So if you have ready of my last posts on here you know we were looking to tow our Jeep Cherokee behind our Motorhome. Well we had both a Failure and a success. First off we were heading to California and after owning a Class A for almost 5 years figured it was time to pull something behind so when we got to the RV Park we weren't tied to the Motorhome. Well we got it all figured out and bought my Blue Ox Towbar, Blue Ox Aventa 2 tow bars, Safety Chains, and 7way to 4 way plug. Also bought a Ready Brake to install in the Cherokee. Everything was great. I installed it all and took it around the block a few times and everything worked well. 50 miles into the trip I hear a clank and I look over at the Backup monitor and see sparks flying all over the tow vehicle. I though we had a brake fire or something. We pulled off the freeway and the Jeep was against the side of the Motorhome and the Hitch is still attached to the Jeep. The receiver either broke the Hitch Pin or it came unlatched somehow. I now for a fact that it was put in right as I checked it twice. Weird thing is before we left I had looked at this extra hitch pin sitting on my garage floor like 4 different times as I passed it loading stuff into the Motorhome and on the last one I thought I should just throw this in with my tools. Good thing we did as we would have not been able to tow without it.
We got everything hooked back up and headed back down the road without incident the rest of the trip. So I guess that's our success part. Lesson learned was I was glad I bought the extra weight Blue Ox safety chains as they kept our Cherokee with us instead of breaking and sending the cherokee off into the desert or worse another vehicle. I have been towing for 20 plus years with RV's Trucks etc including being an OTR Truck driver for 5 years without incident. Glad this one turned out without any further damage than what happened.
So now I need to decide if the damage is enough to warrant an insurance claim or not. I don't want to if I don't have to but I don't know how to fix fiberglass either. So what do you think about this damage? Does it warrant an insurance claim? Photo's below.
Damage is basically all the rear cap of the Motorhome. No damage to the compartment in front of damage. Looks like just a small area would need to be replaced or fixed and then the trim piece... But I'm not sure what would be involved.
Jeep Damage
We got everything hooked back up and headed back down the road without incident the rest of the trip. So I guess that's our success part. Lesson learned was I was glad I bought the extra weight Blue Ox safety chains as they kept our Cherokee with us instead of breaking and sending the cherokee off into the desert or worse another vehicle. I have been towing for 20 plus years with RV's Trucks etc including being an OTR Truck driver for 5 years without incident. Glad this one turned out without any further damage than what happened.
So now I need to decide if the damage is enough to warrant an insurance claim or not. I don't want to if I don't have to but I don't know how to fix fiberglass either. So what do you think about this damage? Does it warrant an insurance claim? Photo's below.
Damage is basically all the rear cap of the Motorhome. No damage to the compartment in front of damage. Looks like just a small area would need to be replaced or fixed and then the trim piece... But I'm not sure what would be involved.
Jeep Damage
Executive wrote:
Obviously the ReadyBrake was NOT hooked up correctly. The ReadyBrake cable attaches to the FRAME of the towed vehicle and to the FRAME of the towing vehicle. If the towed vehicle becomes separated from the towing vehicle the small aluminum spacer snaps and the towed vehicle stops in it's tracks. I would say it's operator error that allowed the two vehicles to come together. Insurance is the only way to go....Dennis
You are wrong about the ready brake system. The cable does not attach to the Motorhome frame. It attaches to the Ready Brake brake actuator on the receiver and the receiver goes into the receiver hitch on the frame. You are thinking of the Ready Stop which is there break away system which mine did not have
User error. It could possibly be and I'll never know but I would bet my life it was the locking mechanism on the hitch pin. I specifically remember putting it on and pulling against the lock as I have done 100 times over. Either way lesson learned.
