Broken coupler

[itlives]

So, I get my brakes done -which was a feat all by itself-
This was one of the back brakes-

Also, detangle this mess to hook up some temporary lights-

I also ordered and got in a bolt on receiver hitch -no problems - yay!
First trip with the new 1980 F-150-

I make it about three miles and hit a big dip in the interstate and BAM! the coupler twists off doing 60 MPH on a bridge. I manage to get pulled over on the shoulder. Thanks to putting my two spare tires on the tongue, when the trailer came up and hit the truck, there was no fiberglass damage. I just happened to also put on my oversized safety chains. I'll never go without them again!
The trailer tore off my wires and 7-pin and 4-pin plugs and the concrete did away with the hooks for the safety chains.
So my friend comes out with his 2000W Honda genny and his Lincoln welder. I go home and get a grinder and some electrolytes and a quick trip to Harbor Freight gets a new coupler that fits like rooster socks.
It's about 130F on the pavement with trucks and cars rushing by. The sun is laughing at us!
I get to cutting and grinding. He gets his genny going and we fixed it right on the side of bridge good enough to get home.
This is one trip that wasn't meant to be. So sad....
Now though, I'll have a 2" ball and new metal.
Moral- We should ALWAYS check our old campers for stress fractures.


The welds are ugly now but that welder was really working the little 2000 watt generator. I'll clean them up tomorrow...

Glad me or no other passersby got hurt!
Good end to this little story!
And yes, I did have a beer after I got home. It's my third beer of the year!

[Otters]

So glad you, your Trillium and all other drivers on that Highway are unscathed by this. The trailer guy I go to put those enormous safety chains on my Scamp last month. I thought it seemed a little overkill. Now I'm glad he did it. Safe travels to you down the road.

[Donna D.]

Oh my I finally got around to reading your thread Mike. Glad everyone and everything came away relatively unscathed. Scary though!

Just reading it makes me think I should have a beer.

[Raz]

That's scary. Glad you're ok. I'm unclear what failed. Was it the metal coupler, the welds, or the frame? Raz

[itlives]

Originally Posted by P. Raz

That's scary. Glad you're ok. I'm unclear what failed. Was it the metal coupler, the welds, or the frame? Raz

There were two very small stress cracks that I never saw -not that I looked real hard either. One on either side of the hitch. When I hit a big dip, it opened up the cracks enough to twist and come off the ball.

Donna - Thanks! It was the first time anything like happened to me. And yes, it was scary!

The body will come off the frame this year! Looking at others' frame pictures, I see places where they welded support braces. Me thinks that's a good idea!

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by itlives

There were two very small stress cracks that I never saw -not that I looked real hard either. One on either side of the hitch. When I hit a big dip, it opened up the cracks enough to twist and come off the ball.

So, the answer to the question of which part failed is: the body of the coupler.

I have to wonder how massively overload that coupler might have been...

[Terry G]

Congrats on your repair but the highlight of your post to me was "...a quick trip to Harbor Freight gets a new coupler that fits like rooster socks." Do you really dress your chickens down in Louisiana?

[itlives]

Originally Posted by Terry G

Congrats on your repair but the highlight of your post to me was "...a quick trip to Harbor Freight gets a new coupler that fits like rooster socks." Do you really dress your chickens down in Louisiana?

Have you ever seen rooster socks? No?
That's because they fit so good!

[Roger C H]

Rooster socks are as fine as frog hair.

[Ve3iny]

I have a stress crack too, but noticed before too late. So i hired a welder to remove the original coupler, and install a new coupler similar to the harbour freight coupler you bought. But after the welder removed the old coupler, and cleaned up the frame, we noticed the old Boler frame had an angle of 45 degrees instead of 50 degrees. So now I have a Boler that I cant pull. All new couplers seem to be 50 degrees. You mentioned your harbour freight coupler fit like a sock, but in my case, there is a 3/8" gap on either side of the coupler (at the end closest to trailer, and on both aides) so the welder could weld the top lip of the coupler, but could not fill the gap.

