Stupid mistake nearly cost me

[hbrady]

Last week I spent about an hour getting my Reese WD bars properly set up and took it for a test run, 30 MPH winds with 45 MPH gusts and it towed like a dream. I don't even use anti-sway.

When I got back to the house I began the detach process, chocked the wheels, put a cinder block under tongue jack and raised jack enough to take most of the weight off the hitch, what I FAILED to do was disconnect safety chains 1st. I didn't notice they were hung up (crossed) on the underside of the hitch so as I raised the trailer it put pretty heavy tension on the chains. Next step was to use the bar to release the spring bars from the snap-up brackets. I noticed the 1st one released with some force but I was able to handle it. When I went to lower the other side I had a quick thought 'I shouldn't stand too close to this bar', thank GOD I had this thought and shuffled left a bit. When the snap up bracket released it did so with tremendous force, the bar flew out of my hand, hit me in the hip and then drove 6'' into my lawn. I said a few choice words and doubled over in pain but I'm very thankful that bar didn't go through my foot! Over a week later and I still have one hell of a nasty bruise on my side. So, the moral from this moron is to always stand clear of the bars when lowering snap-up brackets AND make sure all tension is released from the bars before you lower them!

[dodge_guy]

Glad you are alright.

A word of warning though.......never use a cinder block or any type of concrete block! they can and do very easily crumble under direct pressure. wood is always the best thing to use!

[mich800]

BarneyS wrote:

hbrady wrote:

DutchmenSport wrote:
Glad you were not hurt.

You do know that if you crank up your trailer tongue higher, you can get those weight distribution bars on without using any tools at all...

Yep, works great unless you pull a bonehead move like I did and forget to disconnect safety chains before raising the tongue :S

I don't quite understand this statement. If you are raising the tongue with the coupler still attached to the ball this will raise both the back of the truck and the tongue of the trailer. Doing this will take the pressure off of the WD bars so the snap-up brackets are very easy to release or hook up. The safety chains should move right along with the tongue and truck so there should be no additional tension on them as far as I can see.

Barney

I do the same thing. I do not unhook the safety chains until I am ready to pull away. Just in case something goes wrong and the TT tries to roll away or move during the unhitching process.

[mitw44]

As I raise the tongue jack to release tension from the bars and chains, I periodically try to wiggle the bars with my foot. When they are still under tension, they won't move. Only after the bars move freely and i can see the tension is off the wdh bar chains, do I lower the chain saddles. I never use any kind of cheater bar. I can raise or lower the chain saddles easily by hand, by using the tongue jack. It helps me.

[fla-gypsy]

An excellent reminder to slow down and check everything twice.

[ata3001]

Your chains are that tight? My safety chains are loose whether there is tension on the bars or not. I have never, ever seen my safety chains under any kind of tension. you called them safety chains but did you really mean the weight distribution bar chains?

[rexlion]

You can figure out who was whispering to you, right? 😉 He cares about you!

[coolbreeze01]

Pain increases the chance of a lesson learned and not repeated. As mentioned, let the jack do the the work twice and skip the hurt.

[BarneyS]

hbrady wrote:

DutchmenSport wrote:
Glad you were not hurt.

You do know that if you crank up your trailer tongue higher, you can get those weight distribution bars on without using any tools at all...

Yep, works great unless you pull a bonehead move like I did and forget to disconnect safety chains before raising the tongue :S

I don't quite understand this statement. If you are raising the tongue with the coupler still attached to the ball this will raise both the back of the truck and the tongue of the trailer. Doing this will take the pressure off of the WD bars so the snap-up brackets are very easy to release or hook up. The safety chains should move right along with the tongue and truck so there should be no additional tension on them as far as I can see.

I have a feeling you were trying to raise the tongue of the trailer AFTER you released the ball coupler since you said "...and raised jack enough to take most of the weight off the hitch". This would have the effect you are talking about on the safety chains and it would also INCREASE the amount of tension on the WD bar chains and snap-up brackets. This would explain the huge amount of force that tore the pipe extension out of your hands.

Next time, leave everything hooked up and just raise the back of the truck with the tongue jack. The higher you raise it the easier it is to get the chains done. 🙂 Once the chains are loose then you lower the tongue so there is pressure on the ball and then you release the ball coupler and raise the trailer off the ball.

There are TWO up and down motions of the trailer tongue when doing this. One to release the chains, and the second to release the ball coupler. This is one reason so many of us have power tongue jacks! :B
Barney

[icanon]

It could have been worst that bar could have flew off and hit your head or chest and killed you!!! Thank God it didn't. Thanks for posting it's a reminder to all.

[DutchmenSport]

hbrady wrote:

DutchmenSport wrote:
Glad you were not hurt.

You do know that if you crank up your trailer tongue higher, you can get those weight distribution bars on without using any tools at all...

Yep, works great unless you pull a bonehead move like I did and forget to disconnect safety chains before raising the tongue :S

That's OK hbrady!

I once unhitched everything completely, except the safety chains. (oops). When I pulled the truck forward, wanna guess what happened? Well, that trailer jack wasn't sitting on top of the 6 inch block any more! That much I'll admit!

[hbrady]

DutchmenSport wrote:
Glad you were not hurt.

You do know that if you crank up your trailer tongue higher, you can get those weight distribution bars on without using any tools at all...

Yep, works great unless you pull a bonehead move like I did and forget to disconnect safety chains before raising the tongue :S

[nineoaks2004]

I always use a check off list, so I do not forget anything such as disconnecting the safety chains or anything else, I use one for hook up too and this includes setting chocks in place. (This I learned the hard way). Glad it was not worse than it was..

[DutchmenSport]

Glad you were not hurt.

You do know that if you crank up your trailer tongue higher, you can get those weight distribution bars on without using any tools at all. I've had a Reese (with the bars and chains and the lift that raise up and down with a cheater bar), and also now an Equal-i-zer, where the bars rest on an L-bracket. I've never had to use the cheater bars. Just crank the tongue up high enough and you'll be able to slip the bars on (or the chains on), or the lifts on, without any tools. When you lower the tongue, you'll get the tension on those bars.

If you can't raise your trailer tongue high enough, but a block under the tongue jack so it will raise higher. I keep a 6 inch block under mine all the time so the trailer tongue will lift higher. Been doing this with 3 different trailers now.