Trailer Came Loose

[OKnewguy]

This definetly is a horrible thing to happen. One of the things that OK is doing on some of our stretches of hiway is to put in cable barriers. On some stretches of hiway they have already saved many lives. They catch an out of control vehicle (or trailer) and keep it from crossing the median. For the millions of dollars a mile of hiway cost, I think that every hiway should have these included as they are built or redone. The total cost would not be that large of a percentage.
I have almost always had a great respect for trailers and their hookup. When I was 13, my dad's good friend would come by and pick me up to help him mow all his rental properties. He had a small fleet of cobled together pickup bed trailers. I distinctly remeber one of them coming unhitched and catching on the chains. Luckily they held, but man that thing was scarry the way it whipped back and forth. I remember he just pulled over hooked it back up, and shoved some no name/grade bolt in the latch and was back on the road. I also remeber the rear bumber of his old pickup. It was pulling out away from the truck in the middle where the ball was. He just keep welding scrap metal on that bumber to "strengthen" it. He was a nice and somewhat intelligent guy, but man he was clueless on safety. I was very happy to turn 16 and get a real job. Every since then I have REALLY respected what could happen if you cut corners.
Dave

 

[MidGALandscaper]

Yeah, reading those kind of things makes me doublecheck everything every time I am pulling a trailer. The last thing I want is to have something come a loose and kill someone. There was an accident today in a nearby town. A city employee was pulling a singe axle trailer with a lawn mower when it came loose and hit an innocent guy head-on killing him instantly.


http://www.13wmaz.com/news/top_stories.aspx?storyid=28627

 

[roxynoodle]

Every time I stop for gas, food, whatever, I check my hitch, lights and tires. Just yesterday I passed someone towing a total junk trailer on a country road. The wood floor boards were popped out all over it. He didn't have a load thankfully. I suppose it was possible he had just bought it and was taking it home where he was going to fix it. But, who knows, maybe he actually hauls equipment on that thing.

 

[mudcat]

Last week I was two cars behind a small truck pulling a camper. In the blink of an eye the camper snapped to the left and then back to the right where it barreled off into the ditch and pushed up a big wave of sand. Fortunately no one was injuried. It made me realize how quick something like that could happen. I will always double check my hitch!

 

[JerryG]

Last week I was two cars behind a small truck pulling a camper. In the blink of an eye the camper snapped to the left and then back to the right where it barreled off into the ditch and pushed up a big wave of sand. Fortunately no one was injuried. It made me realize how quick something like that could happen. I will always double check my hitch!

The day before yesterday I was following a half ton truck with a 16' trailer. He had what looked like a Kubota Grand L with a backhoe. The only tie down the guy had was one web strap wrapped around the sharp top edge of the loader bucket. When I saw the way he had it strapped, I backed way off. That is the kind of person that needs to get stopped and fined, before he hurts or kills someone.

 

[Redneck_Randy]

Last year just right after I bought my Dixon ZTR I was bringing it back from the dealer for it's 10 hour break-in service. First I'll say I'm guilty of not having the safety chains on. One of them was broken off. I just turned into a convenience store parking lot and the clamp that grabs onto the ball broke the pin and fell off. Trailer came loose and started to pass me on the left side of my truck heading right for a Ford truck. I thought I was going to have to ram the trailer with my truck to keep it from hitting the Ford. The trailer stopped before it hit the Ford so I lucked out there. The hole time I was thinking "my poor new Dixon" Had these pictures flashing though my head of it all bent and smashed up. I learned my lesson. I had the trailer hitch setup rebuilt. Made it stronger with a heavy duty swing hitch and new heavy duty saftey chains. I use them everytime now.

 

[jwstewar]

I've had two scrary instances on pulling trailers. Both were campers and I came out lucky both times.

