Trailers disconnecting at 60 mph

[Berrigan]

Two times in the last two years ive seen trailers fall off there tow vehicle at speed. This morning I saw one disconnect, sparks flying and metal swaying every where. Scary stuff. My question is there any statistics on this subject. It would be nice to learn from others bad luck or stupidity, what went wrong. Maybe DOT or someone like them keeps stats. Any ideas, thanks Bill

 

[CLAYTON]

Two times in the last two years ive seen trailers fall off there tow vehicle at speed. This morning I saw one disconnect, sparks flying and metal swaying every where. Scary stuff. My question is there any statistics on this subject. It would be nice to learn from others bad luck or stupidity, what went wrong. Maybe DOT or someone like them keeps stats. Any ideas, thanks Bill

:--) That must have been quite a site. I wonder if it was user error.

 

[Berrigan]

Clayton, I would guess user error would account for most disconnects. BTW both trailers I saw were smaller utility trailers and had no emergency braking systems that I could see. Bill

 

[RustyJC]

And that's why safety chains are almost universally required on ball-type hitches.



Rusty

 

[steved]

IMO, almost all disconnects are user related and could be prevented:



didn't couple on the ball correctly (disconnect)



using faulty equipment (hmmmmm... why?)



using the non-matching size ball/hitch (disconnect).



loaded wrong (coupler failure/loss of control)



overloaded (coupler failure/tire failure/bearing failure/loss of control)



underinflated (tire failures/loss of control)



lack of service (bearing failure)



no safety chains



no lights/inoperative lights (a pet peive of mine)



More often than not, it is just STUPIDITY that causes accidents... I know a few years back reading about a guy who lost his grandparents because the ball sheared on a travel trailer being towed, it hit them head on... turned out the ball was rated at 2k, 1-7/8" in size (in a two inch coupler), the safety chains were never hooked up, brakes were inoperative, and no safety breakaway... the trailer was rated at 7k.



I'm very anal when I tow... even towing my utility trailer... make sure the coupler is locked, all the lights work, check the hubs/tires for heat at every stop, etc... it just isn't worth the chance...



steved

 

[WStephens]

I had the welds break on a toung once in IL but was able to get pulled over and stopped before the top weld let go. We spent the night nere where the toung came apart and the HP called a tow truck and made arrangments to have the trailer stored for the night and picked up and taken to a weld shop. I just felt a bump that was different and looked in the mirror and saw the trailer was not level any more and looked like it had a hinge in the toung and frame.

 

[Jack in Alaska]

Last fall, on I-10 west of Tucson, I saw the last Freightliner tractor of a string of 4 come loose. There was Freightliner parts and pieces all over the freeway. It ended up in the median upside down. Could have been real ugly.

I wonder how that truck came loose. Isn't there a safety cable system on those truck trains??

 

[Bob Cochran]

More often than not, it is just STUPIDITY that causes accidents...



steved[/QUOTE]



A couple of years ago I would have agreed with your STUPIDITY statement and I guess I still do. I have a 5er and you hear about people starting to tow without lifting thelanding gear up and could not understand how it could happened and knew it would never happen to me, WRONG. The last thing I do is walk around to make sure vents, windows closed, rear jacks are up and landing gear, and generally police the area. I did the usual walk around then jumped and pulled out. Gee, felt like a hard pull to start but ad been raining thought the trailer kinda buried a little in mud, you know the trucks will pull down mountains. After a couple hundred yards a guy flagged me down and told me the landing gear was down. One broke completely off other bent back and almost off. Expensive lesson for sure. :--) I know I started to lift them after attaching to truck but guess got distracted and did not complete. Still have no clue how I missed it on walk around!!!



Lucky nobody hurt but have to put myself in the STUPID class. :{ I know some people really are STUPID and sometimes it is just a horrible accident. Doesn't help someone who gets hurt no matter the reason. I can bet you the landing gear gets checked probably 3 times by me and at least once by my wife before pulling out.

 

[one_ton]

stuff breaks

well about 6 years ago i worked for a boat and RV dealer. one of my jobs there was picking up, and dropping off RV's, boats, and trailers.



now i cant remember wht modle this 5th wheel was, but it was a big one. and i had to go be the repo man for it. well the shop truck was a W350 srw. nice truck, a brand new reese hitch 5th wheel hitch in, well about a month old. i hooked on to this trailer, and every thing was good. did my final check. slide locked, saftey chains hooked, light working, breaks working e-break cable attached and working. well got going down the high way and this thing come undone @ 65mph! :--) . i almost had to change my shorts! did more damage to the truck than the trailer. got her limped to the road. turned out the hitch broke! the lock pin broke in two! the company wasnt too happy with me, until they relised it wasnt my fault.



not every thing is user malfunction. but that was a scary 45 sec.