How about a question for you all. What type of receiver hitch pin do you use?
lacofdfireman wrote:I have had the lock not work on that type of pin, Lost the lock somewhere between Whitehorse and Chicken Alaska and the only reason it didn't fall out was because of the safety cable holding the pin in on a Blueox towbar. checked the other one and found it full of grime from the road, no cover to keep the **** out and every time I hooked or unhook it pushed more garbage into the lock.DownTheAvenue wrote:lacofdfireman wrote:
...50 miles into the trip I hear a clank and I look over at the Backup monitor and see sparks flying all over the tow vehicle.... The receiver either broke the Hitch Pin or it came unlatched somehow. I now for a fact that it was put in right as I checked it twice. Weird thing is before we left I had looked at this extra hitch pin sitting on my garage floor like 4 different times as I passed it loading stuff into the Motorhome and on the last one I thought I should just throw this in with my tools.
First I am so glad the incident was no more serious than it was. It could have ended so much worse, as you know. Having said that, you should not be so certain that everything was correctly pinned up. Where did that extra pin on the garage floor come from? I bet it was left uninstalled somewhere in the set up.
You would be very wise to take pictures of the correct set up and make a check list to use every time you hook up.
Thanks for the advise. Not that I don't appreciate it but there was "NOTHING" left out of my setup. The extra pin was from the many receiver hitches that I have. I tow boats, enclosed trailers, flatbeds etc with my Truck and Motorhome and have never had an incident. There are only 2 possible reasons this came unhitched.
1. The pin broke (Not likely)
2. The locking mechanism on the pin failed (Most likely).
There is no possible way I left something out of the hitch system. Zero. I'm thinking the locking mechanism on the pin was the problem... But I have no way to find that out as it was not around after the incident. I could not have driven over 50 miles up and down hills, around corners over speed bumps, etc with no pin in for 50 + miles.
This is the style of pin I was using...
Took it in tonight for an estimate. Going to make a claim. State Farm said since I own both vehicles and have insurance on both I only pay 1 deductible. That's good.
DownTheAvenue wrote:lacofdfireman wrote:
...50 miles into the trip I hear a clank and I look over at the Backup monitor and see sparks flying all over the tow vehicle.... The receiver either broke the Hitch Pin or it came unlatched somehow. I now for a fact that it was put in right as I checked it twice. Weird thing is before we left I had looked at this extra hitch pin sitting on my garage floor like 4 different times as I passed it loading stuff into the Motorhome and on the last one I thought I should just throw this in with my tools.
First I am so glad the incident was no more serious than it was. It could have ended so much worse, as you know. Having said that, you should not be so certain that everything was correctly pinned up. Where did that extra pin on the garage floor come from? I bet it was left uninstalled somewhere in the set up.
You would be very wise to take pictures of the correct set up and make a check list to use every time you hook up.
Thanks for the advise. Not that I don't appreciate it but there was "NOTHING" left out of my setup. The extra pin was from the many receiver hitches that I have. I tow boats, enclosed trailers, flatbeds etc with my Truck and Motorhome and have never had an incident. There are only 2 possible reasons this came unhitched.
1. The pin broke (Not likely)
2. The locking mechanism on the pin failed (Most likely).
There is no possible way I left something out of the hitch system. Zero. I'm thinking the locking mechanism on the pin was the problem... But I have no way to find that out as it was not around after the incident. I could not have driven over 50 miles up and down hills, around corners over speed bumps, etc with no pin in for 50 + miles.
This is the style of pin I was using...
Gjac wrote:lacofdfireman wrote:Maybe I still don't understand what exactly happened but doesn't the hitch pin go through the Ready Break, and wasn't the hitch pin supplied by Ready Break which either broke or came loose?Gjac wrote:
In addition to what others have said I would call the Towbar company and let them know what happened if you hooked it up correctly I would think they have some responsibility in correcting the situation. Also check with your insurance company and see if you have in your policy a vanishing deductible. I was camping with my friend last week and his motorhome rolled forward into his trees in front and he thought he had $1000 deductible which he did but over time it went to zero when he had no accidents. The Insurance company will now cover the entire damage with no cost to him.
Wasn't the Towbars fault. As you can see the entire receiver came out of the Motorhome and the tow bar etc was still attached to the jeep...
No. The hitch pin was not supplied by Ready Brake as I bought this system used. It was a locking hitch pin that I had been using for a number of years without fail. Until it did fail on this particular day. Not Ready Brakes fault. It worked as it should.
