Well IT Did Happen To Us!

[traveldawg]

It is hardly a reach to imagine some mean person pulling a hitch pin. I've seen YouTubes of this happening between truck drivers - one gets hacked-off by another and the other guy finds his pin release pulled the next morning in a truck stop while doing his pre-drive check.

Heck, I've had a guy seriously brake-check my on highway; never could figure out why - probably having a bad day and didn't like that I passed him (and I only drive 65). There are more-and-more rude, vindictive people around than ever before.

I always lock my hitch pins with a keyed lock. But I still check things after every time I'm away from the lash up.

It's good to hear in this case that at least no one got hurt.

 

[Hoopy Frood]

Like I said: I suppose it could happen, I just have never actually read about it happening. And, apparently, so far, neither has anyone else. It's just that I read all these things people seem to be worried about, and there's no evidence that some of them have ever happened. Like the urban legends of people hiding under cars, don't flash your lights to tell someone their headlights aren't on...that type of thing.

 

[Rob+Kath]

I have heard talk about the pin being pulled at a stopover, but have never seen or read about it actually happening. I still do a walk around and check the hitch before any departure. Plus, I have a longer shackle lock that I use in place of the safety pin.
I'm more worried about me forgetting something than others doing something. I have found items that I missed when getting ready to depart a stop... Vents open, tire air caps not on, door not fully latched, tool left out, etc. But, you never know about some people these days.
Rob.

 

[SolarPoweredRV]

If we’re spit balling theories, here’s another I didn’t see mentioned….

The OP says the incident occurred after 2 1/2 hours of travel time. I know when we travel, we can rarely go that long without a rest stop. Is it plausible while the OP was at a roadside stop and possibly in the restroom, some wacko reached in and pulled the safety pin?

This is my Question?

There is another thread where this actually happened to a Grand Design member.

 

[Hoopy Frood]

This is my Question?

There is another thread where this actually happened to a Grand Design member.

Whether it actually happened or not is undetermined. The member had the same thing happen, and he was positive he didn't make a mistake, so he thinks someone pulled the pin out. But he also is spitballing. He saw nothing and didn't actually check before leaving the rest stop, so it's anybody's guess.

 

[orbsah]

Unfortunately without more solid facts, it’s unlikely we’ll ever know the exact cause of these incidents.

One good thing that may come out of this is a few of us are now maybe a little less complacent about our hitching process.

 

[Ranchertx]

If it was operator error there is no way the trailer would have stayed hooked up for hours.
They had a hitch malfunction.

 

[huntindog]

If it was operator error there is no way the trailer would have stayed hooked up for hours.
They had a hitch malfunction.

What would that be? It worked perfectly the rest of the trip. One thing about hitches, if they are broke, they stay broke. Theirs had a miraculous recovery.

 

[JonSr.]

Did you happen to stay at Walnut Hills Campground for your VA stop (without the tailgate)?

 

[Hoppyz06]

This is what I fear most! Glad no one injured.

I believe someone may have asked this already but… after the RV disconnected from the truck, was the hitch in a locked position with the safety pin in or were the jaws open?

 

[ajg617]

Did you happen to stay at Walnut Hills Campground for your VA stop (without the tailgate)?

Why, are they having problems there? We stay there on occasion.

 

[lfytsmith]

I now use a Goosebox, but when I had my old hitch, I painted the jaws white so I could clearly see them. Of course, paint just the side of the jaws and repaint as needed. I used an Anderson for a while and didn't close the jaw on time, I painted the handle area bright red so I could clearly see if it were open. With the Goosebox, I close the jaw first and set the trailer down onto the ball. You can watch the lock open and the close with a big pop when seated. I am so glad you and the trailer are ok. Safe travels to you!!

 

[Ranchertx]

I now use a Goosebox, but when I had my old hitch, I painted the jaws white so I could clearly see them. Of course, paint just the side of the jaws and repaint as needed. I used an Anderson for a while and didn't close the jaw on time, I painted the handle area bright red so I could clearly see if it were open. With the Goosebox, I close the jaw first and set the trailer down onto the ball. You can watch the lock open and the close with a big pop when seated. I am so glad you and the trailer are ok. Safe travels to you!!

Same here, I will never have another fifth wheel hitch.

 

[ajg617]

With the Goosebox, I close the jaw first and set the trailer down onto the ball. You can watch the lock open and the close with a big pop when seated.

Learned that quickly - leave it locked and watch it open and close. As an aside, found it interesting that the dealer asked me to hang around a bit to move the trailer if needed - new person didn't know how to move one with a Gossebox

 

[JonSr.]