Bob.

 

[Grizzly]

When I had a 5th wheel, I'd go through a check list each time I hitched or unhitched. I also used a heavy Master lock on the receiver release handle.

 

[PSchwering]

Several years ago, I was towing my brother's 24 foot flatbed farm trailer - Empty - And hit a hump in the road. (quite country road) The coupler unhooked(Ok, so it was a in pretty poor condition,so I can't blame the coupler) The Brake switch pulled out, Locked up all 4 Brakes, Safety chains pulled tight, & Dragged the truck to a stop. Very anti-climatic. There was Zero Damage to truck, & the only damage to the trailer was a flat-spot on the tires, & the foot of the jack was bent a little. As you can imgine, I absolutly & always check the E-brake system before I Tow, & make sure the Safety chains Cannot come unhooked. What could have been a disaster, turned out to be no big deal, because of the extra safety equipment installed..... P.

 

[ROADWARRIOR]

I saw a travel trailer come unhooked and drug by the chains in front of me once. The guy forgot to put the pin through the receiver. This was after I had followed him for a couple of miles.



Dan

 

[dezeldog]

About five years ago I had a 8k pound boat come unhooked. Heres the story, I had stoped in a rest area for a couple hr. nap woke and went to the bathroom to wash up and brush teeth etc. When I came out there were some young people ccomming from the direction of the boat and trailer. Not my kind of kids with the piercings and all so I looked the trailer and boat over real good... . I thought. Twelve mi down the Istate at 70mph off it comes. Man things were happing at the speed of lite... . first the median then the shoulder then the median. Long story short, I saved it. Notta scratch to the boat or trailer but kinda banged up the tgate of the truck. What had happened is I think that the kids pulled the keeper off of the hitch pin and it rattled out. The ball and the sleeve were still attached to the trailer.

Luckey that it was early in the morn. and there was no traffic. If not it would've gotten ugly in a hurry. Needless to say that now I have a hitch pin that locks. Oh by the way... . I had gone about 600 mi. prior to the rest area so I'm pretty sure that someone had something to do with this incident. Now I check everything twice just to make sure that I don't have that happen again.

 

[WDixon27]

nearly everytime someone comes to pick up a car from my shop something dumb happens and generally i wind up sorting it out, the most common one is unhooked coupler discovered when loading the car or when taking off, just had a unhooked coupler the other day discovered while i was standing on the front of the trailer guiding him up, luckily i didn't get launched into the street when the trailer popped up, i decided not to carve my name into his forehead

 

[DBF]

A couple of weeks ago in downtown Summerville SC, I watch a small pickup towing a utility trailer coming toward me bounce over the railroad tracks. The utility trailer's hitch hopped up off the coupler. The trailer (no chains) then headed down the wrong side of the street toward us.



Luckily, it slowed and stopped a few feet short of us.



We exchanged words. I said more than he did.



DBF

 

[BWadman]

This is probably a dumb question but when you guys do your walk around on your trailer, how do you check the e-brake to make sure it is working properly?

 

[Bob Cochran]

With the truck idling when you walk around you can diffenentily hear the difference in exhaust sound. Outside or inside the sound will change when you turn it on.

 

[steved]

This is probably a dumb question but when you guys do your walk around on your trailer, how do you check the e-brake to make sure it is working properly?

I usually check the e-brake first: I disconnect the harness from the truck... to avoid a short... then energize (trip) the e-brake on the trailer and then try to pull the trailer with the truck a little... if it rolls like nothing is going on, you have a problem... if it is almost impossible to move, everything is working correctly.



Then I'll "untrip" the ebrake, reconnnect everything... check lights, then check the brake controller in the truck.



steved

 

[Bug Out]

Arizona trailers

"Two times in the last two years ive seen trailers fall off there tow vehicle at speed. This morning I saw one disconnect, sparks flying and metal swaying every where. Scary stuff. My question is there any statistics on this subject. It would be nice to learn from others bad luck or stupidity, what went wrong. Maybe DOT or someone like them keeps stats. Any ideas, thanks Bill"



Bill, since I moved down here(AZ) last June, 05 I had never seen such lax enforcement of trailers in my life...



I see truck loads of landscapers, no selt belts, trailer whipping in the wind, 75-80 down the freeway, half flat tires, overloaded trailers, cement mixers flopping in the wind, RV's flying down the freeway 75-80( as if the tires were made for that speed) like its nobodys business. :--)



Where the HELL is DPS???????? Its scares the crap out of me. I'm very surprised there is not more trailer disconnects and fatalities here from it. .



