Re: Your not going to believe this!!
 

That was probably the best possible thing that could have happened to you. If the hitch was going to come off, it was going to. Better at 10MPH than 70 on the interstate.

Get a pintle.

Re: Your not going to believe this!!
 

Gino, did you have safety chains or cables? The only chain I see in the photo is the small one for the breakaway system.

Re: Your not going to believe this!!
 

Yes, there a 2 heavy chains. They are running parallel with the trailer in the photo and you can see them.

Re: Your not going to believe this!!
 

Gino, unfrigginbelievable! There should be an award. :evilb:

Re: Your not going to believe this!!
 

I also have lost my boat and trailer on one occasion. We had invited another couple along for a Holiday weekend at our LOTO home. Dropped a valve during the Friday evening shakedown run and were done for the weekend.

On Sunday evening I decided to drive the 25 miles each way to get the trailer from the storage lot to save some time on Monday. On Monday morning I made the 10 mile drive to the ramp with the truck and trailer and got a ride back to the house to begin the long 3 hour idle to the ramp.

Got to the ramp, my buddy backed the trailer in ready to load and noticed that another boater from AZ had backed his very nice lifted 4X4 Silverado Crew Cab in very close to mine. Not a big deal, but this ramp was about six lanes wide, no one else was there at the time and I was needing to load the cat on only one engine. After a little effort, I got the boat loaded and winched up onto the trailer just fine.

I got down off the boat, got in the truck with my wife and her friend, put the dually in 4-Lo and headed up the ramp. Now this was a very long ramp of about 300' which then levels off at the top. Just as the truck levels off at the top, I hear POP-BANG, glance in the mirror and see the boat is leavin' :eek:

I remember this being "the longest ten seconds of my life", watching my boat go backwards down the ramp, gaining speed the whole way. I could hear the tongue scraping tarmac. I remember thinking the boat was going to miss this guys truck, then no, it's got it, then no, it'll miss it etc. The port trim tab caught his truck in the right headlight and didn't stop until it opened his glove box. It broke the port outdrive off but the trim tab plate mounted to the boat saved the hull from major damage. His truck was totaled.

Now all along, I thought that I couldn't have possibly had the trailer latched down completely over the ball, although I always feel for the latch with my hand. But was confused as to how the trailer had made a trip on 30-40 miles over many dips and bumps without coming off the ball. The trailer doesn't have excessive tongue weight without the boat.

My tongue is exactly as Gino's, and did not come unlatched. It just appeared to come off the ball. Has anyone else had this problem? Is it possible that something stretched enough while pulling out to allow it to come free? Post inspection showed nothing out of the ordinary although I replaced the tongue and coupler afterwords.

BTW, I had safety cables on the trailer and they simply snapped like string. I now have very heavy chain that I wrap around the trailer and then around the 3" crossbar of the receiver hitch on the truck but have also wondered if I really want the boat and trailer to stay with me in the case of a higher speed accident.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

My wife and her friend that were in the truck with me at the time only remember the comment I made when the boat was going backwards down the ramp. "Let's all watch this, This is something you won't see everyday !"

Re: Your not going to believe this!!
 

Gino, that drawbar is only rated for 10K lbs. anyhow.

Throw it out. Its another accident waiting to happen.

Re: Your not going to believe this!!
 

I assume you had drum brakes (that do not work in reverse). If you had disc brakes and your break-away system had worked properly, your trailer would have stopped immediately.

Another advantage of disc over drums.

Re: Your not going to believe this!!
 

I have disc. The problem is the cable for the brake away is not shorter then the 2 saftey chains. The break away never pulled out. This is the way it was from Myco. Should I shorten the break away?

Re: Your not going to believe this!!
 

The break away chain is longer than the safety chains intentionally..

Re: Your not going to believe this!!
 

Mine did have drums. The small breakaway chain pulled apart before setting the brakes anyway. The breakaway lever was extremely stiff on the old coupler. The breakaway lever appears to have to pull through a crimped together area before it will set the brakes.

Re: Your not going to believe this!!
 

If you lock the ball hitch with a trailer lock, I don't see how it would pop off.

Re: Your not going to believe this!!
 

I didn't have a lock on mine at the time. So your saying that it could have lifted the latching lever enough to come off the ball? I do have to pull forward on the latching lever before being able to lift it up. It has a small catch on it.


I know a pintle hook with elec over hyd. brakes would eliminate this possibility, but don't they rattle and shake you quite a bit?

Re: Your not going to believe this!!
 

Hey Gino! As long as the boat is running great, who cares about the f*ckin truck.... :evilb:

I have to meet this guy.......

:drink: zzie

Re: Your not going to believe this!!
 

Your exactly right! The truck is only to pull the boat!! The boat is whats important!!