Why, are they having problems there? We stay there on occasion.

Nothing wrong! We were there recently which would have been the same time frame as the OP (if they had stayed there). We saw a newish Solitude arrive pulled by a pickup missing a tailgate and some left rear QP damage. Ironically, we had a conversation about it (saw it while walking the dogs) that the damage appeared new. If it wasn’t the OP, it’s certainly a strange coincidence!

 

[woodzrider]

It reached that point along time ago. My father who owned a 5th wheel for 17 years warned me about this when I bought my first 5th wheel in 2017. "Always check your safety pin"

I used to drive a truck many years ago and believe it or not, this was a common occurance at truck stops.As most trucks back in to park for the night or whatever, This usually takes the pressure off of the latch assy allowing the hitch to be easily unlocked so all a crimanal had to do was just reach over and pull the handle and boom you have an uncoupled trailer. The unsuspecting driver later goes to pull away and if he's lucky, the trailer drops right there but most of the time it happens while pulling out of the truck stop. luckily, it very seldom ever gets to the interstate. I made it a habit to ALWAYS pull the trailer brake valve and bump the pin in reverse to ensure my hitch was locked. Just to verify, semi's don't have safety pins, just the latch handle itself, or at least they didn't back then. This has taught me to always look at my hitch and pins every time I came back to my vehicle before climbing back in. Glad it wasn't any worse for the OP.

 

[Hoopy Frood]

I'm going on the side of "not". IMO these are stories that get passed along, and they always happened to my buddy's best friend's barber's son-in-law' nephew's cousin, once removed.

 

[lorend]

Sue, it sounds like your hubby and you are doing all the right things when hooking up. Plates at right height, visual check, tug test, break-away switch must have been hooked up or the trailer would have just kept rolling instead of stopping. You obviously experienced every 5th wheel drivers worst nightmare. Glad everybody was okay and that it was still a salvageable trip. I have the B&W hitch and it seems that they have put a lot of thought into making them as easy as possible to use and yet you hear of people dropping their 5er on the rails of their truck when starting out. To make it 2 1/2 hours down the road before something happened is amazing. If there is no visible damage to the jaws, the hitch, or the king pin you may just have to chalk it up to gremlins finally caught up with you. From your description on your original post I would just keep doing things the same way and maybe some day an idea will click on what may have happened.

 

[Hoopy Frood]

Sue, it sounds like your hubby and you are doing all the right things when hooking up. Plates at right height, visual check, tug test, break-away switch must have been hooked up or the trailer would have just kept rolling instead of stopping. You obviously experienced every 5th wheel drivers worst nightmare. Glad everybody was okay and that it was still a salvageable trip. I have the B&W hitch and it seems that they have put a lot of thought into making them as easy as possible to use and yet you hear of people dropping their 5er on the rails of their truck when starting out. To make it 2 1/2 hours down the road before something happened is amazing. If there is no visible damage to the jaws, the hitch, or the king pin you may just have to chalk it up to gremlins finally caught up with you. From your description on your original post I would just keep doing things the same way and maybe some day an idea will click on what may have happened.

No, actually you don't hear of people dropping their trailer on the rails with a B&W hitch. If the hitch is latched properly it won't, can't, come loose. I cannot remember anyone ever saying they dropped their trailer if they have a B&W hitch, not counting the two occurrences just recently. And that would be over the last 20 years or so. The only other time was a guy who pinned his handle open and it didn't stay put when he pulled forward. User error.

 

[lorend]

No, actually you don't hear of people dropping their trailer on the rails with a B&W hitch. If the hitch is latched properly it won't, can't, come loose. I cannot remember anyone ever saying they dropped their trailer if they have a B&W hitch, not counting the two occurrences just recently. And that would be over the last 20 years or so. The only other time was a guy who pinned his handle open and it didn't stay put when he pulled forward. User error.

I will agree with you on your points Howard. You are correct in that if it is latched properly it won't, can't, come loose and that if is does it is user error. But I think most manufacturers would say that if used correctly their hitch can't come loose either and if they can't say that then I think the lawsuits would mount up quickly and they would not be around for long. I am really glad that I have the B&W hitch and have not seen anything that I would trade it for. We all make those type of mistakes were we got distracted or the "what was I thinking" moments. And then there are times that we just shake our head and wonder what the heck happened. Also, I don't think I would be advertising it too loudly if I dropped my trailer on my bed rails because I would know that it was something I probably did wrong. Who needs that kind of ribbing from your buddies? lol.