Comfort Ride Hitch Failure today - Welded and holding!

[SuiteSuccess]

9 hours ago, rdickinson said:

Didn't the possibility of installing a couple of grease fittings on the Trailersaver come up a year or 2 ago?  I thought someone did just that.  Trailersaver wasn't too happy and  didn't feel it was needed and would void the warranty.  Without lubrication the main pin wears the hole oblong and you get fore and aft slap.  Mine did and so did a hitch I saw at a WCR a few years ago.

I think a machine shop could drill and install one on each side providing the strength of the hitch wasn't compromised. My Trailer is 22.5k.

 

Chet did that for RandyA.

[phoenix2013]

11 hours ago, rdickinson said:

Didn't the possibility of installing a couple of grease fittings on the Trailersaver come up a year or 2 ago?  I thought someone did just that.  Trailersaver wasn't too happy and  didn't feel it was needed and would void the warranty.  Without lubrication the main pin wears the hole oblong and you get fore and aft slap.  Mine did and so did a hitch I saw at a WCR a few years ago.

I think a machine shop could drill and install one on each side providing the strength of the hitch wasn't compromised. My Trailer is 22.5k.

 

It was a pretty involved modification to the lateral pins with a grease fitting in the center of the pins. That part is is pretty innocuous as is the grease tunnel from the zerk fitting through the center of the pin. But then in order the get the grease to the surfaces in need of that grease you have to drill a horizontal or vertical tunnel from the surface of the pin to the tunnel running through the center, that's a beautiful beginning of a stress crack in a critical part on the Binkley. If TrailerSaver learned about that mod, they acted properly, it's a no-no.

I bantered around the solution to the Binkley no-grease problem when I was using the product, like running the grease tunnel down through the vertical support ears, zerks on tops and access holes in the top plate. But again I had a heartburn about screwing around in an area that sees forces from few thousand pounds to tens of thousands of pounds.

[rpsinc]

What about replacing the pins with a greaseable replacement?  Wont create a stress point in the hitch assembly.

[phoenix2013]

They could change the design to use non-greaseable components, but they have been building these heads this way for over three decades, I guess it's "tradition".

Edited June 17, 2020 by phoenix2013

[rdickinson]

I called Hensley on this and they had no plans or interest in such a modification.  The way it is currently, it has a built in life expectantly.  What bugs me is owners of these hitches may not be aware of this issue.  Like I said, I had a look at one at the WCR and it had some slap or slop already.

Someone told me to try to get some lubricant into that area with a spray lube and the red straw they come with.

Other than that, I'm happy with the hitch.  It held onto the trailer even though bent when I was in a crash 10 yrs ago.  Someone cut in front of me and put on the brakes on a wet road cutting my stopping distance in half.  I still have pics.

[Nigel]

I know we are drifting away from topic.  If I remember correctly DIYGuy and Henry took apart some Hensley heads welded in some collars where they were worn and fitted longer pins.  That have even been the basis of Henry’s head design.

 

Nigel

[lockmup68]

20 hours ago, rickeieio said:

I find this all this very interesting, as an observer.  I am using a TrailerSaver, clearly not in the same league as the ET, but it's working for our little 21k# trailer.

What intrigues me, is why nobody's gone the route of modifying a commercial hitch to float, or, making a "real" floating pin box to work with a commercial hitch>  Clearly, the single jaw used for the commercials is strong enough, likely far superior to the twin opposing jaw design, plus it allows for articulation without adding more wear (failure) points.

my binkley head failed and I replaced with ET head. beef with the ET head is evident. I happened to be about three hours from Youngs and had them do it. 

Shannon

[GlennWest]

Brinkley head is on mine. so far so good

[lockmup68]

When I called Hensley, they said they could not get me a replacement head for a while, so that was also a deciding factor in going to Youngs/ET head. Here is the thread from last sumer: 

http://www.rvnetwork.com/topic/136562-tslbh-head-pin-key/

[Darryl&Rita]

Our Binkley chewed itself up a few years ago. ET was in the process of adapting a Super head to the TrailerSaver base, but they weren't in production yet. It was replaced with a new Binkley head, that is continually monitored. I have know idea of it's previous life, so I don't know the expected lifespan. I monitor religously.

