Dropped It (Insert expletive here)

[cmonnette]

We are new to 5th wheels and learned a horrible lesson yesterday. We got a little sloppy pulling our Solitude out. My wife backed up the truck. I heard a click. Closed the arm on the B&W hitch, put in the safety pin, raised the landing gear. I never looked to make sure the kingpin was locked in place. It wasn't. Side rails of the truck damaged, tailgate a total loss along with my self-esteem.


I share this just so my mistake may be a reminder to everyone not to get sloppy when hitching and unhitching. Fortunately, insurance will cover less the $500 deductible. An expensive lesson for sure.

Chris

 

[Dick Noble]

Bummer! Hope you get it repaired soon.

 

[MoonShadow_1911]

We are new to 5th wheels and learned a horrible lesson yesterday. We got a little sloppy pulling our Solitude out. My wife backed up the truck. I heard a click. Closed the arm on the B&W hitch, put in the safety pin, raised the landing gear. I never looked to make sure the kingpin was locked in place. It wasn't. Side rails of the truck damaged, tailgate a total loss along with my self-esteem.


I share this just so my mistake may be a reminder to everyone not to get sloppy when hitching and unhitching. Fortunately, insurance will cover less the $500 deductible. An expensive lesson for sure.

Chris

Dang. That sucks! I guess this is the reason that our checklist has both of us checking the king pin. Hopefully we won't ever forget.

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[FT4NOW]

This is the reason I would do a pull test every single time, only takes once for a mistake.

After hookup, with landing gear down, chocks still in place, and tailgate down. Manually hold trailer brakes and give a slight amount of throttle while in drive. If properly hooked up, truck wont go anywhere. Cheap insurance.

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[Sportsdad60]

So, now the horror stories come out!
In 2019, as campground hosts, we bought a new Hewescraft 20 ft fishing boat. I was allowed to keep it at Westshore State Park while hosting there. I 'stole' the chock blocks from our 5th wheel and used them on the new boat trailer since our 5th wheel was X-Chocked and stabilized.

I forget to replace the chocks.

Fast forward to 2 months later when we left to move into our new home....

Prepped 5th wheel, backed in truck, thought it clicked (Reese hitch). Raised the landing gear. Bumped it once for good measure and THAR SHE BLOWS! Boom, onto the rails of the truck. Damaged one side slightly. (Light 5th wheel, 10k) Fortunately we were level enough that it didn't roll off the back of the truck!

So, lessons learned. You'll get over it.

 

[RobWNY]

What was the "click" you heard? Were the jaws partially closed so when the king pin hit them they fully closed where it would look correct and allow the arm to be closed and the pin inserted but the king pin was actually outside of the closed jaws? I've noticed on mine that sometimes the jaws don't like to stay fully open to receive the king pin. I've always worried they might close when they make contact with the king pin.

 

[cmonnette]

What was the "click" you heard? Were the jaws partially closed so when the king pin hit them they fully closed where it would look correct and allow the arm to be closed and the pin inserted but the king pin was actually outside of the closed jaws? I've noticed on mine that sometimes the jaws don't like to stay fully open to receive the king pin. I've always worried they might close when they make contact with the king pin.

I believe that is exactly what I heard. A simple visual check would have shown that the kingpin wasn’t locked. A visual by BOTH my wife and myself as well as a pull test are now forever on our checklist.


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[Sportsdad60]

I carry a 1500 lumen tactical flashlight in my drivers side door, mandantory now, to visually inspect the jaws. That was my walk-away lesson along with having WHEEL CHOCKS in place.

First in upon arrival and last out, wheel chocks.

 

[orbsah]

I heard a click. Closed the arm on the B&W hitch, put in the safety pin

Not sure I’m understanding what actually happened. Did you not back up far enough? So the jaws were closed with the kingpin behind the jaws?

I’ve heard a pull test isn’t really necessary with a B&W hitch (if you do a visual check). However we know the one time we don’t pull test we’ll have a problem. So we do a visual and pull test every time.

 

[cmonnette]

Not sure I’m understanding what actually happened. Did you not back up far enough? So the jaws were closed with the kingpin behind the jaws?