Re: Your not going to believe this!!
 

And BTW here is one for you,,, I was leaving a Dunkin Donuts shop last summer,, a very busy afternoon, and as I was waiting for a break in the traffic to get out on the highway, I see a dodge convertible heading for me,, in reverse,, no one in the car! There is a woman and guy running after the car, I quick look behind me,, can't back up, a line of cars, right behind the boat waiting to also get out on the highway, and no break in front of me,, no where to go,, I know the car is going to hit me,, and I am not sure if it is going to hit the boat, or my BRAND NEW SUV, well I could only stay and wait,, thank god the car hits me square in the door, and doesn't hit the boat,, the car is running and in reverse,, the women got out of the car, thought she shifted up into park, but only went as far as reverse,, and got out of the car,, wouldn't you know,, she had no Insurance,,All I kept saying when the cops got there, was, "thank god the boat didn't get hit" They were amazed I didn't seem to upset about the SUV, and was grateful the boat was OK,,,,

Re: Your not going to believe this!!
 

Not one's that match. I see guys with trailers with little rings hooked to big pintles- those move around. Plus, tongue weight and pulling force keeps up on the slack. On railroad tracks, it will bang a little. Going from pull to decel, it will clunk. So what. It's not going to ever come off.

Also, make sure you use the heaviest setup you can find for your electrical umbilical and move it well away from the hitch. If you do pop off (or if something breaks) you can use your dash brake controller manually to stop the rig. If the disconnect shears the cable or simply unplugs it, you have a problem. If you get good engagemenbt on the trailer brakes you can stop your pull rig in a perfectly straight line. If you have to stop the trailer with the rig the trailer can go left or right to the limit of your safety chains. That's enough to roll a trailer and take the truck with you.

On safety chains- chain is rated by grade. Only use grade 70 or 80 chain. 70 is transport rated- 80 is for overhead lifting. You can also get 100 but it's incredibly expensive and unneccesary. 30 and 43 won't cut it. If your chain is shiny silver and the links are unmarked, it's only slightly better than a piece of rope. 70 and 80 are almost always flat black coated or irridited (gold-colored) plated. Usually it's marked (stamped) on the side of the link. New 80 is almost always tagged with a certification label- little aluminum plate on a ring. If it's attached with a 3/8" bolt through the side of the trailer rail, it will probably just tear out. Also, never trust the rings on the hitch. Mine goes around the main hitch tube.

Re: Your not going to believe this!!
 

We have to call the style channel and get Gino on a episode of try my life! :eek:

Re: Your not going to believe this!!
 

We handle the square link hi security chain, lately I have started using it for safety chain on customers trailers.. Cut long enough, I can wrap it around the hitch "body" or the truck frame and then lock it with a high security lock... Kills 2 birds with one stone...

Re: Your not going to believe this!!
 

Is it load rated? The concern I would have is that it might be too tough- i.e. brittle. Plus, square links don't distribute the load like oval one's. It's worth checking out- you probably wouldn't want to incur that kind of liability with a customer's rig.

BTW, Grade 80 is just about impossible to cut with bolt cutters. I have 4' one's and I ruined the inserts on 5/16".

Re: Your not going to believe this!!
 

Gino ---- Not sure how noticable it was when I saw you at the Cig. booth in Lauderdale, but I was trying to stay as far away from you as possible.... I couldn't imagine what I would do if even 1% of your carma rubbed off on me!!! :D :D

Suggestion: Make an offering to the Gods (a reeeeally good one) - quickly!!!!!!!! :D

Joe

Re: Your not going to believe this!!
 

I had one of these custom fit to my hitch setup:

http://www.durasafe-usa.com/images/g...pplication.jpg

It secures the coupler to the hitch ball in the event of coupler failure, hitch ball nut failure and also secured from theft with a lock and visual deterrent.

http://www.durasafe-usa.com/guardian.htm


Also, I hook the trailer-brake break-away chain to a DIFFERENT part of the truck than the hitch. That way in case of catastrophic hitch failure, the break-away chain should still be attached to the truck, and will engage the brakes.

Re: Your not going to believe this!!
 

I did notice that!!
I plan on making an offering! I have been looking for a virgin.

Re: Your not going to believe this!!
 

Too bad you live in South Florida, gonna have to hang at the elementary schools to find a virgin :rolleyes: :D

Re: Your not going to believe this!!
 

Gino- What year Freightliner and which engine?

There are reports of many engine problems. Freightliner at one time bought engine components from CAT but assembled the engines themselves- many of these are dropping valvles at 175k miles or so. They also are very problematic, and CAT will NOTstand behind them- they didn't assemble them.

Know a guy who tows a big horse trailer got stuck in Tampa for a week & 1/2 waiting for a replacement engine.

Wannabe