Something I've not seen before.

BobsYourUncle wrote:

Looks like the trailer stayed upright. That's a miracle too.

I stand corrected on this one. I neglected to look close at the picture to see the ground impact evidence on the side of the 5ver.

This puts a different "twist" on the situation. If the unit jackknifed before the trailer flipped I can see how the pin would have extreme pressure on it, causing it to tear out.

But still, the pin shouldn't have torn out like that.

My first thought when looking at the pictures is there is no lubrication between the hitch and the pin box. With all that rust and friction when turning it could have already had cracks in the welds before the turn-over.

While my first thought was pin failure, maybe cheap weld, cheap steel of pin box, I now don't think that was the case. The FW clearly did roll over on side, and something has to give, unless truck goes over too.

It does not look like the hitch failed in any way. The FW frame does not appear to be twisted by the box mount. It does not appear that any of this is due to poor manufacturing.

I will try to get a camera view of the inside of my Lippert box, showing pin inside. If I get a decent pic, I will post it. Rethinking this, I don't think we have to fear a pin weld failure/pull through in all but extreme cases, such as this.

Jerry

On end-dump trailers that often fall on side if not careful unloading, we hope the base breaks loose as it falls. Much less chance of the driver getting hurt. The 5th wheel turned over, did not take pickup and people with it.

enblethen wrote:
I would question the damage area. It looks like the rig was jack knifed and that what causes the pin to be ripped out of the pin box. If rig was going straight forward, it would have come through the tailgate.

colliehauler wrote:

Jackathan wrote:
The first picture clearly shows the trailer tipped over. It appears the person attempted to drive off the highway, and the trailer got over center, tipping over and tearing out the king pin.

I beleive you may be correct, it would be interesting to get the real story instead of speculation. You can tell it was a heck of amount of stress to bend the top plate on the B&W hitch.

My opinion is operator error whether intentional or accidental going off road into the ditch.

Well I agree with Enblethen, the rig jackknifed then at lest tipped over on it's side with the pin box resting on the side of the bed.
Based on a closer look at the first picture something caused the rig to jackknife and momentum the 5er rolled and the weakest part failed that being the plate the pin was wielded to.

At least the driver of the TV in the picture was nice enough to provide the Popcorn for the discussion.

The top pic shows the RV on its side, and looks like the king pin being the weakest link could not handle the stress.

Looks like a poor pin box design around the pin. I've owned three different brand 5th wheel rv trailers and all three pin box's had a 1/2" plate welded to the pin box around the pin. Then the a 100 percent weld around the pin.
Several reasons a pin welded into thin metal could pull through like the picture shows.

I'd like to see the front of the truck and the other side of the bed.
Somebody righted the 5er before taking that pic. Lots of mud where the top of the side wall meets the roof. Not a good day for sure.

ford truck guy wrote:
AND...... It HARDLY looks like there is any weld on there :h

Looks just pressed in to me.
Might be normal but the steel of the box looks thin to me.

Jackathan wrote:
The first picture clearly shows the trailer tipped over. It appears the person attempted to drive off the highway, and the trailer got over center, tipping over and tearing out the king pin.

I beleive you may be correct, it would be interesting to get the real story instead of speculation. You can tell it was a heck of amount of stress to bend the top plate on the B&W hitch.

My opinion is operator error whether intentional or accidental going off road into the ditch.