What does a runaway trailer really do?

[JDgreen227]

why would you wnt an un-braked trailer? i personally wouldn't use one myself...

i guess if you do have an unbraked trailer.. then just let it skid. it's going to be a light / light duty trailer anyway.. especially if it's on a class I hitch, and light enough to not have to have brakes by law..

( edit : or is that a class II hitch.. my lil moble device screen is so small I can't tell .. I know it's not a class III or IV )

Class II, 3500 lb. limit and real overkill as tow rating on the car is 1,000 pounds. But it didn't cost much more than a Class I.

 

[cqaigy2]

Mea culpa. Was towing a larger flat bed trailer with the wrong ball size. 50Mph hit a dip in the road that launched the trailer off of the hitch. The break away activated the electric brakes, the trailer dug into the pavement which slowed it abruptly and launched the battery for the break away, and both chains broke. I kept the trailer behind me and used my rig to stop it. Thank God I didn't kill someone!

 

[Soundguy]

Class II, 3500 lb. limit and real overkill as tow rating on the car is 1,000 pounds. But it didn't cost much more than a Class I.

the more i looked at it i was thinking class II that's why i edited. it didn't look like the flat strap.. even on a small screen.. once the ole eyes focused. a tounge lock might help.. they are a flat tab that basically keeps the trailer tounge over the ball.. won't let it pop up and off. I've seent hem sold at truck stops.

even if the flip down tension part of the tounge fails.. the flat tab overhead keep it on.

hate to imagine a trailer coming off a hitch.. even in a good case you just know soemting ain't gonna end well..

 

[k0ua]

I don't have any towing experience, but I can tell you what I saw about 40 years ago in the other half of a divided highway. We were west bound, and I noticed up ahead a large rooster tail of sparks shooting up maybe 30 or 40 feet into the air. This was the tongue of an eastbound large air compressor trailer digging into the concrete. The 1 ton truck that was towing it, was very quickly moving out ahead of the trailer. when he was maybe 50 to 75 feet in front of the trailer, he must of noticed it was no longer hooked up. The driver started to slow down, to "catch" the trailer under the back of the truck. But before he could catch it, the trailer must have hit a pot hole or something, as it launched end over end, as the tongue dug in and instantly the trailer was completely airborne with all sorts of things coming out of the doors that flew open. I suppose they were tools or something. It tumbled over a couple of times, and by that time I was looking out the back window of our car (I was not driving) as it all disappeared over the crest of a hill. In my opinion the trailer went mostly straight down the road by itself, and the guy probably could have "caught" it in a couple more seconds if it hadn't dug in.

James K0UA

 

[timswi]

I don't have any towing experience, but I can tell you what I saw about 40 years ago in the other half of a divided highway. We were west bound, and I noticed up ahead a large rooster tail of sparks shooting up maybe 30 or 40 feet into the air. This was the tongue of an eastbound large air compressor trailer digging into the concrete. The 1 ton truck that was towing it, was very quickly moving out ahead of the trailer. when he was maybe 50 to 75 feet in front of the trailer, he must of noticed it was no longer hooked up. The driver started to slow down, to "catch" the trailer under the back of the truck. But before he could catch it, the trailer must have hit a pot hole or something, as it launched end over end, as the tongue dug in and instantly the trailer was completely airborne with all sorts of things coming out of the doors that flew open. I suppose they were tools or something. It tumbled over a couple of times, and by that time I was looking out the back window of our car (I was not driving) as it all disappeared over the crest of a hill. In my opinion the trailer went mostly straight down the road by itself, and the guy probably could have "caught" it in a couple more seconds if it hadn't dug in.

James K0UA

Some moron around here was towing an air compressor and couldn't be bothered with saftey chains on a pintle...The compressor came off and killed most of the family in a minivan...I believe he's cooling his heels in jail, just where he belongs...We don't need people like that out here. An accident is one thing, that's another.

 

[not2old]

I'm assuming I forgot to tighten the hitch on a trailer made from an old 3/4 ton, which was carrying about 5000# of gravel. Went over a bump and the trailer came off the ball. I don't know if the brakes came on but I was soon aware of a problem and managed to stop it fairly quickly while the safety chains kept it behind my truck.

 

[Fixemall]

I run double safety chains on my bigger trailers and use those nut type links for them, never liked "s" hooks for safety chains.

 

[aczlan]

I run double safety chains on my bigger trailers and use those nut type links for them, never liked "s" hooks for safety chains.

What always worreis me is the people who have a "Quick Link" and hook up their trailer chains to it without tightening the "nut".
That will cut the rating to 1/4 of what it would otherwise be IMO.

Aaron Z

 

[JDgreen227]

What always worreis me is the people who have a "Quick Link" and hook up their trailer chains to it without tightening the "nut".
That will cut the rating to 1/4 of what it would otherwise be IMO.

Aaron Z

I use the quick links myself but have never really thought about the loss of strength by not fully tightening the nut on the threads...although I always close the ones I use fully. Last time I purchased one the size was 5/16" and the rating was 1920 pounds. If I had a method of testing one I would report on the strength difference.

 

[aczlan]

I use the quick links myself but have never really thought about the loss of strength by not fully tightening the nut on the threads...although I always close the ones I use fully. Last time I purchased one the size was 5/16" and the rating was 1920 pounds. If I had a method of testing one I would report on the strength difference.

I can tell you that a pair of 3/8's links will bend if left open when lifting a Volvo D24Tic Turbodiesel engine with a ZF 4HP22 transmission attached to it (probably less than 700# total as the D24T weighs ~470#).

Aaron Z