broken hitch coupler

[tomjv]

Ok, so here goes!
The bolt snapped on my trailer hitch coupler. I've never seen this before. I have several trailers and it never even occurred to me that the part COULD break . . . but mines's broken and I have to repair it.

I'm talking about the tongue here. The tongue is the part that sits on the ball. Then you engage the tongue lock, which keeps the trailer from coming off the ball. It's the tongue lock that's broken. The tongue lock is basically a bolt with two flanges on it. The flanges tighten around the bottom side of the ball when you engage the lock. You never see these parts, because they are hidden by the tongue.
In my case that bolt has snapped.

Sure, I could run to Wally World and p/u another tongue, but mine happens to be welded onto the trailer.
I COULD break out the grinder and grind the welds off . . . then I'd have to drill holes in the trailer arm to install the new part . . . I'll need a carbide bit, probably two because the bolts will be pretty big . . .
There's got to be an easier way.

Anyway, that's it. I figured maybe it's happend to someone else.

Thanks for looking!
TomJV

[BenK]

Any 'good' welder can replace a welded on coupler assembly

A good coupler rated for your trailer GVWR should be in the couple hundred bucks
and about 2 hours labor for the welder to grind off the old, prep the tongue, weld
the coupler on and corrosion resistant paint it

Am very curious on what WD Hitch you use and the loading

As if it broke this one, how long will it take to break the new one?

Was it worn badly or was it fairly new and/or in good condition before it broke?

[campigloo]

Do you have a specialty trailer shop in your area? A shop that fabricates utility trailers should be able to cut the old one off and weld a new one in just a few minutes. Just to ask, did you keep the ball greased or use it dry?

[BenK]

Am interested in the root cause and if we find out...might help others down the road

As this might not be an isolated incident, but potentially much broader

This latch assembly is all that keeps the coupler held onto the ball, in
addition to the 'down force' of tongue weight...but at a whoopee-do, it
might/will pop out to then only have the safety chains keeping the trailer
to the TV

[K_Charles]

What brand is the hitch? Parts are available for some brands.

[BenK]

Curious, very curious

Which part in these diagrams:





or this one



Or is yours a different design?

[BenK]

Curious which WD Hitch you use and what is the weight of your trailer & it's tongue weight

[jmcgsd]

K Charles wrote:
You can buy coupler repair kits.

Looks like they're available for Class I & II but not for anything else.

[K_Charles]

You can buy coupler repair kits.