Please makesure the hitch is on the ball.

[JoelD]

Gets hard on tailgates too!

Agreed, I kick the crud out of my my bumper hooking up as it is.
Joel

 

[eastexan]

This is a great safety subject that everyone that pulls trailers needs to take to heart.

There are a lot of good guys that would give the shirt off their back to someone in need, but are lackadaisical about safety when it comes to pulling trailers.

I've driven many miles on my job over the years (retired now) and have seen a lot of incidents with trailers, here in Texas. This was especially true years ago, but seem to be doing a little better now-a-days.

About 25 years ago I seen a 16' tandem trailer come off a pickup that was in front of me on a twisty, hilly, and busy 2 lane highway. There was oncoming traffic, but fortunately the trailer careened toward the shoulder and went down an embankment and hit some trees. It could just as easily have went into the oncoming traffic, which could have killed a mother with her kids.

I've seen trailers that didn't have their lights hooked up, or not have lights at all.
One of these was at night in a curve on a little FM highway and the load was blocking the pickups tail lights from being seen. Fortunately, it wasn't raining or foggy, and I seen it in time.

I've borrowed trailers from friends that the safety chains were broken or missing. I would have to go to the hardware store and buy parts to fix it. And usually, I would have to find a pin to lock it with.

Also, something very commonplace is using 1 7/8" hitch balls with 2" hitches.

No doubt, these are all good people that care about each other. But sometimes people need reminders.

 

[JB4310]

Also, something very commonplace is using 1 7/8" hitch balls with 2" hitches.

Yeah, I can see how this could be a problem not easily recognized, "if it drops on must be good"
Though on one of my couplers I think it says 1 7/8" OR 2"

.

 

[hitekcountry]

I have two trailers, a utility trailer that takes a 2" ball and a dump trailer that takes a 2 5/16" ball. I know of at least one time that I towed the dump trailer with the 2" ball. That's one trailer (with or without a load) I wouldn't want to come unhitched.

How likely is a 2 5/16" hitch to come loose off a 2" ball?

 

[vettemanwight]

I was towing our 4 ton equipment traler from work to my house its 24 mi , I was going up a steep hill about 3 mi from my house when the trailer came off the ball. WellI didnt know what to do I was going up a steep hill I Had had bypass surgery 3 months before and I was all alone. I stopped the truck got out swung the jack down and slowly let truck roll backwards .... with me in cab and my foot on brake . When the jack swung down it locked in place I cranked it down backed truck up and rehooked trailer up. I didnt seat trailer hitch on the ball . it was locked but not seated. Now when we hook the trailers up I stress to my employees to ALWAYS double check it !!!!!!!!! Even if you are sure it was connected properly... DOUBLE check it !!!!!!!!!

 

[deepNdirt]

Um am I missing something here? just cause the trailer came off the ball why would that push the truck off the road?

It says all the chains were hooked up so I'm assuming wire jack also. brakes would still work unless it had surge brakes but then it says it was pushing against the bumper, so surge brakes would still work?

There are a couple of different typs of trailer braking systems, some have the actuator built into the trailers tongue ( Carlisle type Brakes system)
when the actuator has pressure apply from the weight of the trailer pushing against the tow vehicle, in other words when the brakes are applied on the tow vehicle the weight of the trailer pushes against the hitch and then activates the brakes, if the trailer tongue were siply hanging by the chains then there would be no brakes,.... I never like this kind of setup but they are known to be the best trailer brake system on the market, I always have used the standard electric brake through the wiring of my tow vehicles and actually set them upwith a under dash brake actuator and can match up the braking with the tow vehicle or apply the brake by hand as well, .........

My story is I drove about 50miles with the latch not locked down back the trailer up a drive chock the wheels and went to unhitch the trailer only to find that I never had push the latch down, this was a scary thought, I then got me a pin and always double check, I was lucky the weight of the trailer was heavier over the front,..................................
another story,.... I met up with a friend had his boat at the lake boat ramp to take it out do some fishing, when we were through we loaded the boat back onto the trailer and all went fine, but you know how when you load a boat or even unload it if the latch is not down that tongue is coming off but it didn't. as I was following him I notice something went wrong sudenly as he was going down a slow hill the trailer came off the ball and went into a tree just off the roadside, he didnt know what happen or why it came off but I do know he was lucky the trees were there to stop him, it was atleast 100ft down an embankment before he would have stopped,
actually I think he had must of caught the latch with his shoe while he was walking on the tongue and didn't realize this, Only thing I could think of....

 

[JB4310]

There are a couple of different typs of trailer braking systems, some have the actuator built into the trailers tongue ( Carlisle type Brakes system)
when the actuator has pressure apply from the weight of the trailer pushing against the tow vehicle, in other words when the brakes are applied on the tow vehicle the weight of the trailer pushes against the hitch and then activates the brakes, if the trailer tongue were siply hanging by the chains then there would be no brakes,.... I never like this kind of setup but they are known to be the best trailer brake system on the market, I always have used the standard electric brake through the wiring of my tow vehicles and actually set them upwith a under dash brake actuator and can match up the braking with the tow vehicle or apply the brake by hand as well, .........

Yup I know about the types of trailer brakes, if they were electric and the trailer was still chained up then the break away system would not of deployed.

I'm just trying to analyze the exact chain of events that could of led to the tow vehicle and trailer going off the road. with a snippet of a news storey I guess that's not possible.

So I'm just thinking of what MIGHT of happened, if your going down the road and trailer comes off hitch that alone should not lead to such an accident.
If the trailer tongue was grinding on the ground or all over the back bumper it would be pretty unnerving and there MAY of been some panic involved, it might of been too large a trailer for the tow vehicle, speed probably had some role in it...


.

 

[Willl]

Have you guys thought about some kind of check list before you climb in the cab ?

 

[Redneck in training]

This story happened long time ago. 1963 or 64. I was about 15 or 16 at the time. My father designed and built boat racing engines and somebody who built boats was racing his engines every weekend. I often tagged along. One time we were returning home from distant location in big hurry (The driver had to attend a wedding). While already on the road and driving like nuts one guy in the car said, "I don't remember if the safety pin is in the hitch" (It was before the ball hitches were invented I suppose). My father said so stop and check. Well we didn't stop. Shortly after the trailer with the boat came off at about 90 mph. The tong hit a pothole catapulting it in air doing somersaults just above a head of a motorcyclist in opposite direction. When it crashed upside down the boat was just pile of wood splinters, the flywheel was broken off the engine, the bottom part of the prop drive was smashed looking like a mushroom etc. Fortunately nobody got hurt.

 

[deepNdirt]

yup! have been for some time now latch & pin in place +tires+tail lights+chains+ cargo tied down, on my enclosed trailer I have to be sure my ladders are all secured on top the best hitch coupler I have found was one that was on my 18ft lowboy car hauler, this kind covers almost the complete ball, not simply setting on top of the ball with a tab lever holding it down, once this coupler is clamshelled over the boll and locked into place, its not comming off,