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So my 5th wheel came off the hitch... What happened?
I'm sure that title intruiged a lot of people lol, but anyway we had a hell of a time with this 5th wheel. 5 bad tires, so we go to les-schwab to get new tires, they put the tires on, we start to go and the trailer comes right out of the hitch. The trailer did not move an inch, my question is what happened?
Saw this happen to guy in a campground. But his didn't crunch the sides of the bed like yours, rather it was stopped from sliding out by the tailgate (he had left it on).
A few minutes later he had the pin back in the hitch and was moving on with a dent in his bed and tailgate. He must of had hydraulic front jacks to lift the trailer up so he could hitch it again.
Your challenge is figuring out who did what. Did they jack the trailer in such a way as to disengage the hitch because you didn't have the safety latch flipped?
I think the main issue here is that you had a tire shop working on the trailer where you didn't stand there and watch them. I always do that, make sure they do what I expect them to do - usually I have to say something like "I said balance and rotate, not just rotate" (all was free), or "I want to rotate in this pattern, as indicated on the work order". I usually engage them in light banter and they never complain - and they get all my tire work. I never let them do the work without watching even though I think Discount Tire does good work.
In hindsight, checking all connections would have been a good idea. That's going to be one expensive fix.
Your challenge is figuring out who did what. Did they jack the trailer in such a way as to disengage the hitch because you didn't have the safety latch flipped? I think the main issue here is that you had a tire shop working on the trailer where you didn't stand there and watch them. I always do that, make sure they do what I expect them to do - usually I have to say something like "I said balance and rotate, not just rotate" (all was free), or "I want to rotate in this pattern, as indicated on the work order". I usually engage them in light banter and they never complain - and they get all my tire work. I never let them do the work without watching even though I think Discount Tire does good work. In hindsight, checking all connections would have been a good idea. That's going to be one expensive fix.
agreed. I think the tire place will just laugh if he tries to say it was their fault
Oh man, sorry for your misfortune. One thing we can all learn from this is to always check your hitch (5th wheel or bumper tow) at every stop before getting on the road again. I'm sure we're all guilty of skipping this step on occasion and one day it's sure to catch up - as in this example. Again sorry to see the damage! On the plus side, the trailer looks to be in better shape then the bed.
One reason I like GN better than 5th wheel. I was heading out one day on a trip with just feed and a golf cart in the trailer and when I stopped for gas on the way out of town I noticed I forgot to flip the latch closed. Thank God no panic stops prior to noticing and no big bumps, but due to about 1k of pin weight she just sat on the ball and I never knew until I reached in to grab a coke from the cooler when I finished pumping gas.
One reason I like GN better than 5th wheel. I was heading out one day on a trip with just feed and a golf cart in the trailer and when I stopped for gas on the way out of town I noticed I forgot to flip the latch closed. Thank God no panic stops prior to noticing and no big bumps, but due to about 1k of pin weight she just sat on the ball and I never knew until I reached in to grab a coke from the cooler when I finished pumping gas.
I was thinking the same, but on the other hand, you were lucky.
At least with the reg 5er hitch, the problem is found *right away*, not when you hit a bump at 65 mph.
02-14-2015, 11:36 PM
So my 5th wheel came off the hitch... What happened?
