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Old 05-23-2017, 11:20 AM   #1
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On the first day of our 7 to 8 weeks cross country road trip, I felt a lightness towing the trailer on I75 three lanes wide in Kentucky at 66 mph. I looked into the mirror and saw what looked like the space landing module moving away from the space station. Seems at though the pin holding the hitch fell/broke off ??? Anyway it was kind of scary watching the trailer weaving across all the lanes. A guy in a pickup and a trucker held the traffic back while this slow motion fun was happening. It first hit the guard rail on the right then slowly moved over to the left of the road and hit the concrete barrier about 8 or nine times. I bring this up because when you see the damage that was done and compare that with what it would have been with a stick built you will be amazed. Thankfully it was contained on the road , nobody ran into it and it didn't flip. Safety chains, someone will say. I had them. Hooked to the hitch,unfortunately the hitch left the car. Safety chains should be attached to the car, someone will say. We will not talk about safety chains anymore.
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Old 05-23-2017, 11:24 AM   #2
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The round hole taped up is the marine hatch for my air conditioner, it's in Kentucky somewhere. I have a new on on order. After some thought I think we will continue the journey and repair the Burro when we get home. All the cracks are now covered with white duct tape so there are no leaks yet and I don't think the cracks will grow too much more as we travel. Pretty solid little trailer I must say. By the way I no longer trust the hitch pins with the little clips, even though I have used them for years and checked it twice this time before leaving. I now will only use locking pins.
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Old 05-23-2017, 12:23 PM   #3
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Originally Posted by pjanits View Post
By the way I no longer trust the hitch pins with the little clips, even though I have used them for years and checked it twice this time before leaving. I now will only use locking pins.
Pete,

Wow! That's quite the story!

I have a locking hitch pin and I worry that the silly thing will fail and let go as the lock is not of any terrifically high quality.

I have been using a bungee as a sort-of backup pin restraint, but it probably would not be very effective.

I would actually like to have something more reliable. Maybe I will drill the locking pin to allow using an additional clip or retainer of some sort.

Two belts and suspenders sounds good to me!
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Old 05-23-2017, 12:48 PM   #4
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Originally Posted by pjanits View Post
The round hole taped up is the marine hatch for my air conditioner, it's in Kentucky somewhere. I have a new on on order. After some thought I think we will continue the journey and repair the Burro when we get home. All the cracks are now covered with white duct tape so there are no leaks yet and I don't think the cracks will grow too much more as we travel. Pretty solid little trailer I must say. By the way I no longer trust the hitch pins with the little clips, even though I have used them for years and checked it twice this time before leaving. I now will only use locking pins.

WOW. So glad you are OK. We use a locking pin that also screws in with a wrench. It keeps the receiver from rattling. I think it came from E-trailer.
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Old 05-23-2017, 01:05 PM   #5
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Hi, Pete. Oh my goodness! Thanks for sharing your story - wow Glad it wasn't worse, as you said...and that it's all repairable!
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Old 05-23-2017, 01:22 PM   #6
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Did you mean that you lost the hitch or just the ball mount?


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Old 05-23-2017, 01:41 PM   #7
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I use a locking pin for my ball mount and a lock on my coupler.
My concern is less accidental loss than vandalism.
Some vandal could simply pull the spring clip from the hitch pin when you are parked and you could go some distance before the the pin fell out.

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Old 05-23-2017, 01:41 PM   #8
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Chains should be hooked to your receiver, not your hitch. Lucky you,for sure. Carl
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Old 05-23-2017, 01:49 PM   #9
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Oh wow! It could have been SO much worse! Thank goodness you are all okay and the damage is limited enough that you can continue on your travels. We also use a pin with a lock, purchased because I was worried about theft, but glad to have after reading this!
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Old 05-23-2017, 02:54 PM   #10
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Chains should be hooked to your receiver, not your hitch. Lucky you,for sure. Carl
there seems to be some confusion of terms. Even the manufacturers confuse them sometimes.
the receiver is the hitch, and I assume you are referring to the draw bar or ball bar (or whatever) as the hitch.

E-trailer calls the receiver... the trailer hitch (most are receiver hitches)
they call the drawbar... the ball mount
They call the trailer part... the coupler
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Old 05-23-2017, 03:40 PM   #11
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The equalizer ball mount part, all of it. The nice curved equalizer bars made a very nice skid plate, Lots of sparks.
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Old 05-23-2017, 03:42 PM   #12
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Would like to see a photo of your receiver and hitch .

There are cases where the hitch is not adjusted to fit snugly on the ball to much play that can work its way off.
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Old 05-23-2017, 04:15 PM   #13
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My weight distribution hitch goes into the hitch receiver ( bolted to the tow vehicle ), so the receiver wouldn't be a hitch, as I understand it.
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Old 05-23-2017, 04:31 PM   #14
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My weight distribution hitch goes into the hitch receiver ( bolted to the tow vehicle ), so the receiver wouldn't be a hitch, as I understand it.

Mine does as well Glenn and the same for the chains.
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Old 05-23-2017, 08:02 PM   #15
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Would like to see a photo of your receiver and hitch .

There are cases where the hitch is not adjusted to fit snugly on the ball to much play that can work its way off.
Can we assume that you meant the coupler is not adjusted?
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Old 05-23-2017, 08:10 PM   #16
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Yes floyd I should have been clearer.

I'm still trying to understand what went wrong with the original poster trailer.
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Old 05-23-2017, 08:16 PM   #17
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Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo View Post
My weight distribution hitch goes into the hitch receiver ( bolted to the tow vehicle ), so the receiver wouldn't be a hitch, as I understand it.
look here...

https://www.etrailer.com/fitguide.htm

Towing Terms and Definitions

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Old 05-23-2017, 08:17 PM   #18
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Yes floyd I should have been clearer.

I'm still trying to understand what went wrong with the original poster trailer.
me too, apparently it was the drawbar (ball mount)which came off.
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Old 05-23-2017, 08:20 PM   #19
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Glad I am not the only one who, try as it might, could not possibly understand the situation. Words are vague, and towing terms even more so. Photos of what failed would be clear. Sounds like something was not done right but we need to know more to say for sure.
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Old 05-23-2017, 08:21 PM   #20
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The drawbar stayed on the car, everything else left but stayed intact on the trailer. The main pin on the drawbar disappeared. Why I don't know. The chains I know about, and we are not going to discuss chains.
Visualize this, you are all hooked up WD hitch and all. Pull the pin on the drawbar and drive away. It all comes out. Now imagine you are going 66 miles per hour and the pin comes out. Remember we are no going to mention chains
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