Towed vehicle breakaway events?

I have seen the event happen, going South on intersrate 5 towands Dana Point in California, Idiot pulling a fishing boat going about 80+ miles and boat not being properlly tied down, right hand curve ahead down hill, idiot enters curve and boat starts to leve trailer braking front winch connection and also trailer twisting and coming off the hitch from the car.

Boat departed from trailer, trailer departed from car, safety chains broke one first then the other one, for some unknown reason idiot had brake away cable actually connected to vehicle.

Boat went towards center divider and proceeded to brake appart, idiot in car continued forward as if nothing had happened, trailer's tires locked up and started to slow down real fast, I passed on right side in my VW bus, saw in rear mirror as a couple of vehicles swerved arround trailer parked in on No 2 lane on a four lane freeway.

The idiot eventually stopped about a half mile down the road, so yes they do work if all is in good condition and hooked up correct, boat and trailer looked very new.

With the new hitches and levellers and sway bars, the trailers tend to roll over and the vehicle goes with them, it is still a good thing to have them, my friend would pull the brake away pin while he set up his trailer so that it would not move untill he placed the chocks.

I have a brake away cable with my toad's brake system.

navegator

navegator

There have been a few such incidents reported on these forums (with pictures) in the past.
In nearly every one that I remember, the breakaway occurred where the receiver was attached to the motorhome. Since the brake activating cable was attached to the receiver, it did not actuate the braking system. Since the safety chains were also attached to the receiver, they were also useless.
However, in one case I just remembered, the receiver did not detach from the motorhome, the baseplate broke away from the towed vehicle. In another case, the entire front end of the towed vehicle broke away.
So, yes, it DOES happen. However, for those who are statistically minded, the rate of failure is so low as to be negligible.

I had a boat trailer come off the hitch because I had not locked it down and the safety chains did a very good job of controlling the trailer till I stopped. In the case of base plates breaking away the 2-3 reports I have seen are related to uni-body construction and workharding of the sheet metal. Having the safety chains attached to uni-body sheet metal did not provide much help. Use a toad with a true frame and attach the safety cables to it for peace of mind.

pops

I had co worker who had a breakaway incident. The homemade baseplate on his toad failed. It seems that the failure rate of commercially made and installed baseplates and receivers is VERY low. Mowermech brings up a great point to those who insist on a breakaway system, (btw I think they are a good idea) if you connect one end to the baseplate and the other to the receiver, you may as not hook it up at all.

Boat trailers are not a great comparison, or anything on a ball and receiver.

I worry the most about a false triggering event where the breakaway pops the box and my pretty Jeep is being dragged down the highway. I look at the whole and try and figure just how all of my Blue Ox stuff is going to fail and I just don't see it. I do hook up the dang red coily thing, though. I can then tell the cop "yes, officer, I did have a breakaway system". That way I don't have some HUGE liability in an accident. mowermech, great points. If my receiver comes of my MH, I will sue the heck out of Fleetwood and Draw-tite. Just saying.....

I cannot see, other than rust, how a receiver coming off a MH is anyone's fault but the installer and/or the MH company. If it is a do it yourselfer and that things comes of, someone needs to go to jail......cuz that be criminal.

dub

When I had my baseplate installed on my toad, the installers hooked the breakaway to the RV's receiver. I made them move it to the RV's frame. They grumbled, but they moved it.

dubdub07 wrote:
I worry the most about a false triggering event where the breakaway pops the box and my pretty Jeep is being dragged down the highway.

Yes, this is one reason why IMO its a very wise idea to wire some kind of indicator light on the MH dash, that will indicate when towed vehicle brake pedal is being depressed (regardless what supplemental braking system you use). NOT when the braking system engages, but when brake pedal is pressed. This way you'll always know when your towed vehicles brakes are being engaged, and if they ever get engaged when they should not, you'll know right away and can (hopefully) stop before major damage is done.

....If my receiver comes of my MH, I will sue the heck out of Fleetwood and Draw-tite......I cannot see, other than rust, how a receiver coming off a MH is anyone's fault but the installer and/or the MH company. If it is a do it yourselfer and that things comes of, someone needs to go to jail......cuz that be criminal.

On the contrary, there are a lot of ways an owner can abuse the hitch receiver on a MH and contribut to its early demise.

MHs typically have quite a bit of rear overhang. In many cases, the hitch receiver is the first thing to scrap and have a lot of upward force/pressure put on it when going over steep bumps or inclines.

Also, as you know, most MH receivers are limited to 500 lbs (or 350) maximum tongue weight. How many MHs do you see towing fairly big, enclosed trailers behind them? You really think those trailers loaded up, have less than 500 lbs of tongue weight? Or, even flatbed trailers with a car on them. You think that trailer, with a car on it, is putting just 500 lbs or less of tongue weight on that receiver?

Soooo, I would not assume that most hitch receiver failures are the fault of the manufacturer. There are definitely ways the owner can cause such.

I made it a point when I first set up our MH to tow our vehicles, that the break-away cable attaches to the frame of the MH, not the hitch receiver. If there was a good way to attach the safety chains to something besides the reciever, too, I'd do it.

Typically receivers are bolted to the MH frame. These bolts can loosen in time. I soun my bolts once a year to ensure they are tight. Maybe it just for my peace of mind, or maybe your's. JM2¢...

I had the locking pin that holds the draw bar in the receiver come loose one time, and it caused the draw bar to pull out. I felt the tug when the cables caught it, and as I was slowing down, the car came to rest up against the right rear corner of the m/h home. The cross bar on the Roadmaster tow bar came into contact with the hitch on the m/h, causing only two very unnoticeable scratches.

Have no idea why the pin came out, we had been on the road for a couple days.
I'll never trust a locking pin again.

This afternoon I observed a wrecked HHR TOAD on I-90W near the Pattersonville Service Plaza in NY. The TOAD was cross ways in the road with the receiver an hitch still attache. The towing vehicle (a MH I presume) was no where in sight. Not sure how far they got before they discovered the TOAD was missing. As we passed by, I could not tell if the breakaway had actuated (no definitive tire marks)or if the breakaway cable was attached to the receiver. Not sure if there was an auxiliary braking system installed. This is the second time I have observed this type of failure. The other I mentioned in my earlier post. This stuff does happen. JM2¢...