Saw a toad get free...could have been VERY bad

[remoandiris]

Today I was headed SB on I-75 in Fla, about MM 410.  Happened to look across at a NB rest area and saw a Jeep attempting to pass a Class A as it was leaving the rest area.  My first thought was that Jeep driver is really impatient...until I watched the Jeep coast across all 3 lanes of NB traffic.  There are likely at least 3 auto drivers who needed a change of underwear.   There was a bit of dodging involved in those NB lanes.

Somehow or other that Jeep broke loose from the mothership.  The coach was slowing to pull over last I saw it.  The Jeep was resting comfortably in the grass against the guard rail.

[bigjim]

I had a toyota pick up come off the truck it was being hauled on in front of me once towing my TT to Memphis.  They had just passed me and pulled into the lane in front of me.  They didn't "cut me off" but just pulled in normally but I felt for some reason it would be wise to fade back quicker which I did then I saw the toyota jerk twice and come off the ramp.  If it had not been for the pucker factor I might have needed to change the shorts.  Also ground my teeth down a little.

[FL-JOE]

Have to wonder if the hitch failed or the ox?

[TXiceman]

If they would use a dinghy braking system with a break away feature as required by most states, the dinghy would not be a run away.

Ken

[Kirk W]

9 hours ago, FL-JOE said:

Have to wonder if the hitch failed or the ox?

It is difficult to speculate as to what happened but I have known of two cases where that happened, but if that party had been using safety chains/cables as they are supposed to do, those cables would have captured the loose vehicle and kept it behind them. In one case I know of the towbar was of the old style that connects to a hitch ball and the RV in crossing a deep dip had pried the hitch from the ball and so the vehicle was loose. The first one stopped with the towed vehicle at the end of the safety cables and the second one came to a stop with the towed vehicle hard up against the rear of their diesel pusher.

For the incident to have happened as described the motorhome owner either was not using the safety cables or they were not properly attached. 

[FL-JOE]

35 minutes ago, Kirk Wood said:

It is difficult to speculate as to what happened but I have known of two cases where that happened, but if that party had been using safety chains/cables as they are supposed to do, those cables would have captured the loose vehicle and kept it behind them. In one case I know of the towbar was of the old style that connects to a hitch ball and the RV in crossing a deep dip had pried the hitch from the ball and so the vehicle was loose. The first one stopped with the towed vehicle at the end of the safety cables and the second one came to a stop with the towed vehicle hard up against the rear of their diesel pusher.

For the incident to have happened as described the motorhome owner either was not using the safety cables or they were not properly attached. 

My previous coach was a Thor Challenger 37GT gas.  On the Thor forum there has been a couple owner's experience hitch receiver failure.  The 8,000 pound rated receiver that came with their coach had welds that failed and allowed the hitch assembly to separate from the frame.  In these cases you can have all the safety chains in place you want but they are still attached to the hitch and not the actual frame, so if the hitch receiver fails and comes off the frame then goodbye toad.

[Dutch_12078]

5 minutes ago, FL-JOE said:

My previous coach was a Thor Challenger 37GT gas.  On the Thor forum there has been a couple owner's experience hitch receiver failure.  The 8,000 pound rated receiver that came with their coach had welds that failed and allowed the hitch assembly to separate from the frame.  In these cases you can have all the safety chains in place you want but they are still attached to the hitch and not the actual frame, so if the hitch receiver fails and comes off the frame then goodbye toad.

I've seen too many hitch failures in 60 years of driving and towing, so I have safety cables attached to the coach frame from the hitch. Our Blue Ox base plate also came with safety cables that are attached from the base plate to the toad frame per the instructions. Combined with the standard safety cables, that gives us a continuous connection from the toad frame to the coach frame.

[GeorgiaHybrid]

In addition to safety cables, we also use a breakaway safety braking system. I prefer having as many safety systems as I can when towing.

[2gypsies]

Read this account by a RVer when their car came loose and why:

https://wheelingit.us/2016/10/28/our-first-rv-accident-tow-comes-loose-in-nc/

[fly2low]

Had a similar event to wheelinit this summer, only difference was one of out arms broke.  This occurred under extreme conditions on the Dalton highway, and I do not fault the equipment.  I do question the judgement of the individual (me) who thought taking that road was a good idea.  On the plus side, it occurred going up hill, so gaining control of the situation was easy.

[Kirk W]

3 hours ago, GeorgiaHybrid said:

In addition to safety cables, we also use a breakaway safety braking system.

This is, in my opinion, one of the key reasons for the use of an auxiliary brake system in the towed vehicle. I set ours up by attaching the safety cables & 1 arm only and then easing the towed to the limit of those cables. I then adjusted the length allowed by this arrangement and cut the cable for the breakaway switch to a length that would pull it about 2" before that limit of travel. A former member of these forums had his set up in that way when he had one arm of the towbar come loose and he knew it when the brake on the towed locked up, which also prevented the towed from striking the rear of the motorhome so no serious damage was done. It was his experience that got me to do a proper breakaway switch cable adjustment. 

[Ray,IN]

During our Alaska caravan a couple's towed Ford Explorer came loose, entire hitch separated from MH frame. It merely rolled across the oncoming lane, into a swampy area full on small trees. When the wrecker finally arrived and pulled it back onto the gravel road, the man inspected it, started the motor for a short test drive. His wife then drove it all the way to Anchorage where they located a shop to weld the hitch onto the MH frame again. I suspected the Ford was over the 5,000# hitch rating, but kept quiet, none of my business.

This is exactly why Hitch mfgrs say to attach the breakaway cable to the towing vehicles frame.

[fly2low]

One of my winter projects is to get the breakaway cable to the vehicle frame, and to get the appropriate length

[dosbeagles]

Wife and I normally did different things when hitching the car, but once done I would visually check every connection then touch and tug on everything to make sure nothing was loose.  We normally would drive for two hours at a time then stop to let the dogs out, potty or get something to eat.  At every stop I would recheck everything both visually and tug on everything.  The one time I did not do this I left the parking brake on and we towed the toad from LA to San Francisco before I checked,  There was a slight burning smell in the car, had the brakes checked,  felt really dumb.

[noteven]

Heavy duty commercial truck’s hitches and 5th wheels are never welded to the vehicle they are bolted. 

Which of course takes “time” on the line....

but they rarely fall off in service...

[Ray,IN]

3 hours ago, noteven said:

Heavy duty commercial truck’s hitches and 5th wheels are never welded to the vehicle they are bolted. 

Which of course takes “time” on the line....

but they rarely fall off in service...

Cold welds are the most common cause of weld breakage. It can look good, but unless all metal components are melted together they break rather easily. Some 16-18 years back, GM had a problem with their pickup hitches failing due to weld breakage. There was a recall on my 2002 Chevy dually hitch.

One of the least-known inspection items  is a hitch weld inspection prior to every trip. I doubt if anyone does that in reality.

Then there is the issue of hydro-formed frames, the manufacturer says not to drill holes in them because it weakens the frame. All holes are punched in them prior to hydro-forming.
 

[Kirk W]

10 hours ago, noteven said:

Heavy duty commercial truck’s hitches and 5th wheels are never welded to the vehicle they are bolted. 

That is often true of after-market & factory installed receiver assemblies on motorhomes as well. Note these installation instructions from AutoAnything .

[noteven]

And for clarity parts of commercial hitches and 5th wheels are welded. 

And these components are part of the pre trip inspection...

And they are not flimsy.....