYTHING On Your Hitch

[casa3805]

Originally Posted by Tin Trekkers

Hoo Boy! Sobering stuff for newbies like us. Thank heaven no one was seriously hurt.
Certainly plan to check and double check everything on a regular basis. Worried that we may not recognize a problem since we have so little experience. Paid very close attention today as they explained the hitch, sway bars etc. when we picked up the trailer from the dealership. Asked lots of questions.
Trying to educate ourselves as much as we can here on the forums and safety is our #1 priority.
Thanks for the information, folks. Forewarned is forearmed.

Hang in there Tin Trekkers, you are approaching this exactly right. Don't let it scare you but do let it make you pay attention. Even veterans can get a little lax and that is usually when things go wrong.

I don't know how folks post from two different contributors, but in the post right after yours someone talks about walk arounds and "remove before flight" flags. My flight experience taught me the same thing. And my dear wife made me some "REMOVE BEFORE STREAMIN" flags. I put one on the curb side front stabilizer, one on the steps and one on that darn hot water heater door to remind me to cut it off.

None of those would have prevented this, but walk-arounds are the point. It is all any of us can do. I am sure people wreck often, but you sure do not see this often enough to make me scared. "More Cautious" is the key for me.

I am so glad they are safe!!!

[Ag&Au]

I will probably take some heat over this, but I will say it anyway.

This is not a 23 or 25, it its a 31. That is a significant difference in length.

You can quote all the Toyota specs to me you wish, but you would never convince me to tow a 31 foot trailer with one.

That, in my opinion, is a lot of tail to wag a small to medium size dog, Hensley or not. If you tow a long trailer with a smaller TV, a lot of the margin for error is deminished and everything must be done with that in mind.

I do not know whether or not there was any equipment failure or what the driver actually did. I do believe that if the driver moved over a bit too quiclkly and slowed at the same time, it could have induced a sway as mentioned.

I have never used a hensley, but I tow with a Propride. I have experienced fairly stong sideways forces when braking and turning at the same time,especially when the brake controller is set lightly.. I could see that inducing a fairly significant sway with a long trailer and light tow vehicle at or near expressway speeds.

I am not saying that this is what happened, I am simply saying that I think it could happen with the scenario I described.

Ken

[HowieE]

My curiosity is if the truck crossed the guard rail, and that is assuming the damage to the rail is from this accident, and rolled 3/4 and the trailer only rolled 1/4 there had to be some significant amount of speed to have the trailer slide and come to rest past the truck.

I think Hensley can take a sigh of relief. There does not appear to been any failure point on it. My first though was the over center links on the hitch had not been set allowing the trailer to sway back and forth the width of the hitch. They are set.

As for the trailer coming loose of the truck first there would not be the twisting damage to the receiver. The receiver was attached during at least one of the rolls

[GreggH]

I tow a 31' Classic with a F250 PSD and Hensley and my stinger drop is 2". The drop on the stinger in the photo is at least 4". Is a Nissan's rear end really that much higher than a F250's? Would a lighter TV with a higher center of gravity contribute to sway?
GreggH

[FLYNCLD]

We recently came across an accident on I-5 South near Grants Pass Oregon. The tow vehicle was a GMC Yukon which was on it's roof in the middle of the freeway and the trailer was an SOB of indeterminable length (probably about 30ft.). After the driver lost control, and the two vehicles separated, the trailer went through (and I mean through) the guard rail and the frame was actually separated from the rest of the trailer. The frame was left standing upright on the guardrail as clean as the day it was welded together, while the rest of the trailer and all it contents were reduced to a pile of small indistinguishable objects surrounded by a ton of pink insulation. It looked like an airplane crash, and but for the frame sticking up in the air, we had no idea it was a trailer at first. Although several of the occupants were airlifted from the site, there were no life threatening injuries to the family inside the Yukon. No real point here except while the vehicles seemed properly matched, this was at the bottom of a long downhill stretch, and you gotta be careful out there!

[mojo]

Originally Posted by w7ts

I will probably take some heat over this, but I will say it anyway.

This is not a 23 or 25, it its a 31. That is a significant difference in length.

You can quote all the Toyota specs to me you wish, but you would never convince me to tow a 31 foot trailer with one.Ken

WTF...the first post indicates it was a NISSAN Titan towing.

[Hansom-Man]

An incorrect drop would be a contributing factor. I think the drop on on our Titan with a PP is 3 in. However, we also have the Pro-4x edition which has a higher profile than the other Titan variants. Don't think that ours is any higher than an F-250.

I will say this about an incorrect drop and our Titan:
Our first tow was from the original owner in Baton Rouge to Houston using a drop stinger and ball from a local shop who also installed our brake controller. I had given them the published tongue height and they assured me the set up was correct. Well, I could not drive over 55 at all without the rig wanting to push me all over the road. Very long & uncomfortable first drive home.......
Shortly after, I installed the PP and there was nearly a 2" difference in drop between the ball mount the local guys sold me and the PP. Have not had any sway issues since.

Still, I'll be triple checking this before I tow next week.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, glad to hear the people are OK. From my point of view, [my opinion] It looks like the bolts holding the receiver to the center of the bumper sheared off and the the only thing holding it together was the end plates on the frame. Without the center bolts, the tubes are the weak point. I believe, [my opinion again] that this type of hitch [projection] puts more force on the receiver. And like the other Bob, from the other coast, I would never trust any round tube receiver. [also my opinion] In this case, I would rule out operator error and consider this a mechanical failure.

