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Comfort Ride hitch issues


Chuck

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I am aware of 2 Comfort ride hitch failures since the June time frame. The latest happened to an attendee of the New Horizons Rally in Creede. The failures appear to be the same. Failure around the bottom sleeve. Fortunately, the latest failure happened at slow speed coming to a stop, where the trailer brakes pulled the trailer back, destroying the tail gate. Fortunately a rescue party went out and brought the trailer to Creede. The issue is in the process of being resolved. So, what to do. There is enough mental energy expended towing without having to worry about hitch failure. The pic shows my solution. I fished cables through the hitch and locked to the hitch frame. I only lose about 1/2 articulation on the back side. If the hitch broke on my tow rig, it would simply side off and hit the street. Those that use these hitches know they are supposed to be trouble free. It is very difficult to even inspect this failure area. Hope that Comfort ride addresses this issue on a wider scale.

7B5D0F5B-6033-4884-B1E4-2BF52592723A.jpeg

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  • Phil D changed the title to Comfort Ride hitch issues
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I don’t have a 1 1/2” socket to check the bolt. Pick one up this week. A fellow HDT ‘r had a bolt break. That is my first order of business to check, as there is some slop. We will be in Tombstone for some time. There is a good hitch shop in Sierra Vista.  I am also going to replace the sleeve as well as have the bottom unit reinforced. This kind of stuff should not happen!

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This kind of stuff should not happen!”

No it shouldn’t.

 

2006 Volvo 780 "Hoss" Volvo D12, 465hp, 1650 ft/lbs tq., ultrashift

Bed Build by "JW Morgan's Custom Welding"

2017 DRV 39DBRS3

2013 Smart Passion Coupe "Itty Bitty"

 

"Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first!"

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  • 2 weeks later...

Here is a picture of our Comfort Ride failure (left).  Luckily it was a short 200 mile day.  While unhitching, in Nashville we found the whole hitch head bent back and the welds starting to fail.  Campground recommended a welder and we had it reinforced with two steel plates (for and aft), as well as a piece of angle iron (right).  This was several month ago and we now have 2000 miles on the "reinforced" hitch and it's doing great.  nxKA1cvl.jpg

2094790416_NewHorizonsmall.jpg.b597b886c0fa2457938fb2cfe3e6cd0b.jpg

2010 Freightliner, DD15 Eaton Ultrashift, 2015 New Horizons 5th Wheel.

Occupants - Dena/Brad/Hershey    BLOG LINK

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Just curious, are these both newer Comfort Ride hitches since change of ownership?  

2006 Volvo 780 "Hoss" Volvo D12, 465hp, 1650 ft/lbs tq., ultrashift

Bed Build by "JW Morgan's Custom Welding"

2017 DRV 39DBRS3

2013 Smart Passion Coupe "Itty Bitty"

 

"Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first!"

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I got taken to task on a previous thread for the opinion that I thought hitches should be tested to failure prior to being placed on the market to pull 20,000 and bigger trailers down the road.  The argument was “too expensive “, “ over engineered”, etc.  Looking at the last picture of Chuck, tell me that trailer could not have gone careening down the interstate.  Luckily it didn’t.   It is COMPLETELY separated from the hitch base.

Edited by SuiteSuccess

2006 Volvo 780 "Hoss" Volvo D12, 465hp, 1650 ft/lbs tq., ultrashift

Bed Build by "JW Morgan's Custom Welding"

2017 DRV 39DBRS3

2013 Smart Passion Coupe "Itty Bitty"

 

"Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first!"

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Can't tell really well with the pics but in the last pic that Chuck posted, is there a sleeve between the two plates where the pin ripped out? If not, that would be my first fix. The second thing I would do is add two vertical gussets on each side between the two plates to box the area in. That section of the hitch receives a lot of force. Some fancy engineers use a lot of words and terms to describe the issue, old farts say "not enough steel, when in doubt, make it stout". That also goes along with the moron theory, "when in doubt, add more on".

Both of those failures occurred at the same place on the hitch and is something that needs to be looked at by a competent, structural or mechanical engineer with good failure analysis software. I also agree with Carl that using a good lab and test to failure would be a big help to find a good fix for the issue.

2017 Kenworth T680
2015 DRV 38RSSA Elite Suites
2016 Smart Prime

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I've seen a lot of home brewed hitches in this gang, and no failures.  But then, they weren't trying to make a profit either.

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Chuck,

When Rick Olson was with Comfort Ride he was very involved in solving  any issues and was very responsive to customers.  Not sure how involved he is since the sale to Roadmaster.  Hope issues get fixed. 

2006 Volvo 780 "Hoss" Volvo D12, 465hp, 1650 ft/lbs tq., ultrashift

Bed Build by "JW Morgan's Custom Welding"

2017 DRV 39DBRS3

2013 Smart Passion Coupe "Itty Bitty"

 

"Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first!"

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Howdy All,

I bought my Comfort Ride hitch from Rick, and had it installed along with doing the nessisary frame extension by a shop local to Rick that he recommended.  two and a half years and 30,000 miles late towing a 22,000 pound trailer I have not had a problem.  That said, ANYTHING, can break.  I have kept a close eye on my hitch ever since the first reported failure, I haven't seen any photos of the first one so I can't make any arm chair evaluation of it.

