Hitch problems

wa8yxm · 10-27-2009, 08:53 PM

I drive a 2005 Intruder, Due to the high rear end General RV recommended a 13 inch drop hitch for towing my 1992 Lumina APV (4,000 pounds of towed) I thought 13" was a bit much, once I got the rig loaded for travel and had Blue ox change it out, they recommended a 4".. I'm not so sure I need even that any more.... However

Thanks in part, i'm sure, to the long drop I originally had.

As I was going down I-275 North of Cincinnati yesterday, a 4-wheeler got my attention.. BIG TIME, since he used the word FIRE. (He was talking about my bicycle, which rides on a hitch mounted carrier)

Got off on the start of exit 7 (I-275/I-74 combined) and walked back to check.. I've got the toy fire extinguiser Damon put in the rig, plus 3 foam (2 in MH and one in towed) and 25 pounds of powder in the towed plus a pressure water bottle so I was not too worried about fire spreading.. Thankfully however it was all smoke, no fire.

Found the cross member the receiver is welded to....ON THE PAVEMENT. no longer connected to the rig save by the two very light weight wires that go with the US-Gear brake system.. What the car was doing.. RIGHT WHERE IT BELONGS I have no clue, but there it was.. I guess I must have that US-Gear system set PERFECTLY.. (For sure I"m not messing with the gain setting)

Took the rest of the reamp, auto service center right there, but alas, no welder big enough to do the job (in their opinion, not in mine.. I've done some welding in the past)

They recommendded another service a few miles down the freeway (2 exites) and they too could not do it, but their next door neighbor (And I do mean next door) Could, and did.. Simpson & Sons. right at Harrison rd and Kilby road in Harrison Ohio, They took the old hitch, sliced off the remains of the anble brackets that had broken, made new ones that to my somewhat trained eyes look to be at least twice as strong as the original, (Thicker metal, additional bracing, and other improvements) and bolted her back up.

I highly recommend these folks... Well worth what they charged me.

I also highly recommend checking those angle brackets.. They are on the ends of the cross member and are where the bolts that hold it to the frame attach.. Simpson's seemed to feel the break occured over a period of time and was a "Repetitive stress" type injury, not a defect.

I think the long drop bar put too much torsion stress on 'em. Still. they held for over 4years.

I do not think the ones Simpson's welded up will break though.. As I said, they look to be much stronger.

**Route 66** · 10-28-2009, 06:22 AM

Your hitch problem is not rare for any brand on MH.

Every now and then we hear of a hitch failure.

Frequent inspection of the hitch, tow bar, and baseplate is never a bad idea.

Drop hitches have caused many of these failures as they multiply the forces on a hitch.

wa8yxm · 10-28-2009, 11:33 AM

Yup. What I"m glad about is that secondary damage amounts to a new tire and rim on my bicycle... In short. not much. that is way under $100.00.. The car stayed with me.

I blame US-Gear's braking system for that (The car staying with me) I'm going to post a link to this thread in the "Do I need Aux Brakes" thread... cause... I sure as blazes did, as it turns out, need 'em, and they worked.... PERFECTLY!!!

powerboatr · 10-29-2009, 12:09 PM

thanks
i went out and looked at mine after your post
good thing you didn't loose anything or get hurt

my receiver is bolted to the frame by two massive webs.
but i added it to my pre go check list

DBOL · 10-31-2009, 06:44 PM

Powerboatr Im going to do the same,got to get ready to see the US starting in 2010 by the way of take your Home with you!
How ya'll doing?
Darrell and Rose

KC1BUD · 11-11-2009, 12:22 AM

Since I regularly haul a horse trailer with only one horse, I will still inspect. I did have a 1986 Champion class A that I nearly tore the whole sub frame out from under the Motor home. The difference between the frame from the manufacuterer of the chassis and the frame of the Motor home manufactuerer was like night and day. Right where the two joined it bent I knew it might become a problem and since I needed to get the hitch set for the horse trailer, a trailer that didn't weigh much over 1000 pounds empty, I connected the empty trailer to the motorhome to take to the guy that did my welding. when I got there the back bumper of the Motorhome was nearly on the ground. Needless to say there was a lot of beefing that had to be done.