5er hitch, jaw return spring failure

[rweis]

I have a DrawTite 20k 5er hitch part # 6021.



I was in the truck bed today and noticed one of the two jaw return springs was broken and laying under the hitch.



Looking at the spring it appears that the hook end toward the middle of the hitch fatigued and broke off. I do not know if there is a safety issue with only one spring, but will be correcting the problem before I tow again. I always pad lock the hitch lever closed when towing.



Looks like the spring ends should have grease on them to prevent fatigueing. Mine did not but will have in the future.



Anyone know what the springs are for other than I think the obvious of returning the jaws to closed?



FYI, something I had not considered on the pre tow checklist.



Bob Weis

 

[HBarlow]

Bob,



I think Drawtite is a reputable company with a long history. Have you contacted them to discuss your hitch failure?



Drawtite would probably be interested in ensuring your hitch failure is understood and further failures are prevented if it resulted from a design or manufacturing flaw. The company might replace your hitch at no charge in order to have their engineers examine your failed hitch and implement revisions if needed.



Harvey

 

[rweis]

Emailed DrawTite,



They are sending a spring free of charge and a fax for installation.



Apparently there is one spring for the lock unlock handle and one spring for the jaws. Same spring part #.



I asked about the failure rate. They said there is some failure, but not very common. Just lucky I guess



I did order a spare spring from a local DrawTite installer. Would not want a spring break on the road and not sure of the hitch status.



Bob Weis