I’ve heard a pull test isn’t really necessary with a B&W hitch (if you do a visual check). However we know the one time we don’t pull test we’ll have a problem. So we do a visual and pull test every time.

Yep. The guy who installed this hitch was adamant that the pull test wasn’t necessary with that hitch, “If the cam handle closes and you can see the jaws around the king pin it’s locked in.” I only got half that right.

And yes, we didn’t get the truck backed up quite far enough to lock in the kingpin. The cam handled closed. I just never looked to check to make sure I could see the jaws locked around the kingpin.

Just a super stupid mistake that won’t happen again.

Live and learn.


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[dragonfly-MGRV]

Yep. The guy who installed this hitch was adamant that the pull test wasn’t necessary with that hitch, “If the cam handle closes and you can see the jaws around the king pin it’s locked in.” I only got half that right.

And yes, we didn’t get the truck backed up quite far enough to lock in the kingpin. The cam handled closed. I just never looked to check to make sure I could see the jaws locked around the kingpin.

Just a super stupid mistake that won’t happen again.

Live and learn.


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It happened to me but a little different. I didn’t notice that I had adjusted the height of the king pin so that the pin was setting on top of the jaws, not in the jaws. The safety arm locked but something just didn’t seem right, so I shined my flashlight inside the hitch standing at the back of the truck and recognized the bottom shoulder of the pin was not below the jaws but above. It was only the second time I had ever hitched a fifth wheel. Lesson learned!

 

[RobWNY]

Yep. The guy who installed this hitch was adamant that the pull test wasn’t necessary with that hitch, “If the cam handle closes and you can see the jaws around the king pin it’s locked in.” I only got half that right.

And yes, we didn’t get the truck backed up quite far enough to lock in the kingpin. The cam handled closed. I just never looked to check to make sure I could see the jaws locked around the kingpin.

Just a super stupid mistake that won’t happen again.

Live and learn.


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Don't beat yourself up over what happened. I don't know anyone including myself that doesn't have a story or 2 to tell. What has helped me is I made four separate lists. A Pre-Departure Check/To Do list for before I leave home, an Arrival at the camp site Check/To Do list, a Departure from the camp site Check/To Do list and an Arrival at Home Check/To Do list. It has greatly reduced the chance that I forget something.

 

[Steven@147]

We have all made mistakes that has cost us. Some lessons learned are more costly than others. We also use the companion and when we hitch we always make sure the RV's king pin and plate is a little lower than the hitch in the truck, that way it rides up and into the jaws and locks. We always, always look into the back of the hitch and jaws to make sure the jaws are closed around the center of the king pin.

 

[boyscout]

We are new to 5th wheels and learned a horrible lesson yesterday. We got a little sloppy pulling our Solitude out. My wife backed up the truck. I heard a click. Closed the arm on the B&W hitch, put in the safety pin, raised the landing gear. I never looked to make sure the kingpin was locked in place. It wasn't. Side rails of the truck damaged, tailgate a total loss along with my self-esteem. I share this just so my mistake may be a reminder to everyone not to get sloppy when hitching and unhitching. Fortunately, insurance will cover less the $500 deductible. An expensive lesson for sure. Chris

Sometimes advice after a negative event is thoroughly-unwanted. Hope this advice isn't received that way.

Hook up, do a visual check of the hitch closure as you've now permanently taught yourself to do, raise jacks and chocks and otherwise prepare for departure.

As you put the truck into gear, pinch the trailer brakes on full. (Assuming you have a controller in the cab to let you do that, if not get one.) Then ease the truck brakes so it creeps forward while you're watching in the rear view mirror for movement between trailer and hitch.

You're doing it gently and slowly so while the trailer may at first move back a few millimeters you're not panicking about that. Your foot is still on the truck brake to stop instantly if that movement continues and the trailer continues sliding back on the hitch.

If all is well the truck will eventually stop creeping forward, held back by the trailer. At that point give the accelerator some VERY gentle pressure, just to be sure your truck isn't being held back by a pothole or something else other than the trailer.

At that point you can not only be pretty confident that trailer and truck are securely hooked together, but you'll also know that the trailer brakes are working. You'll have to search your mental list of things to worry about to find something else as you pull out of camp.