First was when I was about 18 years old. We were camping at a campground. Had been raining for a few days and the creek was up. The campground received a call from the Army Corp of Engineers that said they were going to open the dam up in an hour. Once they opened the dam, it would take the water about 45 minutes to hit the campground. We were camping as a group. I believe there were 5 or 6 campers of us. This being a Saturday morning my Dad and some the others were working. I think there were 2 or 3 of us to try to get the campers out in a hurry. One of the campers was a bit smaller and didn't take the typical 2 5/16" ball. It took a 2 inch. I put what I thought was the receiver with the 2" ball on the truck. In a hurry, I didn't hook anything else up except lights/brakes. I pulled it probably 3 miles until all of sudden I look in the mirror and it is backing up from the truck. Not knowing what to do, I slow down and allow the camper to hit the truck and use the truck brakes to stop it. I get it stopped, but then it starts rolling back down the little grade I was on. I start running after the trailer and actually I'm actually chasing it down the road. I then pick the tongue up and guide the trailer to the road ditch - away from the creek that we were trying to get away from. I immediately looked at the hitch once the trailer was stopped, Dad had put the 1 7/8" ball on the receiver. I changed the ball right there along the road, hooked back up - everything this time and finished the taking the trailer to higher ground. Then went back and had to explain the situation to everyone else and get the rest of the campers out. Only thing it did was banged the LF corner of the camper up and the tailgate of the truck. I was real lucky.

Second was about '97. Dad and I hooked the camper up to my new Chevy Z71. I had a new receiver and new 2 5/16" ball. It was a little tight going down on - apparently a little too tight. I backed the truck up and Dad set the camper down on the ball - not over like you normally would - literally on. He check & supposedly double checked. We then proceeded to hook chains and spring bars and everything up. Didn't realize what was wrong until we got to the campground and started to unhook. Thank goodness for the spring bars holding it on tight. Was a non-event, but could've been another big problem.

 

[john_bud]

Around here in the north land, a LOT of salt gets used and that means rust. A couple years ago I was in town and an old Ford PU went by pulling a 24' or so bumper pull trailer loaded with junk. Aparently there must have been a bump in the road that the top of the hill he was climbing, because the trailer, still hooked to the bumper -- but not to the truck --, came barreling backwards down the hill. Sideswiped several cars and crashed into one hard. I took a look, he had a class 3 bumper with about 12,000# of trailer. Metal fatigue and salt did the rest.

jb

 

[ahoude]

Those safety chains are a must. My brother and I were going to do some hiking in north MI, headed through an area with a lot of small lakes and pontoon boats. A truck rounded a curve, we noticed a full size PU round a curve towards us towing a pontoon boat. As he straightened out, the boat kept turning. Tongue fell off/not hooked/not pinned/broke ??? to ball on truck and was headed straight at us. The chains (thankfully fastened) jerked the boat back into his lane, as we rounded the curve he came from, saw the boat land on its side in the ditch (through the rear view mirror). Didn't occur to me thet we almost became road pie until 2-3 minutes later. I always double check the pin that holds my hitch to reciever, the ball latch and pin, the safety chains, the light plug, the operation of the lights and brakes, and kick the tires before I go anywhere and EVERY time I stop. That pontoon boat could have killed both of us had the driver not fastened the chains.

 

[ccsial]

I bought a new dump trailer about 10 years ago. The dealer said it had a 2" ball and he connected it to my RAM diesel. I was too dumb to check the ball size and didn't know a whole lot about ball sizes at the time since I had never owned a trailer with bigger than 2".

I towed the trailer about 100 miles home with no problem. I left it on the truck and the next moring I got a 3 yard load of gravel. The gravel pit is about 5 miles from home. About a mile from home, doing about 35mph I hit a bump and the trailer (2 5/16 ball hitch) came loose. It rolled the truck up on two wheels before the chains snapped and the trailer went into the ditch. It took out a farmers mailbox. I think the seat is a bit puckered too. I thought I was going over.

I put a stop on the check and called the dealer. My lawyer said since he hooked it up it was his responsibility. I ended up having the trailer fixed, replaced the rear bumper on my truck, and deducted it from the price and sent him the difference. It was quite a learning experience.