The Trailer Guardian

[Neil W']

Has anyone ever tried a product called "The Trailer Guardian" on their hitch? I've been reading good reports on it and wondered if anyone has used it. Looks like an excellent safety device.

www.durasafelocks.com
ph 866-544-5615

[Chester Taje]

It could be a good item.
http://www.durasafe-usa.com/

[Neil W']

Thats what I thought. You can never be too safe and when you read the stories about the damage done when hitches come off this might be an excellent investment.
Will probably look into one once my trailer is on the road.

[Brian B-P]

Interesting, Neil. I had not heard of this product; thanks for telling us about it.

Originally posted by DuraSafe
Helps prevent accidental decoupling caused by mismatched ball and coupler, loss of ball nut, coupler not properly secured and equipment failures

The idea that someone would go to the trouble of adding this device and adjusting it properly, but not bother to use the right size ball, seems bizarre to me.

Has anyone ever had a towing ball nut loosen? It seems to me that the problem is getting them off when you want to!

Maybe I'm just getting old and forgetful, but to me adding yet another piece of equipment will likely increase the chance that the coupler will not be properly secured - I would rather concentrate on getting the existing coupler and safety chains in place properly, rather than adding yet another level of backup, and more steps to the coupling procedure.


It does look like an interesting anti-theft locking device, but no so interesting that I personally want to add the hardware.

[Victor Benz]

It is an internesting item, but I'm with Brian B-P on this one.

Another point; when you look at the photos on the website for the Guardian, I fond it interesting that the Guardian comes with a key lock, anf the normal ball lock on the hitch doesn'r even have a pin it it!

I can guarantee that if you do not lock that clip, the chances of a disconnect increases dramatically!

Vic

[Herb P]

Has anyone ever had a towing ball nut loosen? It seems to me that the problem is getting them off when you want to!

Actually, I have... I was towing a 17 foot ski-boat down a bit of a country road (out to ghost dam) when suddenly I heard a horrific scraping noise. I looked in the mirror and saw the boat not in the position it was in the last time I checked the mirror. My instinct was to apply the brakes which caused the boat to assume ramming speed which damaged my rear bumper. Within 100ms I got my wits about me and slowly pulled over and coasted to a stop. The ball was still in the trailer but the nut was long gone. I used a long crescent wrench to tighten the nut on with the lock washer so I was puzzled as to why it came off... The threads on the ball were trashed due to scraping on the ground and eventually that ball became my 'lock ball'. as in, I'd lock that ball into any trailer I didn't want stolen (as long as it was a 2" hitch)...

Maybe I'm just getting old and forgetful, but to me adding yet another piece of equipment will likely increase the chance that the coupler will not be properly secured - I would rather concentrate on getting the existing coupler and safety chains in place properly, rather than adding yet another level of backup, and more steps to the coupling procedure.
It does look like an interesting anti-theft locking device, but no so interesting that I personally want to add the hardware.

I always make a point of jacking up the back of the truck with the tongue jack after I have the trailer hooked up securely (to within reason) just to check that the trailer is securely locked on the ball.

[Mike Taylor]

I had a nut come off while towing my Compact II several years ago. I went over Sherman Pass and Parker Pass with many twisty sections of road. When I started climbing a steep hill out of California Hot Springs the trailer popped off and drug just a short distance being as it was uphill and the chains held it some also. Never did find the nut but I had a spare ball and nut on my step bumper. I think it was from an over tight fit of the ball and hitch and many turns in the road (over 100 turns maybe).

[Gina D.]

It does not look like a bad idea to me at all, and would not take more than a second or two to attach. Cheap and easy insurnace.

It won't fit with my wdh tho... and probably won't with most without some modification to the plate the ball mount is on.

Dang.

[Neil W']

I see both sides of the story but in reading this thread already and many previous ones about tounge damage and even frame damage from coming unhitched I'm thinking more and more it is a good idea. I also like the fact it is there if you have multiple trailers ie: boat, utility or whatever.

It was mentioned about enough things to check. In our Motorhome my wife and I have an old converted Bingo card. I don't know if you've ever seen one but they have a row of windows under each letter where the numbers should be. We have replaced the letters with notes such as propane, awning, steps, jacks etc. One of goes around and checks each thing closing the window if it's done, then the other one takes the card and goes in reverse opening the window. Works excellent and actually only takes acouple of minutes to have everything double checked.

Have a good one

[Steve Gardner]

I had a nut come off while towing my Compact II several years ago. I went over Sherman Pass and Parker Pass with many twisty sections of road. When I started climbing a steep hill out of California Hot Springs the trailer popped off and drug just a short distance being as it was uphill and the chains held it some also. Never did find the nut but I had a spare ball and nut on my step bumper. I think it was from an over tight fit of the ball and hitch and many turns in the road (over 100 turns maybe).

Hi ... please forgive my naivete ... as you can see, I'm not an RV'er yet, but sure hope to be. The Trailer Guardian sounds like an interesting product and, thanks to Chester and Marie, I was able to check it out on the Dura Safe website. Looks like something that would offer a lot of peace of mind ... especially when a new guy like me gets out there the first time.

