Something to think about

[Charles Firth]

Finally getting ready for the first trip of the year. I store my Windjammer at a local campground, so I rented a site for a couple of days to check things out and de- winterize the TT. I towed it only about 1/2 mile to the site. Its a campground ( no break neck speeds allowed ). I backed it into the site and the hitch area made a load noise. I stopped looked at the hitch and didn't see anything. Now I did not use the weight distribution bars since it was a very short tow, and no open roads. When I uncoupled the TT I noticed that the ball assembly was really tilted in a really bad angle. After I took care of the camper, I tried to adjust the hitch but did not have the proper tools. I was not very far from the dealership,ran by there and discovered the center bolt was very loose and the tongue weight caused the ball assembly to tilt. The weight distribution bars would have kept the ball assembly straight. I don't know if there could have been a safety issue, but could have been a bad situation under way. Just something else to put on the list during the pre season check.

[OldCoot]

Should be more than one bolt holding the hitch head. Should be at least 2 and one bolt on the back to adjust the tilt.

Picture would certainly help.

[youroo]

Sounds like Someone Didn't have the Bolts tight! Youroo!!

[Charles Firth]

The one bolt on the back was loose causing stress on the other 2 bolts and it just simply slipped back, really looked ugly. The dealer said that the single bolt that adjusts the tilt was only finger tight and put stress on the remaining bolts. No harm no foul, just one of those things to keep in mind. Just glad it happened in the campground and not the open road. I have been towing with it for a couple of years and never thought about checking it. Lesson learned.

[PenJoe]

Thankfully you found this problem before you hit the road.

Years ago, we were returning from vacation on the Interstate in our class C, pulling a boat trailer. We heard a noise that sounded like we lost a tail pipe. We eased onto the shoulder. The tail pie was OK, but the hitch had bent down and the boat was riding on the jack caster . We cranked the trailer off of the hitch and pulled up on the hitch. When we did, it completely broke off. The safety chains were also on the part that broke off. The jack caster was ruined, but that was a cheap price to pay for a safe stop. The hitch had been installed by the RV manufacturer.

[SilverArrowPro]

I towed mine to the dealership, with weight distribution bars on and it did the same thing.

[Fluffywhitedogs]

I had the same thing happen. Pulled into a site and started to unhitch (took off the bars) then realized it didn't have water like I thought. Drove just to the water fillup, a few hundred feet, and when I came back and went to finish unhitching, the ball was at a bad angle. The wd was installed by the dealership, I just figured the bolt wasn't tightened enough, so I made damned sure it was after that!