Sorry that you're getting these lessons the hard way, but they'll serve you well for the rest of your trailer life. Hope the rest of your adventure is more fun.

 

[cmonnette]

We have all made mistakes that has cost us. Some lessons learned are more costly than others. We also use the companion and when we hitch we always make sure the RV's king pin and plate is a little lower than the hitch in the truck, that way it rides up and into the jaws and locks. We always, always look into the back of the hitch and jaws to make sure the jaws are closed around the center of the king pin.

Having the plate on the RV lower than the hitch is something else I have added to my checklist list.


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[Calnca]

Here's the solution........load from any angle.....pretty much idiot proof

https://www.pullrite.com/2400

 

[cmonnette]

Sometimes advice after a negative event is thoroughly-unwanted. Hope this advice isn't received that way.

Hook up, do a visual check of the hitch closure as you've now permanently taught yourself to do, raise jacks and chocks and otherwise prepare for departure.

As you put the truck into gear, pinch the trailer brakes on full. (Assuming you have a controller in the cab to let you do that, if not get one.) Then ease the truck brakes so it creeps forward while you're watching in the rear view mirror for movement between trailer and hitch.

You're doing it gently and slowly so while the trailer may at first move back a few millimeters you're not panicking about that. Your foot is still on the truck brake to stop instantly if that movement continues and the trailer continues sliding back on the hitch.

If all is well the truck will eventually stop creeping forward, held back by the trailer. At that point give the accelerator some VERY gentle pressure, just to be sure your truck isn't being held back by a pothole or something else other than the trailer.

At that point you can not only be pretty confident that trailer and truck are securely hooked together, but you'll also know that the trailer brakes are working. You'll have to search your mental list of things to worry about to find something else as you pull out of camp.

Sorry that you're getting these lessons the hard way, but they'll serve you well for the rest of your trailer life. Hope the rest of your adventure is more fun.

Always appreciate advice. One question. If you do the pull test with the trailer brakes on, don’t you want your landing gear down, at least partially? If not, you stand a pretty good chance of pulling it out of the hitch and doing what I just did of it isn’t locked in properly. Or is that just your last double check to make sure it doesn’t drop on the Highway


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[FT4NOW]

Always appreciate advice. One question. If you do the pull test with the trailer brakes on, don’t you want your landing gear down, at least partially? If not, you stand a pretty good chance of pulling it out of the hitch and doing what I just did of it isn’t locked in properly. Or is that just your last double check to make sure it doesn’t drop on the Highway


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I've always done it with the landing gear down. Some people say raise it 1" so there is minimal "drop". I prefer no possibility of drop, and the test works perfect with the landing gear down. You arent trying to move the trailer, just give some throttle to make sure you are hooked up properly.

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[zenasboy]

been there done that with our brand new 303rls a couple of years ago. My problem was that I got distracted while hitching up and forgot to lock the handle down. I've made a couple of other mistakes since then (although not as severe) and the root cause each time was a distraction caused me to miss a step. I now triple check everything before the mandatory pull test, which I didn't know about when i dropped the 5ver on truck. I also make sure nobody is around to talk to me while hooking up.

 

[dragonfly-MGRV]

We are new to 5th wheels and learned a horrible lesson yesterday. We got a little sloppy pulling our Solitude out. My wife backed up the truck. I heard a click. Closed the arm on the B&W hitch, put in the safety pin, raised the landing gear. I never looked to make sure the kingpin was locked in place. It wasn't. Side rails of the truck damaged, tailgate a total loss along with my self-esteem.


I share this just so my mistake may be a reminder to everyone not to get sloppy when hitching and unhitching. Fortunately, insurance will cover less the $500 deductible. An expensive lesson for sure.

Chris

Confession time again! Although on my first journey with a fifth wheel I made another, could have been, tragic mistake! I plugged in the electrical from the trailer to the outlet in the truck bed, but not firmly. Not firmly are the key words here. I left the RV park and a guy blindly started backing out in front of me. I stepped on the brakes and my, then F-350 SRW , just kept on skidding because I had no trailer brakes helping me stop. I couldn’t have been going over 20 miles per hour. All could have been prevented by following my checklist which included pinching the controller to check the trailer brakes.