Ever had or seen a trailer and TV part ways?

[Oaklevel]

Not a trailer that got loose but.......Almost forgot about the small pick up with a jet ski on a trailer..... Left the boat ramp headed to the highway........had to stop at the highway.... the jet ski did not stop & ended up in the bed of the pickup through the tailgate & the back window...... did not appear anyone was hurt but another that was in a hurry & forgot to tie thier jetski down........

Also saw the front of a classic car end up between the pickup & the trailer....

Oops.....

[wmtire]

I own one of those universal hitches that has three different size balls on it. This way I can pull several different trailers I own, that have different coupler sizes. Well one morning, I had some of my employees hook up our 2 and 5/16 inch coupler trailer to my truck, but they left the ball at 2 inch.

I came out and did my cursory glance over before leaving. When we hit the railroad tracks about 300 yards from the shop................the trailer came off, but the chains did hold it, for me to get stopped. It messed up my bumper and the tongue of the trailer some as it slid under my bumper, during one of the jerks as I was stopping. It also bent the trailer jack pretty bad as it dropped low enough to hit the road.

I replaced the jack, but still have the dings in my bumper to remind me to hook up the trailers myself.

[asquared]

i have also had a Uhaul box trailer come off the hitch. I was pulling it with my old armada and it was empty. We had disconnected it at the house and DH had reconnected it before I was returning it. I was driving on a 2 lane road in a construction zone and going up a hill. I had just taken off from a light and passed a bicyclist when it bounced off the ball. It jerked all over the place while I slowed it down and got it as far out of the way as I could. it did gouge the back bumper but the chains held. i was going slow and thankfully it didnt hit anybody. I had my 2 yr old DD in the back seat and was a mile from home. No-one stopped to help. I called DH to come help me and he said "but I'm waiting for the cable guy and I don't want to miss him." After a few choice words a 2 yr old shouldn't hear, DH was on his way to come help me. He helped me get it back on the hitch and this time I double checked his work and found the problem. What DH thought was properly hooked only had the coupler halfway on the ball. Needless to say we never tow anywhere without me double checking the setup.


Another one happened to a friend of mine. She had loaned her horse to the special Olympics. She hired someone to trailer her horse to the event. Both her and her mother followed behind the trailer (she was about 12 at the time). Going down the highway they watched the horse trailer become separated and go into the ditch and roll. The horse was killed instantly on impact. The idiot hauling had used a hollow ball not rated for the weight he was towing. The trailer had sheared the ball completely off. The chains didn't hold. poor kid woke up with nightmares for a long time after that.

3rd incident happened to the owner of the farm I used to keep my horse at. She and my instructor had taken their horses up north to a competition somewhere in New England. They had a very valuable mare and stallion inside. The roads were very bumpy and eventually the coupler failed and the trailer bounced off the hitch. The trailer rolled on its side. They got both horses out safely and believe it or not, both horses walked right back onto another trailer without protest.


in regards to the OP question, they are probably asking about TT, I have seen several stories on other forums about hitch failures and TT becoming disconnected. I'm not sure what kind of hitches they were running. I have also seen lots of stories about dropped 5ers due to not properly double checking the latch. This usually happens pretty quickly so not on the open road.

[halibut3]

Funny RV: Brings a Whole New Meaning to Tow Vehicle

This guy was real close to having some issues....

[avolnek]

With a proper weight distributing hitch setup the chances of the trailer ever coming off the ball are incredibly slim as the bars will actually hold the tongue of the trailer onto the ball. I highly recommend greasing the top and front portion of the ball to help it glide rather than grind on the ball and wear on itself.

Also I am on the local fire department and have had a number of accidents involving campers! Most of the times we see accidents it is at highway speeds and due to the driver swerving to miss something or over correcting after hitting the rumble strips! Please remember to NEVER EVER SWERVE!!! What ever it is in front of you short of a child you are much better off to hit it and repair the truck and whatever you hit if possible!