Trailer Hitch Problem

[HSpiering]

I have a 14ft utility trailer with two axils. I use coupe times a years, for the past 10 years. I hitched the trailer up and drove 80 miles. Turning into my driveway the trailer tire bounced on the edge of the ditch. Enough to make the trailer hitch bounce off the ball. I drug the trailer a few yards with the safety chains and ended up with a ding in my bumper. Can’t figure out how it could come off. The “keeper” for lack of better word that locks it on the ball is down with no other way to be half on or half off. I see a hole to put something through like a lock or bolt. Is this needed and can a trailer put upward force to cause the hitch to come off the ball? This was all made at a trailer company so the ball is the right size.

 

[BrianJ]

"If" you forgot to "close" the coupling latch, it could have bounced off then closed from the impact of falling, making it look like it was closed the whole time. A good safety measure is to put a lock or pin through the "hole", as you call it, to help assure the clasp doesn't open, as well as assure you don't forget to close the latch.



That being said, I had a coupler that was locked in position fail on my relatively new ATV trailer after hitting some large bumps on the highway.



In your scenario the coupler could have worn over the years enough to cause a loose connection. To be safe I would just replace the ball and trailer coupler, unless you feel as though you may have just forgot to close the latch on the coupler.

 

[HSpiering]

That's the thing. This latch you almost need to hold it up when dropping the trailer onto the ball. Then it locks into place. pretty fail safe so I thought. Glad it didn't happen going 60 miles per hr. Have not used the trailer that much. This thing is welded in place it would be a job to replace any of it.

 

[SSell]

I've had my utility trailer come off the ball 2x and dropped my boat trailer once. In each case the trailer coupler was not locked and just the right bump in the road got it to open. I always use a keyed hitch lock (a nut & bolt in a pinch) now, never had a problem since. There's nothing wrong with these couplers or hitch ball, still use them-----just make sure you lock the coupler!

 

[HSpiering]

SSELL

What I hear you say is , under with the right bump, the right time, the right place. The hitch can be knocked off the ball if the latch it is not locked down with a pin or bolt. If this is so it is new to me. I have heard of putting a lock through to keep someone from stealing the trailer but that’s about all. Sounds like a safety issue that is not talked about very much.

 

[jgillott]

SSELL

What I hear you say is , under with the right bump, the right time, the right place. The hitch can be knocked off the ball if the latch it is not locked down with a pin or bolt. If this is so it is new to me. I have heard of putting a lock through to keep someone from stealing the trailer but that’s about all. Sounds like a safety issue that is not talked about very much.

I'm afraid this happens much more that we know. A friend of mine borrowed my utility trailer and ended up having it come loose and bust up his back bumper and tailgate. He wasn't using a lock or bolt in the latch at the time.

 

[B.G. Smith]

The hitch won't just come off the ball, at least not if the hitch is latched and the ball and hitch are a matched size and the hitch is adjusted correctly. To check the adjustment, put the hitch on the ball and latch it. If the trailer is not too heavy, lift on the tongue and see if there is any slack in the connection. (If it is too heave you may have to use a jack. ) If there is up and down slack, unhitch, raise the trailer tongue and get down beneath so you can see up into the hitch. There should be a square nut on the rod that pulls the latch up under the ball when hooking up. Push up on the latch until the nut is free then tighten it a round or two. Try it on the ball and keep adjusting it until you can just barely get it latched. There should be a hook on the front end of the top lever that locks the hitch shut when closed and it should be spring loaded so it wont come un hooked. If it doesn't have this mechanism then use a lock or a pin through the hole you mentioned to keep the hitch locked. bg

 

[HSpiering]

My neighbor came over and we looked for that adjustment but have yet to find something that will make adjustments. He thought something should be there. Maybe not???

 

[GAmes]

Here's a dumb question. Do you have the right size ball? It couldn't be a 2" ball and a 2 5/16 coupler could it?

 

[B.G. Smith]

Here's a dumb question. Do you have the right size ball? It couldn't be a 2" ball and a 2 5/16 coupler could it?

Or a 1 7/8" ball and a 2" coupling??? bg

 

[B.G. Smith]

My neighbor came over and we looked for that adjustment but have yet to find something that will make adjustments. He thought something should be there. Maybe not???

If there is no adjustment on the hitch and the ball and coupler are the same size (2" and 2" etc) then to be safe you need to replace the coupler before you use the trailer again. bg

 

[Skydiver]

The ball or hitch could be worn out. Is it exposed to salt?

I use a pad lock on all my hitches, 5ver included. Never know when someone wants to play games.

 

[icman95]

Had it happen to me and I KNOW FOR A FACT that the ball size and the coupler size were matched. The coupler was worn out just enough to make it ever so slightly bigger than the ball so that when I hit the right bump it came off and the safety chains caught it. I don't use that particular trailer very much and have bought a new coupler, but haven't installed it yet.

 

[steved]

It takes a lot to wear a ball hitch out to the point it will slip over the correct size ball...

Make sure of the ball size the hitch states... at one time there was a 2-1/8 inch hitch that could supposedly work with either a 2" or 2-5/16" ball... I know, because I owned one of them.

If you didn't have a locking pin through the catch, most likely the instantaneous forward movement as the trailer dropped INTO the ditch cause the catch to pop open and the hitch then popped off the ball when the trailer jerked from coming OUT of the ditch...

 

[icman95]

It takes a lot to wear a ball hitch out to the point it will slip over the correct size ball...

Yeah, I know, but I know how it happened because I'm the one who caused it. I just didn't realize that it was as bad as it was until it popped off.

 

[Oasis-3]

Get the right size pin to lock that latch closed. It happened to me once now I have spare pins in the truck all the time.

When a trailer comes off at 55 mph and you get away with out a scratch to truck or trailer you never forget it.



Cliff

 

[AABEN]

YES there is a adjustment on the trailer. LOOK under the trailer tung you will find a place to adjust it. JEST adjust it so you can feel it when you lock it in to place. I run a pad lock on my trailer! Some kids jest flipped it up not knowing what they was doing. I lost my trailer. I was lucky it went between the duals lanes a stoped

 

[surfbeetle]

Could it be a 1 7/8" ball with a 2" receiver on the trailer? I had a friend who ended up in a ditch because of the wrong size ball when the trailer came loose.

 

[Mark31]

A guy driving a Ferd pulling a overloaded 16ft utility trailer (sacks of deer corn) crossed a railroad here and his trailer jumped off the ball. Luckily his sway chains held. We figured that when he hooked up, the spring loaded part of the hitch got caught on top of the ball instead of under it. He had driven about 40 miles like that. Mark

 

[HSpiering]

Getting a lot of good info. Thanks. The ball fits tight and There is no adjustment. Looked a couple time. We are thinking the trailer was empty, rear tire one side went down, front going up, slowing down all at the same time just put to much shove foreword and up at the same time making the hitch come open. I think I will be locking it down with a bolt or a lock from now on.