However I was sent four photos of this hitch, one of which shows what I am "ASSUMING" to be this hitch before it failed.  In the photo showing the hitch BEFORE failure it looks to me that the weld going around the tube that surrounds the pivot bolt is BAD in that the weld starts and stops with a distinct gap directly below the bottom of the tube.

As a person who once made my living as a certified welder I would guess that the failure was directly related to a bad weld and especially the stress riser that was caused by the incomplete weld at the bottom of the tube support.  I can't figure out how to post the photos I was sent, "Chad", if your reading this thread and can post up the photos you sent me it sure would be appreciated.  As a welder and fabricator before I bought the Comfort Ride hitch I gave it a darn good look over and it appeared well designed and made to me, but I have no idea what if any type of testing the hitch was subjected to before it was sold commercially.

What we don't know is, was this hitch subjected to extreme forces caused by panic stops or jack rabbit starts, was it built by a competent person, again I point out the weld shown in one of the photos that  I was sent, was the penetration of the weld good or was it just surface flash, was the metal used of the same quality-source as other hitches, lots of questions that need to be answered.  I know that "I" will continue to monitor my hitch and if it shows ANY signs of stress I will pull it and do whatever is nessisary to return it to safe service.

In closing, my thoughts are that this type of failure doesn't just happen, this was going on for some time, there had to be some warning that this was coming, this part of the hitch is a bit hard to see but it is EASY to simply reach in with your fingers and feel if there is any distortion or cracking.  I still feel the major cause of this failure was BAD WELDS looking at the remaining part of the hitch after the tube was ripped from the main part of the hitch there is little to no weld showing, it appears that the tube was ripped out leaving no weld material behind, this should have never happened.

Dave

2001 Peterbilt, 379, Known As "Semi-Sane II", towing a 2014 Voltage 3818, 45 foot long toy hauler crammed full of motorcycles of all types.  Visit my photo web site where you will find thousands of photos of my motorcycle wanderings and other aspects of my life, click this link. http://mr-cob.smugmug.com/

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I am happy to post the pictures I sent you Dave, I just want to get permission from the person who sent them to me first.  Assuming I do, I will add them to this thread.

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2022 DRV Full House MX450 with customized floor plan
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Just now, Chad Heiser said:

I am happy to post the pictures I sent you Dave, I just want to get permission from the person who sent them to me first.  Assuming I do, I will add them to this thread.

Howdy Chad,

Thanks, the one photo that shows what I "ASSUME" to be the same hitch BEFORE it failed, to me gives a pretty clear indication that the welds at least the weld clearly shown that goes around the main pin support tube to be a bad weld and would allow a stress riser in the area of the hitch that broke.  The bottom of that structure is the most stressed and should be one of the assemblies strongest pionts.

Dave

2001 Peterbilt, 379, Known As "Semi-Sane II", towing a 2014 Voltage 3818, 45 foot long toy hauler crammed full of motorcycles of all types.  Visit my photo web site where you will find thousands of photos of my motorcycle wanderings and other aspects of my life, click this link. http://mr-cob.smugmug.com/

IMG_4282-600x310.jpg

 

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Hence I ask once again.  Was this a manufacturing or assembly change after sale to Roadmaster?

2006 Volvo 780 "Hoss" Volvo D12, 465hp, 1650 ft/lbs tq., ultrashift

Bed Build by "JW Morgan's Custom Welding"

2017 DRV 39DBRS3

2013 Smart Passion Coupe "Itty Bitty"

 

"Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first!"

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I got permission to post the pictures.  Here you go.

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bo9XBMil.jpg

vUgUJFBl.jpg

Here is a link to a You Tube video of when the failure occurred.

The only thing that kept the trailer attached to the truck was the tailgate.  The tow vehicle was a pick up in this instance.

2000 Kenworth T2000 w/ Cummins N14 and autoshift
2017 DRV Mobile Suite 40KSSB4 with factory mods, dealer mods and personal mods - now in the RV graveyard
2022 DRV Full House MX450 with customized floor plan
2018 Polaris RZR Turbo S (fits in the garage)
2016 Smart Car (fits in the garage or gets flat towed behind the DRV when the RZR is in the garage)
My First Solar Install Thread
My Second Solar Install Thread & Photos and Documents Related to the build
My MX450's solar, battery and inverter system - my biggest system yet!

chadheiser.com      West Coast HDT Rally Website

event.png    

AZCACOIDIAKSMNMOMTNENVNMNDOKSDTNTXUTWYxlg.jpg

 

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OK, it did have a sleeve installed but the weld doesn't appear to have very much penetration and there is not a lot of meat in that stress area at the bottom of the pin. From the way the front and rear plates are bent, it looks like the weld started to give way at the top due to the plate bending. Personal opinion is that a plate running fore and aft on the sides of the two plates would prevent them from rotating into failure.


Anything can happen with a hitch though and it needs to be looks at by a competent engineer that is familiar with failure analysis to determine if it is a hitch failure or brought about by outside forces. This could be a hitch failure or a user error at this stage but if I had this hitch, I would be looking at it closely to see it something like this has started to develop.

Was this hitch bought before or after Rick sold the company?

2017 Kenworth T680
2015 DRV 38RSSA Elite Suites
2016 Smart Prime

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