Husky 16K fifth wheel hitch issue

[gmccall]

3 years ago I purchased a 3 year old Husky 16K fifth wheel hitch.



This past week, I went to load my fifth wheel onto my truck (and hitch).

As I backed my truck into the trailer hitch pin, the swing handle bar snapped down and the green indicator plug popped out to indicate "all was well" and locked.



I then drove forward and as I did, the fifth wheel pin slipped out of the Husky 16k hitch and my trailer dropped onto my truck bed rail, thus damaging my truck.



Why did the green indicator plug pop out when the Hitch locking bar was not locked onto the trailer hitch pin ?



The hitch locking mechanism failed to lock onto the pin even when the green (safe to go) indicator popped out.

Bad bad bad. If there is even a possibility that the slide bar can get stuck and not lock onto the trailer hitch pin, the green indicator should not pop out and the pull bar should not swing down as if "hitching completed".

From now on I look for the bar to slide over behind the pin which should be the final position indicating the trailer is locked onto the hitch and I can now safely tow the trailer. I should have done this anyway but I was fooled by the Husky green rod indicator.



I notified the Husky Hitch manufacturer and told them the problem with what I see as the instructions with their hitch.

Their reply was "email me some pictures of the fifth wheel head and of the truck I will give that to the people above me and see what they say"

No response from Husky after 3 weeks.

[Ford Idaho]

There is no substitute for looking at the jaw.
Leave the legs down and the wheels blocked and "tug" to make sure the jaw is locked.
Little green pin be hanged.

[OldCoot]

Originally Posted by Ford Idaho

There is no substitute for looking at the jaw.
Leave the legs down and the wheels blocked and "tug" to make sure the jaw is locked.
Little green pin be hanged.

And investing $50+ in a Butch's 5th Wheel Latch Kit. Home Butch's Services

[Ford Idaho]

Originally Posted by OldCoot

And investing $50+ in a Butch's 5th Wheel Latch Kit. Home Butch's Services

Did or did you not built something like that?



That is a good idea, and while you are putting that pin in take a look at the jaws.

[BarryD0706]

Originally Posted by Ford Idaho

There is no substitute for looking at the jaw. Leave the legs down and the wheels blocked and "tug" to make sure the jaw is locked. Little green pin be hanged.

X2. The all-important pull-test.

[OldCoot]

Originally Posted by Ford Idaho

Did or did you not built something like that?



That is a good idea, and while you are putting that pin in take a look at the jaws.

I did build mine, which I copied from Butch's design when Herk bought and installed his. I just happened to have the material to do it.

[B47]

We had that same hitch and while I never took off after hooking up without doing a pull test - I did rely on the green pin showing before doing the pull test and the pin always popped.

The hitching mechanics is mechanical and if everything is connected properly,the pin will pop out when/if the king pin is properly engaged in the jaws.

I would caution you not to dismiss the function or importance of that little green pin.

[Lloydg]

After reading this thread and other similar ones, it reinforces the need to do the "pull test" and not to rely completely on the pin showing (Husky) or the flag opening like my Reese.

[B47]

Originally Posted by Lloydg

After reading this thread and other similar ones, it reinforces the need to do the "pull test" and not to rely completely on the pin showing (Husky) or the flag opening like my Reese.

Right on - the Husky manual tells you to do the pull test also besides checking the green pin.

[Ford Idaho]

Originally Posted by Lloydg

After reading this thread and other similar ones, it reinforces the need to do the "pull test" and not to rely completely on the pin showing (Husky) or the flag opening like my Reese.

Murphy's law applies to all things mechanical.

[Flying dutchman]

Originally Posted by OldCoot

And investing $50+ in a Butch's 5th Wheel Latch Kit. Home Butch's Services

Best "insurance" you can buy. And do the pull test as advised above.

[djs68]

2 years ago we purchase a NEW Husky 16ks hitch. Used it with no issues until April of 2014 when we backed into our Sabre 5th wheel in our yard and the hitch let go and the trailer dropped onto the bed of the truck. The handle dropped and the "Green" pin stating ALL WAS OK was showing.

This repair cost $7500.00 not including the rental car. We picked the truck up from the body shop on Monday---left that Friday for the Memorial Day weekend. Hooked up on Monday Memorial Day to come home, and guess what---the hitch left go and the trailer again dropped onto the bed of the pick up. Again, the handle dropped and the GREEN Good to Go pin was showing. This time we moved approx 50' before it dropped so the tug test wouldn't have mattered.

We called Husky and they requested all paper work from the first repair along with photo's of the truck, trailer and hitch. Sent all info. We had to call Husky to verify they received the emails. Then they requested the head be sent back for their inspection. We did that and again had to call them to verify they received it (lack of communication) They supposedly sent it through warranty and also their emgineering dept. In the mean time we had our insurance company on stand by.

Their decision was that they felt the hitch was 100%, but gave the option of sending us a NEW head and scraping the old head. We requested the old head only to get a phone call the next day they were sending us a new head and are refusing to send the old head back.

Our insurance company is now following through with the issue and we have ordered a NEW Reese Hitch.