Question about wrecks while towing a 5th wheel

[jayspi]

This is a general question that probably seems morbid, but there's a reason I ask. Have people seen or experienced (hopefully not that one) a 5th wheel coming through the back of the tow vehicle when there is a collision or rear-ended?

I've looked at lots of pictures and it seems that most 5th wheels jackknife or roll instead of coming straight forward. However, I read a post on Facebook a while back where the person towing had to make an emergency stop. When they did, an 18 wheeler or bus (I forget) rear-ended them and pushed them into the vehicle that they were behind. They said it pushed the 5th wheel through the back window, but thankfully it didn't come through the front seat.

Has anyone seen or experienced that? It seems to me like a proper hitch should force the trailer to jackknife, not come straight forward.

To be clear, I'm not accusing the person on Facebook of doing anything wrong. I'm just saying I remember reading about it. My post has nothing to do with them. I don't even remember who it was. I'm wondering for myself. Their situation was very unique...they were effectively rear-ended and had a head-on collision at the same time. I think their 5th wheel had no place to go but forward.

[Aridon]

Could happen, especially if it wasn't hitched right or if the hitch wasn't installed correctly or if using some kind of adapter which added weakness.

In general though, physics dictates that scenario unlikely assuming everything is up to snuff. First, the hitch swings so any pressure pushing on the back would push on the hitch and take the path of least resistance. This would absorb energy as the trailer edges around the hitch. So energy would be spent there.

You also have the frame of the truck and on a long bed many feet of frame to go through. You would be more likely to see this happen on a short bed truck.

The front cap of an RV isn't exactly strong. Mostly fiberglass, resin and foam. So while it might look bad, hitting that isn't exactly like hitting something really solid. Again a lot of the energy of the impact would be lost when the fifth wheel cap hit the truck and literally started to crumple. Same is true for the front generator and storage areas.

When the two frames collide, tons of energy will be lost. I'd put my money on the truck frame over the fifth wheel frame any day.

So while I think this could happen, especially if you used some kind of adapter on a gooseneck or didn't install your hitch right, this type of accident would likely be super rare (they are) and serious injury would also be unlikely.

[theoldwizard1]

If the trailer brakes are working correctly, a 5er climbing over the truck bed would be very unusual.

[gkainz]

I believe the front of the trailer frame and the rear of the truck frame would provide enough entanglement to keep the nose of the 5er from coming through the cab. But maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part.

[the_bear_II]

Since being able to look at photos and videos of RV wrecks on the internet, I usually see the trailer and the tow vehicle jackknifed or laying on their side. It's very rare to see a photo or video like the one shown above where the truck and trailer remain straight.

[WTP-GC]

There was a very tragic story posted on here a while back where a family was towing a gooseneck horse trailer and they left the road to avoid an accident (I think). Unfortunately, the trailer came through the back of the truck and killed all but one person, or perhaps all of them.

That being said, I've never read a story or seen where a fifth wheel RV disconnected from the hitch and came through the back of the truck. In my mind, I would find it hard to believe that this could actually happen short of someone driving full speed into the back of immovable object. If this happened, the 5er coming through the back is probably the least of your concerns. Under any other imaginable circumstance, I believe the nose of the 5er would more/less self-implode upon impact and the frame would get caught up somewhere along the way.

The horse trailer mentioned above was probably built more rigid than the truck itself and likely weighed 20K-25K pounds.

[fj12ryder]

IMO if the truck and trailer combination is straight, and the hit is from directly behind, I see no reason that the trailer would jack knife rather than ram straight ahead.

But why worry, if it happens, it happens. No amount of worry will keep something like that from happening. Do the best you can and let the what-ifs fall away beside you. Life is too short to worry excessively, and especially about thing over which you have no control.

[DutchmenSport]

Never heard of anything like that happening, but I suppose it's possible. That's why it's called "an accident." Freaky things happen when metal begins to twist up and forces push heavy objects around.

Kind of like this?



Some really sad photos, click here. 😞