WARNING to all REESE hitch owners

[Whitmore]

This is a warning to all Reese hitch owners and any other hitch that bolts into the bed of the truck.



We (Firedept) just got back from a wreck that was a Chebby 4 door truck pulling a Jaco 30' 5th wheel trailer, the roads were ice and the guy got squirley and jack knifed it and the hitch came out and was still hooked to the king pin of the trailer. In the truck bed was the rearward plate or bar still bolted in nice and tight but the front bar/strap pulled under stress toward the rear of the truck to the point that the bolts (4) sheered off at bed heigth, upon further investigation I found that the bolts were run straight thru to the frame and were actually solid But they forgot 1 thing between the bed metal and the frame the installer did not put any type of spacer , this allowed the bolts to bend toward the rear of the truck and egg shape the holes 2 " and then the bolts let go .

I was impressed with the Reese hitch itself as to how it held up , trust me Reese has excellent products,but am cautioning all 5er owners to check your installation, look for spacers and if they aint there than get them and installe them, I do not know if the kit comes with them or if that was how it was supposed to be installed . The sheet metal on al l of todays trucks is tinfoil, Please check your hitch installation as this is an obvious weak link .



Be Safe, Kevin

 

[lschultz]

Thanks for the info Kevin. I don't have a 5th wheel hitch yet. Maybe some day if Mama loosens up with her money. But right now that granddaughter ranks higher than me.

 

[BPINE]

If the hitch is properly installed with the brackets supplied the possibility of a problem is greatly reduced. I friend of mine hit a car that was at a dead stop at freeway speed and the hitch stayed right where it was and the 8' x 3/8 thick I beam frame of the trailer bent back 6". The Reese hitch is still in service and it has now been about 3 years with no problems.

This is a good wake up call to properly install all aftermarket parts with great care and follow the manufactures instructions, the chances are they know what they are talking about.

 

[Barry]

The installation kit from Reese comes with the spacers... ... .....

 

[B.G. Smith]

Hitch

Originally posted by Barry

The installation kit from Reese comes with the spacers... ... .....

Spacers to go between the rails and the bed and heavy steel preformed brackets to go from under the the bed to the frame. Also comes with special 1/2"carriage bolts (like grade 5) to go through the rails and bed into the brackets and 1/2" rib neck bolts(also grade 5) to go through the frame and brackets. Sounds like someone found an easier way to install the hitch. bg