Reese Dual Cam Puzzler

[md2lgyk]

Took the TT out today for a BBQ competition. Been RVing for years, so I'm not a newbie. When I got to where the competition was and starting unhitching the rig, I found that one of the WD hitch's spring bars was simply. . . missing! Thought at first I'd had a senior moment while hooking up and left it behind, but after coming home, I looked around and it's nowhere to be found. How could this be?? I can't imagine one could just fall off. The chain was hooked up and the snap bracket properly locked in place. Surely a mystery to me.

[93Cobra2771]

One other possibility is the bar end has worn the hitch to the point that under light tension situations, the socket is sloppy enough to simply let the bar fall out.

However, sounds like you had a very sharp turn which kicked it out.

[md2lgyk]

Passin Thru wrote:
Good! Never knew they would fall out.Love the pop and groan of a dual cam.

Not me. Every time she hears it, my wife thinks there's something wrong.

[Passin_Thru]

Good! Never knew they would fall out.Love the pop and groan of a dual cam.

[md2lgyk]

Thanks, I'll look into that. But in 13,000 miles of towing, a bar had never come off before.

The story has a happy ending. I went back to the place where I'd made the tight backing turn, and the bar was still there, lying on the ground.

[tempforce]

if the load is that light, your bars don't have much tension on them to hold them in place… you may want to get a replacement set of bars with a lower rating. so you can put some load on the bars without worrying about lifting the trailer front or truck rear wheels..
if you replace with same sized bars. you may want to connect a safety strap to the bars. using a clamp to attach the straps.. that way you won't be as likely to misplace a bar in the future..

[md2lgyk]

Wow, so I'm not crazy. I did have to make a pretty sharp turn in one spot, so maybe the thing's still lying there somewhere. I'll have to look.

I have to bring the TT home this evening (about 35 miles). If I can't find the missing bar, which do you think would be better: using the one bar I still have, or no bars at all? It's a fairly light unit, and the tongue weight's only about 600 pounds. Honestly, when I hook up and cinch up the bars, I notice almost no difference in ride height. At the speed I'll be going and the roads I'll be on, I'm not at all worried about sway, so maybe no bars is the way to go?

[SkippysPad]

Actually.......I had one pop off a couple years ago on the way to Florida. I turned sharp enough trying to maneuver at the gas station that it slipped over the top of the cam. I heard it hit the ground, so I was able to pop it back on....but yeah, I thought the same thing. Could it really go that far?

When I got to a stopping point that night, I took the hitch out of the receiver and did kind of a manual test. Sure enough....It's possible to turn sharp enough to slip over the cam.