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Jayco-noslide's avatar
Jayco-noslide
Explorer
Oct 08, 2015

Scarey and Puzzling

2 yrs ago we bought a 2002 30 ft. Class C and the Blue Ox towing set up that came with it and tow a Chevy Sonic. We've already travelled many thousands of miles with no towing issues. But 2 days ago I slowed down near an interstate ramp and slightly down hill. Felt a slight "push", looked in the left mirror and it looked like the Sonic was trying to pull out and pass us (slight exaggeration). Pulled over and found that one of the tow bars had come unhooked allowing the car to angle over to one side and right up against back of MH. Only damage appears to be to the hitch arm and the pin is stuck in the other arm. I'm very careful and really hate to think that I did not attach the safety ring to the hitch pin. The worst part is that I guess I'll never know. It's like being 90% sure you took a pill but not 100%. The safety cables were perfectly intact. I wish we could downsize and quit towing.
  • Dutch_12078's avatar
    Dutch_12078
    Explorer II
    Oct 08, 2015
    I noticed early on that the hitch pins on our tow bar tended to drift towards the outside of the toad brackets. If the pins were inserted from the outside in, that meant there would be pressure against the retainer clips, potentially causing them to fail. To make sure I always inserted the pins from the center out instead, I added directional arrows to the brackets with a permanent marker and clear coat. Now we can drive hundreds of miles with the car in tow, and the retainer clips never get near the brackets. The likelihood is that the pins would stay nicely in place while going down the road even if the retainer clips were missing, but I'm not planning to test that theory.
  • Ava's avatar
    Ava
    Explorer
    Oct 08, 2015
    Most big rigs have a rear camera just for that purpose, to make sure toad is attached and riding where it should.
  • Bumpyroad's avatar
    Bumpyroad
    Explorer
    Oct 08, 2015
    janstey58 wrote:
    Or pranksters at your last stop


    yep, a good reason to use locking pins.
    bumpy
  • Tripalot's avatar
    Tripalot
    Explorer
    Oct 08, 2015
    We check pins after every stop just to make sure pranksters have not been busy.
    Good habit to get into - also look at tires and do a general walk around.
    We do this even if we have been at a rest area to stretch our legs, or WM for shopping.
  • Hank_MI's avatar
    Hank_MI
    Explorer
    Oct 09, 2015
    Dutch_12078 wrote:
    I noticed early on that the hitch pins on our tow bar tended to drift towards the outside of the toad brackets. If the pins were inserted from the outside in, that meant there would be pressure against the retainer clips, potentially causing them to fail. To make sure I always inserted the pins from the center out instead, I added directional arrows to the brackets with a permanent marker and clear coat. Now we can drive hundreds of miles with the car in tow, and the retainer clips never get near the brackets. The likelihood is that the pins would stay nicely in place while going down the road even if the retainer clips were missing, but I'm not planning to test that theory.


    There is another reason to install pins from the inside. If installed from the outside, during a tight turn those coiled safety cables can hook on the locking pin and unhook it. This depends on the base plate setup but it is possible, many have the safety cables just inboard of the tow bar arm.
  • Dutch_12078's avatar
    Dutch_12078
    Explorer II
    Oct 09, 2015
    Hank MI wrote:
    Dutch_12078 wrote:
    I noticed early on that the hitch pins on our tow bar tended to drift towards the outside of the toad brackets. If the pins were inserted from the outside in, that meant there would be pressure against the retainer clips, potentially causing them to fail. To make sure I always inserted the pins from the center out instead, I added directional arrows to the brackets with a permanent marker and clear coat. Now we can drive hundreds of miles with the car in tow, and the retainer clips never get near the brackets. The likelihood is that the pins would stay nicely in place while going down the road even if the retainer clips were missing, but I'm not planning to test that theory.


    There is another reason to install pins from the inside. If installed from the outside, during a tight turn those coiled safety cables can hook on the locking pin and unhook it. This depends on the base plate setup but it is possible, many have the safety cables just inboard of the tow bar arm.

    I have seen situations where that could occur on some tow setups, but our ReadyBrute Elite tow bar has a metal loop that the coiled safety cables pass through at the pivot point. With that setup, the position of the cables relative to the pins doesn't change during turns, no matter how tight the are.

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