5th wheel rollover accident

Redwoodcamper wrote:
Looks like it was a Dodge ram 1500 from the picture. Could be wrong. Not enough truck for that trailer.

Following is a quote from article:

In the end, Mark and Doran decided to replace both their truck (a 2008 Dodge Ram 2500) and their trailer (a 2007 32? Hitchhiker Discover America) as well as their slightly damaged B&W Companion hitch with a new set: a 2012 3500 Ram dually truck, 2012 36? Hitchhiker Discover America and a new B&W Companion hitch!

That 2007 Discover weighs around 11K Dry and 14K GVWR

Yes a bit too much trailer for that 2008 2500
At best trucks GVWR 9K and 12K towing

I have a 2007 3500 and my HitchHiker weighs 13,873# (scaled) and puts truck AT ratings.

Ozlander wrote:
Trailer might not have flipped if the hitch had held.

I considered that as well.
With this particular line of thinking, one could summarize that the hitch failure led to the overturn rig.

Me Again wrote:
If the trailer is hanging over a cliff your want it to come apart. If the truck is hanging of a cliff your want it to stay attached. So no correct answer!

Chris

So, so true. Best answer yet.

If the trailer is hanging over a cliff your want it to come apart. If the truck is hanging of a cliff your want it to stay attached. So no correct answer!

Chris

The passenger pin is in place. The passenger head support is not bent. The twisting force lifted the head up and off the support without bending it. Once the head came loose on the passenger side it easily twisted off the drivers side support bending it in the process. All JMHO

Edit. I just looked at my hitch. The dogs that hook under the inside edge of the rubber head support could easily tear thru the rubber. The pin is on the outside of the rubber support and could easily squeeze past.

So I am sticking by my theory even more.

Redwoodcamper wrote:
Looks like it was a Dodge ram 1500 from the picture. Could be wrong. Not enough truck for that trailer.

Yes, you are wrong. The article says it was a 2500.

Cummins12V98 wrote:
I am willing to bet the head pin on both sides stayed in place. There was enough force that the head pulled past the rubber on top of the mount and the head twisted up and bent the one support and tore off it also.

I have not decided in my mind if this is a good thing, in this situation it was good for sure.

If you check out the pictures you can see that the one head pin was severely bent, but was still in the side plate. I think they removed the other head pin and you can see the chain in one photo. The head must have come loose from one mount, or both of the mounts would have been bent. When it came loose it seems logical that all the tipping force would have been exerted on one arm and it bent and forced the arm out of the head. I would liked to have seen a photo of the undamaged arm to see if the rubber was damaged from the head coming off that arm.

we had a roll-over with a HiLo trailer - they scooped up the wreckage with scoop shovels and strapped the walls over the top of the heap. I'm extremely impressed with the small amount of damage to that 5er!

Looks like it was a Dodge ram 1500 from the picture. Could be wrong. Not enough truck for that trailer.

According to the report I read, they figured the truck would have gone right over with the trailer if the hitch had held. Figure that trailer was around 10,000 lbs., that will trump the truck's weight pretty easily, and over she goes. They were lucky the hitch separated.