[boondockdad]

Originally Posted by ROBERTSUNRUS

Hi, glad to hear the people are OK. From my point of view, [my opinion] It looks like the bolts holding the receiver to the center of the bumper sheared off and the the only thing holding it together was the end plates on the frame. Without the center bolts, the tubes are the weak point. I believe, [my opinion again] that this type of hitch [projection] puts more force on the receiver. And like the other Bob, from the other coast, I would never trust any round tube receiver. [also my opinion] In this case, I would rule out operator error and consider this a mechanical failure.

The link hansom-man put up, has detail pix of hitch, and it doesn't appear the center box point is bolted up to the bumper/frame, at all.

[Wingeezer]

Originally Posted by ROBERT CROSS

....it was and still is a weak point with GM.

IMHO....If it looks like this, replace it.

Bob,

We have a 2008 HD2500. Reading some of the posts on this forum over the last couple of years has caused me to keep an eye on the welds, although maybe I don't do it as often as I should - I try t at least take a look at the start of every trip.

I haven't seen any problem yet - well I'm not sure, I did notice a bit of rust at one weld and wondered if that might indicate a crack starting. Maybe I'd better check again today, this time using an illuminated magnifier!


Perhaps I should just have it changed anyway - I think that the way the Hensley hitch works must put a lot more strain on the hitch.

Do you know if there are there recognized leaders in the field in terms of strength if I go looking for an aftermarket replacement hitch for my GMC?


Brian.

[ROBERT CROSS]

Brian,

Some reading on the subject.

..... you hit the rivet right on the head, a new quality receiver is very CHEEP insurance....

I used the Reese Tow-Beast V, with a welded 2" insert. Less than $400.

BOB

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f464...ver-54796.html

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f464...les-34603.html


http://www.airforums.com/forums/f464...tch-58202.html

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f464...500-40825.html

[r carl]

Originally Posted by mojo

WTF...the first post indicates it was a NISSAN Titan towing.

Is there a difference?

[xrvr]

Not much just like a GM and a Ford. LOL, jim

[tphan]

The PO of my 70's 27' Overlander said he had at least one very close call with the trailer wagging his 1/2-ton pickup all over the road, narrowly avoiding a roll-over, and urged me to tow with a 3/4-ton TV. My Overlander weighs in at about 4,300 lbs., which I would guess is thousands of lbs. lighter than a 90's 31' model, never mind being 4' shorter. I think MelodyRanch's caution regarding towing something this big and heavy with a 1/2 ton pickup should not be dismissed, regardless of the other failures that occurred in this accident. I agree that the tubular hitch set-up looks flimsy, especially for such a big trailer, but I bet ANY hitch would be damaged or torn loose by a 31-footer swinging around sideways and falling over, especially with w-d bars making an even more rigid connection to the hitch/tow vehicle.

[Gene]

The only 2 31' trailers produced in the 1990's were in 1998 and fully loaded would weigh 8,300 lbs. The Titan is substantially less.

As to Hensley's advertising promising absolutely no sway ever, a certain amount of fluff is allowed in advertising, but product liability lawyers may be interested in this one.

I'm still trying to visualize the rig coming one direction on a 2 lane road, rotating 90˚ in the accident in the relatively short amount of space available.

Gene

[ROBERT CROSS]

Consider....

Sure glad no one was hurt....this very unfortunate accident has provided 56 posts of speculation.

Lets all just be careful, wait for the reports and move on.

Bob

[Ag&Au]

Originally Posted by mojo

WTF...the first post indicates it was a NISSAN Titan towing.

Ok, edit my post to say Nissan or perhaps just generic non US, I still feel the same.

[Hansom-Man]

Originally Posted by ROBERT CROSS

Consider....

Sure glad no one was hurt....this very unfortunate accident has provided 56 posts of speculation.

Lets all just be careful, wait for the reports and move on.

Bob

Agreed,

The post did have the desired effect. I crawled under our Titan today and all welds are intact and with no corrosion. I'll also squirt some grease in the zerkers of the PP as there was a fair bit of squeak/groan when I brought her back from getting the axle bearings re-packed the other day.

With that said, out Titan has been a fine vehicle for a half ton rig, and we like it better than the F-150 we used to have. It is also clearly stated in the maual that the tow capacity is maxed out 9500 lbs (and only for certain equipped models), and only when a properly rigged WD set up is used. I feel good since our 23 is well under the 80% safety margin many apply to max ratings. Given The weights of longer AS, I don't think i'd go any bigger than a 25 footer with a half ton.

Glad no one was hurt, and that the original poster was willing to share for us to learn from. Identifying potential safety issues is the key to preventing accidents.

-Cheers

[thecatsandi]

I know how this can all happen. I have had bad sway twice. Once the trailer and truck swapped ends and the trailer was in the lead.
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f42/...e-46232-4.html
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f42/...e-27195-2.html
My receiver and frame never even twitched.
Both times was a properly set up Reese Dual Cam and a Ford 3/4 ton Pickup. First one was gas, second one was diesel.

[Alumaholic]

Originally Posted by ROBERT CROSS

I never trusted the "round bar" receivers on the GM's and would feel the same on other makes.
While working at the Chevy store we replaced an awful lot for weld failure and cracks, the receiver head design was not very inspiring either.


This is what I took off our 06 Burb, and what I replaced it with.
Just looking at the difference should explain why.

Something we don't pay enough attention too.....inspect often!!!!

Looks to me like the receiver failed.

Bob

I have never trusted the round-bar receivers either. I don't know if the round-bar hitch contributed or simply failed under the stress of the roll over, but I intend to remove and replace my round bar receiver right away.
P.S. I once watched a fish-tailing, utility trailer with a riding mower roll the tow vehicle. When the dust cleared the tow vehicle was resting on its top all smashed up. The utility was sitting in the road, right side up, lawn mower in tact.