Be safe

[Rob S.]

Interesting, Neil. I had not heard of this product; thanks for telling us about it.
The idea that someone would go to the trouble of adding this device and adjusting it properly, but not bother to use the right size ball, seems bizarre to me.

Has anyone ever had a towing ball nut loosen? It seems to me that the problem is getting them off when you want to!

Maybe I'm just getting old and forgetful, but to me adding yet another piece of equipment will likely increase the chance that the coupler will not be properly secured - I would rather concentrate on getting the existing coupler and safety chains in place properly, rather than adding yet another level of backup, and more steps to the coupling procedure.
It does look like an interesting anti-theft locking device, but no so interesting that I personally want to add the hardware.

Brian, I think you read it a little to quickly. It doesn't say anything about the wrong size ball. It is refering to mismatched as in not aligned or latched properly. I have had the hitch sit properly on the ball flipped the lever and the catch inside not release due to rust buildup. Fortunately, I when inside the tailer and did a wheelie when I walked to the back of the trailer. Other than feeling a little silly no harm, no foul.

Rob

[Brian B-P]

Brian, I think you read it a little to quickly. It doesn't say anything about the wrong size ball. It is referring to mismatched as in not aligned or latched properly....

It also explicitly lists "coupler not secured properly"; either the list of conditions is redundant, or they really mean mis-matched, meaning not the same size.

At least one member here has reported an incident involving a trailer towed with an undersize ball, which is easy to do if one is changing between trailers; a 2" coupler will seem to latch nicely over a 1-7/8" ball, but may well fall off later if not retained by something like the Trailer Guardian. I actually did this myself once, and realized my error as soon as I pulled away and felt too much slack in the coupling.

It certainly is easy to accidentally fail to get the coupler properly engaged... I just think that's what they meant by "coupler not secured properly".

[Pete Dumbleton]

The last time I bought a new ball, it came with a special "squash" washer that would squash out to the sides when the ball nut was properly torqued. In order to do it right, I would up using a pipe extension on my wrench.... IOW, if you have torqued your nut properly, it is highly unlikely that the nut will ever come loose. However, the ball shank was also drilled thru near the bottom so that a large cotter pin (supplied) could be installed to prevent an improperly torqued nut from being lost.

BTW, the 1 7/8" ball I have is rated for 5,000lbs, not the usual 2,000lbs. I got it from UHaul by special order (about $9) on a tip from a Yahoo Scamper.

https://store.uhaul.com/master_produ...il.aspx?id=104

I prefer to put padlocks in the coupler and in the pin securing my ball mount in the receiver. The padlock in the coupler ensures that the latch is properly closed and will stay that way.

I am in the habit of occasionally checking that my coupler is properly adjusted (Yes, they are adjustable by a nut that is visible from underneath). If my coupler components appear corroded, then I would order a replacement kit.

[Robert B]

I'm definitely not any kind of towing expert, so I'm not sure about the Guardian, but the Couple-Mate looks very handy.

[Brian B-P]

Just to finish off the discussion of the manufacturer's intent regarding "mismatched" components...
I sent DuraSafe this question:

I see on your website that the Trailer Guardian is intended help "prevent accidental decoupling caused by mismatched ball and coupler..." By this, do you mean accidentally losing the trailer because it has a different size coupler (2", for instance) than the ball on the hitch (1-7/8", for instance)?

and they provided this reply:

Thanks for contacting us. Yes, the Trailer Guardian does prevent the coupler from accidentally popping off the tow ball during travel if an improper tow ball size is used. There are instances when people either forget or don't realize a coupler calls for a specific size tow ball and when not matched up correctly the coupler can pop off. This can be a dangerous situation.

Best regards,

Cathy
DuraSafe, Inc.
866-544-5615 phone
262-544-4273 fax

I would still rather ensure that the coupling is correct by the methods recommended here (pulling up with the trailer jack) than hook up another device each time; I would rather ensure that the ball is correctly installed (such as by the methods Pete described) than install another device; and the think the "pre-flight checklist" approach is more valuable than adding another task to be forgotten.

But hey, if it helps you, go for it!

[Brian B-P]

Pete, I'm surprised that you didn't list the ball mount with the hex recess to match a hex on the base of the ball (I think from Reese?) which you described in an earlier topic. This would address the cause of ball&nut loosening which Mike encountered.

[Benny K]

I believe that if you have the coupler properly adjusted for a 2" ball and inadvertently put o a 1 7/8" ball, the coupler will be still set too small for the smaller ball to slip thru the coupler....unless maybe if you ran a great distance with a too light tongue weight and the coupler was continually trying to lift off the ball.......As to the ball coming off...if the nut is properly tightened with a new or uncollapsed fairly new lock washer, you'll have a hard time getting the nut off the ball even with the use of a large shop vise and a 24" pipe wrench.....and then again as mentioned by others why not use a cotter pin in the threaded shank as a back up?.......Benny