Pretty Sure Dual Cam Shouldn't Look Like This!

Do you have pix of the set up hitched on the tv before things went wrong?

Checked the tip of the trunnion bar & the bottom of the cam & there is no damage beyond what is in the pictures. I'm almost afraid to stick with the Dual Cam setup. I'm in Canada so it's $500 just for the Reese 26002 kit which is only cams, hangar brackets & chains. If I go with that & the same thing happens then I just spent good money after bad. Blue Ox will run me around $1,000 & haven't yet priced Equalizer. What to do, what to do...

After a 2nd look, still can't imagine the culprit other than bottoming out in reverse or possibly an extremely sharp turn where the trunnion was close to being ejected and apon straightening back up.....the top section of trunnion caught the cam bracket.

Inspect the tip of trunnion for gouge marks.

Oh, 6 links does seem to be the sweet spot with these hitches.

Bracket was on correctly & I don't recall bottoming out. Certainly possible though. I'll check the bottom of the cam & the tip of the bar for scuff marks.

Looks to me like the cam arm may have bottomed out on a driveway dip/rise, rock, or some other hard surface. If only on one side then it could have occured while turning.

In the 2nd picture, it looks to me like the cam lifting bracket was put on backwards. The nuts should be on the outside of the bracket and the chain on the inside. It is very easy to put it on backwards and it will work that way BUT there is the chance the lifting bracket will be bent because of the chain pull on it - resulting in it looking like yours.
Barney

Been using this one for 10 years. Had it recently set up for my new truck by a hitch shop & have towed all summer with no issues. Towed level at 6 links, cams were properly seated in the bar detents & FALR was 100%. No marks on "A" frame so there was no contact. The threaded part of the cam bent up which to me defies the laws of physics because the bar is pulling down on the cam.

Hmmm been using a DC for 15 years without a single issue.
Was it set up properly, set up level?

How many chain links used for towing ?

Was trunnion bar pulled up all the way up to cam ? 5 or less links of chain?

I had something similar happen to only one side. I just bought replacement dual cam parts so I have one spare now. It is worth contacting Reese as well to help understand how that could happen.

Arn wrote:
Not a clue. Hitched up the same as usual & had no events along the way. I'm at a loss & I'm wondering what to go with as a replacement set up.

I would call Reese and talk to them about it. Their hitches and dual cam setups have a lifetime warranty. I am sure that they can help you through tech support. No way that this should have happened under normal conditions.

Family-of-five wrote:
I use that very same rig.What the heck?

I can't figure it out, the cam bent up which makes no sense. If it was bent sideways I'd think it hit the "A" frame but I can't wrap my head around what would cause it to bend up.