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DannyLeininger's avatar
DannyLeininger
Explorer
Jul 24, 2014

Very Scary Tow Car Breakaway

A dear friend sent me this photo of his Jeep Cherokee which recently became detached while driving on I-95.

The story goes that they were driving down I-95 when a motorist drove up beside them madly honking his horn. Not understanding what the motorist was trying to tell them the wife looked out her side view mirror and saw their Cherokee visible in her mirror. Screaming at her husband (the driver) they watched as the Jeep hit the retaining wall and very slowly came to a stop. They were astonished realizing the miracle that the car never crossed the 4 lanes of heavy traffic and that they were going about 25 mph when things finally came apart.

EVERY SAFETY FEATURE FAILED!!! The Air Force One braking system never actuated...Really! Upon inspection, both Base Plates had come loose from the car taking with it the bumper and Break Away mechanism and all the attachments including the Safety Cables and the Air Force One connections (which is why it failed to actuate.) All bolts for the Base Plates were gone...either sheared off or came loose on their own and everything was still attached to the towbar, now dragging behind the motorhome. I assume there was some poor Base Plate installation practices involved here as the system wasn't more than 18 months old.

The moral of this story is to regularly inspect your towing gear. Shake things from time to time to see if things move that shouldn't.

The amazing thing is, only damage was metal...the car was totaled due to age and mileage.

Take this as a reminder to CHECK YOUR STUFF!!
Class A
  • msmith1199's avatar
    msmith1199
    Explorer II
    Jul 24, 2014
    I was about to say it sounds like the owner is to blame for not keeping an eye on the base plate bolts, but it was only installed 18 months ago? Whomever did that install screwed it up. But even at that, the owner should still be keeping an eye on the bolts. They didn't all fall out at the same time.
  • msmith1199's avatar
    msmith1199
    Explorer II
    Jul 24, 2014
    But on a related note, a few years back somebody posted photos of a similar incident. In that incident the welds and bolts on the tow hitch on the motorhome had failed causing the entire tow hitch to drop off the motorhome. The results were the same as the brake away cable and safety cables are all attached to the hitch. So nothing stopped the towed. That is probably more of a problem as lots of times people drag their tow hitch on the ground on steep driveways and grade changes and that can cause the hitch mount to fail.
  • crasster's avatar
    crasster
    Explorer II
    Jul 24, 2014
    Sometimes it is SCARY how much there is to "check on" when it comes to RV's. Done this for many years and think I have a "list".... But then my mind goes or I get distracted.

    It's usually good though to check a solid "once around" and any hitches before advancing to more adventures.
  • More_To_See's avatar
    More_To_See
    Explorer
    Jul 24, 2014
    I'd be interested in knowing if those were rated bolts or perhaps even bootleg bolts that got into the system. If there was enough left of one a testing lab might be able to learn that.
  • down_home's avatar
    down_home
    Explorer II
    Jul 24, 2014
    We have Camping World install both our tow setups because they do quite a few of them. Excellent trim work in grill on the 010 grill. I tipped the guy but had to come back two months later to get charge wire installed and reverse the air brake mount under Driver's seat. they left our pins that held on grill and light housing though Wiring was good .This 13 Edge wiring was excellent. I double checked every thing and it was lock washered. I prefere blue Loctite or even red
    Experience counts. The same guy that did the first has now done several and every thing is right this time.

    You didn't say whose setup you had on your coach and jeep. I have heard of many Blue Ox baseplates eperating on jeeps but others. Sometimes rivets were involved I think. These reports over time, was the reason we went back to the more expensive Roadmaster this time too. The Blue Ox is a neater installation and I bet it ratteles a lot less but...
  • Mr_Mark1's avatar
    Mr_Mark1
    Explorer
    Jul 24, 2014
    Down home, we are on our second Blue Ox set-up and no problems with the '07 Honda CR-V for 6 yrs. and now the '13 for 1.5 yrs. I think it all depends on the installer.

    And, I do like the Blue-Ox towbar set-up and how clean it is and nothing stays attached to the tow vehicle except the regular connection points.

    MM.
  • Dutch_12078's avatar
    Dutch_12078
    Explorer II
    Jul 24, 2014
    I check the bolts on our Blue Ox base plate at least annually, but Blue Ox also supplies safety cables that tie the base plate to the toad frame, just in case. I can't imagine a scenario where both would fail. I've also added supplemental safety cables that tie the RV hitch to the frame in case of hitch failure.
  • Dale_Traveling's avatar
    Dale_Traveling
    Explorer II
    Jul 24, 2014
    Fortunately failures of this nature seem to be pretty rare but checking both the coach receiver and base plate doesn't happen as often as maybe it should.

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