Just curious how your welder did the install. Did the sides of your coupler lay flush against the sides of your frame ? Or was there a gap, and if so how did your guy fill it in ?

Anyone else run inti his problem ?

[mary and bob]

Years ago I installed a coupler where the frame angle was different than the new coupler. I was working in a machine shop at the time so milled out a couple wedge shaped spacers to fill the gap

[RogerDat]

I talked to a welding shop about changing my coupler and wondered about the angle difference creating a gap. They said if there was a gap they would shim and weld.

Did not go ahead since I would still need two stingers since my utility trailer and camper are at different heights. Not much gained by larger ball to match utility trailer.

[itlives]

Ve3iny- my welder was me! I have since sold the Trillium but as I remember, the only place that took a lot of wire was underneath. It wasn't anything my little Harbor Freight wire welder couldn't handle,though.
I'm not a trained welder. I just learned on my own. I trust my wleding. I know what good penetration is.
The couple that bought the Trillium have not called back with any problems so I'm guessing it's fine!

I would like to take this opportunity to say I had a great time on this friendly site! Very friendly folks in here!
I've gone minimalist, I'm into motorcycle camping now. !
Again, I had a fun time with all y'all!

[Ve3iny]

Thanks. I agree ... Friendly group ... This problem has been plaguing me for a but now ... My wife wants to go camping, and the Bolers gathering moss in the driveway. Thanks for the great shim idea. I'm not a machinist, but I just happen to have a mill, lathe and 3D printer in my garage. So i had a bite to eat, and voila ... One shim ... I'll make the other one tomorrow night, and then call my welder back. I hope this works ..

[War Eagle]

When you replace the wooden handle of an ax or sledge hammer, you slide one end of the new handle up into the center hole in the ax or hammer head until flush, then there is a metal wedge that you pound down into the exposed end to spread the wood, and that pressure of the wood pushed hard against the metal holds the new wooden handle in place. It looks like a pack of those small metal wedges from a hardware store, say 3 or 4 per side, to go from bottom to top, would fill the gap for welding. Maybe. And I'd think they would be relatively cheap because they are old school...

[ruscal]

Originally Posted by Ve3iny

I have a stress crack too, but noticed before too late. So i hired a welder to remove the original coupler, and install a new coupler similar to the harbour freight coupler you bought. But after the welder removed the old coupler, and cleaned up the frame, we noticed the old Boler frame had an angle of 45 degrees instead of 50 degrees. So now I have a Boler that I cant pull. All new couplers seem to be 50 degrees. You mentioned your harbour freight coupler fit like a sock, but in my case, there is a 3/8" gap on either side of the coupler (at the end closest to trailer, and on both aides) so the welder could weld the top lip of the coupler, but could not fill the gap.

Just curious how your welder did the install. Did the sides of your coupler lay flush against the sides of your frame ? Or was there a gap, and if so how did your guy fill it in ?

Anyone else run inti his problem ?

When I installed a Bulldog coupler on our 2003 Scamp I ran into that angle mismatch. I ended up taking 2 wedge cuts out of the Bulldog coupler and bent it closed, beveled, and welded it back together with full penetration welds. The closed wedges fell right down the centerlines of the Scamp tongue members. It was then welded to the Scamp per Bulldog instructions and looks like it was made for it.
I enjoy using the bulldog coupler, as it is easy to line up and close with a positive latching mechanism. I added an 4" extension lever welded onto the Bulldog closing tab which really improved the ease of opening the coupler. The lever has a gear shift knob for ergonomics. I may be able to post a picture if anyone is interested.
Russ

[Ve3iny]

Thank you for all the replies and suggestions. Finally found a mobile Welder come to my house yesterday to get us back on the road. Went with the wedge idea - although I almost slit the coupler like the last post suggested, but only had one cutting disk left, and Welder was already backing into driveway. This sucker will never come off ! Also took advantage of 3/8" thick end of wedge for to weld safety chains to. Nice and secure now. Previous owner had chains fastened using a single 1/4" bolt through the middle of old couplet. Thanks all ...