Ever have a trailer hitch pop out?

[Tomis17]

Last weekend I rented my PA out of town and had to drive 3 hours for the gig. Right when I got on the freeway my trailer hitch popped out and for the longest minute of my life I was dragging the trailer with just the secrity chains. I signaled and crossed two very busy lanes of cars to park my truck on the side of the freeway. The chain broke off as I came to a stop. I have never been so scared in my life. Has anyone else ever experience something like that?

[skaliwag66]

I have a very dirty joke about this.

[SuperDuck]

Originally Posted by skaliwag66

I have a very dirty joke about this.

"...and the trailer salesman says, 'Rectum? I damn near killed'em!'"

[Joe Gress]

Never. That would be scary as hell though.

[Tama]

I had a trailer pop off the ball with about 2 ton of steel on it...the lock-down broke.
Luckily I was only going 5 m.p.h. stopping for the stop sign.
I bout crapped !!!

Someone could have been killed.
I took it back to the shop and our welders installed a pintle hitch on the truck & trailer...no more problems.
But, yeah...that is scary.
Dave

[beelzelboss]

What part of your trailer popped out? I might only be 16, but I've been towing stuff with my dad long before I can remember. Little jet skis up to a 7 ton boat (which I have towed around!! One of the hardest things to drive)... The only time I can think that anything we have done that comes close to this is backing out of our driveway the trailor hitch popped off because the angle was very akward, but as soon as it happened we stopped (we were doing about a mph to try and avoid that same problem).

that has to be SO extremely scary though... How big were the chains.. and did you have one or two of them?

[Tama]

Originally Posted by beelzelboss

What part of your trailer popped out? I might only be 16, but I've been towing stuff with my dad long before I can remember. Little jet skis up to a 7 ton boat (which I have towed around!! One of the hardest things to drive)... The only time I can think that anything we have done that comes close to this is backing out of our driveway the trailor hitch popped off because the angle was very akward, but as soon as it happened we stopped (we were doing about a mph to try and avoid that same problem).

that has to be SO extremely scary though... How big were the chains.. and did you have one or two of them?

Hey Beelzelboss.
It was a while ago, but I think I remember it had a busted lock-down. The guy who loaded the trailer and hooked it up didnt notice it I guess.

It wasnt locked down properly and a bump unloaded the tongue weight and it simply popped off.

Yeah, I know....It was my responsibility to double check the other guys work.
Just missed it I guess. Our guys are usually very careful and I shouldn't have just assumed they wouldn't make a mistake.


I learned a lesson that day. Thankfully, it could have been much worse.
Dave

Oh, I forgot...the chains did their job and it skidded to a stop behind the 1 ton....still I felt really stupid just the same.

[swhebert]

The receiver for the ball has an adjustment that, if too loose, will allow the ball to pop out. Once had this happened to mine when the trailer was not loaded with more weight on the tongue, but since yours was dragging on the ground, seems more likely that it came off on a bump. I assume the ball/hitch sizes are the same.
Scared the dickens out of me too.
Chains on most commercially sold trailers are inadequate IMHO. I weld on heavy duty 5/16 or 3/8 chains with heavier duty hooks.
Best,
Steve

[Tama]

Originally Posted by swhebert

The receiver for the ball has an adjustment that, if too loose, will allow the ball to pop out. Once had this happened to mine when the trailer was not loaded with more weight on the tongue, but since yours was dragging on the ground, seems more likely that it came off on a bump. I assume the ball/hitch sizes are the same.
Scared the dickens out of me too.
Chains on most commercially sold trailers are inadequate IMHO. I weld on heavy duty 5/16 or 3/8 chains with heavier duty hooks.
Best,
Steve

Yeah Steve, I agree about the chains.
We now use pintle hooks...they are so much stronger & better overall.

Truthfully, in Illinois, you can ONLY drive a commercial vehicle if you have a CDL license !!

This means I was driving illegally, but I didnt know it at the time.
We have since had our driver get the State physical & CDL. Also, all the required stickers & permits.
If you get caught without all the necessary stuff going out of state, you'll get in a heap of trouble.
Cheers, Dave