[phoenix2013]

12 hours ago, rdickinson said:

I called Hensley on this and they had no plans or interest in such a modification.  The way it is currently, it has a built in life expectancy.  What bugs me is owners of these hitches may not be aware of this issue.  Like I said, I had a look at one at the WCR and it had some slap or slop already.

Someone told me to try to get some lubricant into that area with a spray lube and the red straw they come with.

Other than that, I'm happy with the hitch.  It held onto the trailer even though bent when I was in a crash 10 yrs ago.  Someone cut in front of me and put on the brakes on a wet road cutting my stopping distance in half.  I still have pics.

That's a correct answer and correct engineering assumption  45 YEARS AGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

I had a chance to review the Binkley patents when I needed to produce jaws and latching blocks for the square head we designed which  eliminated the worn pins fiasco. Binkley would not sell these to me, I expected so much, but I figured why not ask. Before my actions became a legal issue I pulled their patents. Patents are good for 17 years and you can extend them (at a cost), they did not and let them lapse. Their patents were granted in 1975 and expired in 1993, this is a 45 years old design. 

By the contemporary standards in 1975 that 1 1/4 inch pin (greased or ungreased) would outlast two RV owner who have gone to the Pearly Gates and two trucks that went as cubes of steel to Japan and returned as Toyotas. My first brand new fifth bought in 1982 weighed 8,000 pounds, was 32 feet long and was in the class of the 40 footer of today. 36 footers weighing 10K were the ultimate then and you approached them with a bib under your chin to catch your drooling. No slideouts, no granite counters, no generators and 20 gal tanks for water, grey and crap. Those 8 Ks of the 1970s are the 24Ks of todays and the 10Ks are 30K and up today. Binkley needs to re-educate themselves, the life expectancy of those pins which was more than adequate in times of the original design has gone to suck in today's environment.

I mentioned earlier that I have in my garage a completely worn hitch with a completely worn Binkley head, which has gotten to that point over a period of around 3 years and 40,000 miles traveled. The owner Pulled a 40 foot New Horizon weighing around 30K. First time I've seen a similar situation is when a friend of mine bought a SpaceCraft 42 feet and 27 K weight. Mark (some of you old timers know who I am talking about) is a unique and dynamic individual, he "really" introduced his rig to large swat of the country the first year he owned it. The ET was just designed and he already had a Trailer Saver. The result, in 13 months the front shaft was loose and the Binkley head pins were shot. He complained, their answer was "loose front shaft is normal and we warranty the Binkley for 12 months".

I said earlier "the square head we designed", the we were Mark and I and primarily Mark, being thoroughly pissed off is a great motivator.

In the thread below further down in pages there are great videos someone posted showing how to test for worn pins

 

 

Edited June 18, 2020 by phoenix2013

[phoenix2013]

9 hours ago, Nigel said:

I know we are drifting away from topic.  If I remember correctly DIYGuy and Henry took apart some Hensley heads welded in some collars where they were worn and fitted longer pins.  That have even been the basis of Henry’s head design.

 

Nigel

Nigel, that was part of our original screwing around, which we quickly abandoned and we went with whole new design.

[Imurphy907]

Hey Phoenix, how can a guy get the new square head? I have a sloppy binkly and want to replace it without a new $4k hitch.

[DesertMiner]

Read above a couple of posts and you can read about a possible replacement.

[phoenix2013]

This could be somebody's lucky day. Clearing out the storage unit and found a "remnant" of the past manufacturing operation.

A brand spanking new Binkley head minus jaws, pins, block and springs (jaws spring, block spring and latch spring). If you a have an old crappy Binkley you have all those parts to transfer into this one, but this one has virgin new rotating pins.

The bottom welded on it is for the ETs, for all you Non-ETers, the wedges and the shaft tube could be taken off and head re-welded to a TrailerSaver bottom or any other contraption.