DOT should start right here in Az for stats!!!!! LOL





PS: Thats not to mention all the P/U trucks I see grossly OVERLOADED. I saw a 1/2 ton F-150 with a pallet of cinder block in the bed, Hispanic fella driving with a big grin( Mr. Me Macho look) , leaf springs bent backwards, truck frame bouncing off the rubber frame mount overloads @ 25 MPH in a 50MPH zone... .



3/4 ton Ford towing a full sized Backhoe on a double axle , single wheel trailer alongside the road with a flat. The Driver was looking at the flat like, "what could have possibly happened?" LOL





Sorry for the rant, but I had to share the follies I see here.





Ed

 

[steved]

"Two times in the last two years ive seen trailers fall off there tow vehicle at speed. This morning I saw one disconnect, sparks flying and metal swaying every where. Scary stuff. My question is there any statistics on this subject. It would be nice to learn from others bad luck or stupidity, what went wrong. Maybe DOT or someone like them keeps stats. Any ideas, thanks Bill"



Bill, since I moved down here(AZ) last June, 05 I had never seen such lax enforcement of trailers in my life...



I see truck loads of landscapers, no selt belts, trailer whipping in the wind, 75-80 down the freeway, half flat tires, overloaded trailers, cement mixers flopping in the wind, RV's flying down the freeway 75-80( as if the tires were made for that speed) like its nobodys business. :--)



Where the HELL is DPS???????? Its scares the crap out of me. I'm very surprised there is not more trailer disconnects and fatalities here from it. .



DOT should start right here in Az for stats!!!!! LOL





PS: Thats not to mention all the P/U trucks I see grossly OVERLOADED. I saw a 1/2 ton F-150 with a pallet of cinder block in the bed, Hispanic fella driving with a big grin( Mr. Me Macho look) , leaf springs bent backwards, truck frame bouncing off the rubber frame mount overloads @ 25 MPH in a 50MPH zone... .



3/4 ton Ford towing a full sized Backhoe on a double axle , single wheel trailer alongside the road with a flat. The Driver was looking at the flat like, "what could have possibly happened?" LOL





Sorry for the rant, but I had to share the follies I see here.





Ed

I whole heartedly agree... I drive cross country at least every quarter... PA to NM... it scares me sometimes when I see vehicles grossly overloaded...



Case in point... I was fueling in OK when a chevy 1500 pickup truck pulls in to fuel next to me... has a tandem axle trailer with a Ford Tempo on it... it has a single 3/16" chain holding the car on (not even a load graded chain mind you)... I expressed my concerns to the driver that it might be a good idea to have a better chain on there... he said "it'll be all-right"... all this while the trailer has no safety chains and it is hooked to the bumper, not even a bolt on hitch. He fueled and headed down the road... I caught up to him about 15 miles later... the car had broke the chain and rolled off the trailer... luckily it simply went off the road and didn't hit anyone... stupid idiot, what would have happened if that would have killed someone??



Another one I saw driving was in MD... a cadilac (car) towing a boat that was at least 25 feet in length (on a tri-axle trailer to boot)... like he had control... I would not have wanted to tow that with my 2500 CTD...



And the latest (and scariest) to date...coming across OK (I-44)... saw a sight going the other way... a 2500HD Duramax pulling at least a 40foot gooseneck (didn't see how many axles/tires) with a FULLY LOADED triaxle dumptruck on top of that (load was a grain of some sort)... so adding the weights: figure 75k for the loaded dump, another 10k for the trailer, and 5k for the dmax... 90,000 POUNDS!!!!! So either it was one really good advertisement for GM or the reason GM sells so many cars because the owners do stupid stuff like this and total them.



They have DOT checks for commercial vehicles for a reason... and the truckers STILL drive overloaded/out of time/out of compliance... I worked at a steel mill... had trucks coming in all the time with "double loads" on because they got paid for two loads at a time... grossing 135k on just a typical semi... no one every questioned them. I think the DOT should REALLY watch the cars harder as they are just as likely to be overloaded/incorrectly loaded.



I have been pulled in twice for diesel fuel dye checks and once in IA for a "trailer safety" inspection... they guy was pretty nice about it... especially since the trailer is a pintle (mind you it weighs less than 1000 pounds loaded) and everything was bolted down... I even go as far as using "quick links" on the chains for longer trips just because you never know when the s-clip will bounce off... and I don't want to be the fool who drags his chain to nothing on the concrete.



I sorta over built my "cross country" trailer... but, I don't need to worry about it either...



Drive safe,





steved