New modification

[Bruce Thomas]

Surprisingly little damage for sure...the draw bar isn't the hitch however..chains needed to be hooked to vehicle....not the departing bar....I'm curious to see your hitch too...wondering how the chains are actually attached.
You said your pin came out...did it have one of those big Jesus type clips shown in the pic above in post #6 ? Can't believe that popped out.

[Daniel A.]

Originally Posted by floyd

me too, apparently it was the drawbar (ball mount)which came off.

But the chains should have held if properly crossed over.

[Daniel A.]

Originally Posted by pjanits

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

Sorry I mention chains I could only assume they were not in play.

[floyd]

Originally Posted by pjanits

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

That second paragraph makes sense, and that's why I explained that I use locks.
I can't reconcile paragraph #1 with Paragraph #2... why or how did you not loose the drawbar (ball mount)?
Please excuse my failure to comprehend.

[Raspy]

It seems the clip got away and let the cross pin escape, which let the ball mount escape. And it seems the chains were hooked to the ball mount. A cascade of events where everything was arranged for failure.

I've never been very comfortable with the pin retaining clips doing the critical job they do. So I use a 5/8" grade 5, or stainless steel bolt. In my case the bolt is 5" long so that there are no threads in the hitch hole, just a clean bolt surface to carry the load. Then I install a nylock nut. This will not vibrate off under any circumstances and it also acts as a deterrent to theft, because someone would have to have two 7/8" wrenches to get it apart and it would take a while to do it. Not perfect, but likely to be beyond what was at hand. And it will not come apart while driving.

I'm really surprised the trailer did not crash much worse than it did, as it gouged into the ground and steered off the road.

I'm tempted to say "lucky", but lucky would be if it didn't happen at all.

[Raspy]

Originally Posted by floyd

That second paragraph makes sense, and that's why I explained that I use locks.
I can't reconcile paragraph #1 with Paragraph #2... why or how did you not loose the drawbar (ball mount)?
Please excuse my failure to comprehend.

Now I'm puzzled too. "the drawbar stayed on the car". Hmmm. Pictures would be nice.

I think the "drawbar", in this case is the hitch itself. The part bolted to the car frame that has the receiver hole.

[dmad1]

Another hard learned lesson. Had my hitch on my motorhome welded on instead of bolted . While towing the boat, the flexing tore the hitch out of the frame and as a result, everything came off. Luckily, the hitch acted like a ski and it came to a stop in the grass between the freeway lanes.

[Glenn Baglo]

Originally Posted by floyd

look here...

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

Towing Terms and Definitions

Kinda like trucks are vehicles, but not all vehicles are trucks. They use 'hitch' to describe various parts that comprise the hitch.

[pjanits]

Yep a big Jesus clip I checked twice. The Kentucky road I75 was very bumpy I'm sure it added to the problem. I still can't believe it happened.

[pjanits]

You got it. The photo shown of the part on the car whatever you want to call it is what I saw left after everything else went down the road. And we are not talking about chains at all remember?

[pjanits]

Originally Posted by dmad1

Another hard learned lesson. Had my hitch on my motorhome welded on instead of bolted . While towing the boat, the flexing tore the hitch out of the frame and as a result, everything came off. Luckily, the hitch acted like a ski and it came to a stop in the grass between the freeway lanes.

Scary site huh? I know what you mean.

[pjanits]

Anyway Dave's long post on fiberglass repairs will come in very handy when I get home in 7 weeks or so.

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by pjanits

... And we are not talking about chains at all remember?

Sorry but you don't get to make that rule, even if you do say it in three different posts.

[ShelbyM]

Wonder if some low life could have pulled the clip? Had you stopped at a rest area?

[dmad1]

I had a clip partially come out a few years ago. It looked as if the pin had turned and had pushed the clip out about half way. I drilled the hole out large enough to fit a small pad lock.

[gordon2]

So have we established that it was the draw bar pin that slipped out? And if so have we established that the pin was held by a clip only? I am still so confused about this....

But if the answers to my questions are YES and YES then see my post about the same type of clip failing on the Ultimate Jack. The issue could be the same, a clip that had weakened or been bent, etc, so it was not secure. I would NEVER trust my hitch assemble to a simple hitch pin clip. As Floyd pointed out, a locking draw bar pin is not so much for theft prevention but instead to prevent the pin from coming out in normal use.

[Glenn Baglo]

I have had an R-pin snap on me while installing it.

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

I have had an R-pin snap on me while installing it.

R-Pin? Googled it.. OIC. Heard it called many things but never an R-Pin. Goes to show that terminology is regional, vague and often does not make it clear WTF one is talking about. But yes, these pins (by any name) are not for critical applications.

https://www.google.com/search?q=r-pi...HcpjCuIQsAQINg

[Glenn Baglo]

Well, you got U-bolts, I-beams. Why not R-pins?
Not vague at all. It's the only term in this thread so far that clearly describes the item.

[Cathi]

It seems that the OP is referring to the receiver staying with the car but saying "drawbar." I am supposing that the drawbar (ball mount) departed due to the pin disappearing.

I always had trouble with that R-pin or whatever you want to call it and we use a locking pin. Also a lock on the coupler latch. Oh, yeah, also chains. Then there is that other little thing for such incidents, not mentioned here.