Want to get rid of it for a short dollar (plus shipping). Right now it's a boat anchor and I don't have a boat.

[Darryl&Rita]

I'll pass. If it had square shoulders, then maybe.

[ALLOY]

On 6/17/2020 at 8:18 AM, phoenix2013 said:

It was a pretty involved modification to the lateral pins with a grease fitting in the center of the pins. That part is is pretty innocuous as is the grease tunnel from the zerk fitting through the center of the pin. But then in order the get the grease to the surfaces in need of that grease you have to drill a horizontal or vertical tunnel from the surface of the pin to the tunnel running through the center, that's a beautiful beginning of a stress crack in a critical part on the Binkley. If TrailerSaver learned about that mod, they acted properly, it's a no-no.

I bantered around the solution to the Binkley no-grease problem when I was using the product, like running the grease tunnel down through the vertical support ears, zerks on tops and access holes in the top plate. But again I had a heartburn about screwing around in an area that sees forces from few thousand pounds to tens of thousands of pounds.

I couldn't find much on Young's (Pop-Up) website. Will they be making anything to fit F550/ Ram 5500.

[lockmup68]

Youngs does all the hitches under its Pop-Up brand:

http://popuphitch.com/our-products/et-hitch/

Or just call Jack at RVHLifestyles, they are not too far from Young's and are there a few times a week.

[phoenix2013]

On 7/30/2020 at 8:11 PM, ALLOY said:

I couldn't find much on Young's (Pop-Up) website. Will they be making anything to fit F550/ Ram 5500.

They are, I'm in the midst of designing it, STAY TUNED🤔😀 Their website is in the process of "re-design" too.

The Old Goat 

[ALLOY]

On 8/7/2020 at 10:23 AM, phoenix2013 said:

They are, I'm in the midst of designing it, STAY TUNED🤔😀 Their website is in the process of "re-design" too.

The Old Goat 

Good news, Thanks.

Next thing will be will incorporating it into the hauler bodies being made for the F550 / 5500...or maybe a custom build.

Hard to choose between the (need 4x4) F550 and 5500.       

Edited August 10, 2020 by ALLOY

[phoenix2013]

On 8/10/2020 at 12:07 AM, ALLOY said:

Good news, Thanks.

Next thing will be will incorporating it into the hauler bodies being made for the F550 / 5500...or maybe a custom build.

Hard to choose between the (need 4x4) F550 and 5500.       

Alloy, we are beyond "good news", things are a-happening, Old Goat's been busy, For the F series Fords with puck mounting systems a mounting frame has been designed.

Same thing for Ram trucks

And Young's is building these.

Chevy will be next, they apparently changed their system for 2020. Hitches going into these trucks would have puck mounting already incorporated. 🤔

Edited August 11, 2020 by phoenix2013

[ALLOY]

On 8/11/2020 at 11:37 AM, phoenix2013 said:

Alloy, we are beyond "good news", things are a-happening, Old Goat's been busy, For the F series Fords with puck mounting systems a mounting frame has been designed.

Same thing for Ram trucks

And Young's is building these.

Chevy will be next, they apparently changed their system for 2020. Hitches going into these trucks would have puck mounting already incorporated. 🤔

No puck system on cab and chassis truck we are looking at but I've been tempted to adapt the puck system to the C&C frame so the bed can be used to carry a camper.

Our puck system uses pull pins with rings. On a few occasions I found them laying in the bed of the truck so I converted what I can to pins with a safety wire that loops around the pin.

I adjust the tension of the T bolts in pucks ( that are out of plane side to side) once a years to reduce the play in the system. It takes a bit of force to break the T bolts loose. I've bent the arms on several occasions.  A stronger 1/4" arm or being able to fit a socket or wrench to the T bolts would be great.  

FYI....We bought a TS TS3. A year later TS came out with the BD5 for the puck system that has a smaller footprint that would free up  some space in the bed.

On the weekend while hitching at a sharp angle I gave the Binkley head a second tug test and it released.  It there a parts breakdown for the Binkley head? I want (try) to pull it apart and lather it with copper Never-seize.