Don't Do What We Did

[Dane]

quote:Originally posted by sreigle

Dane, what kind of hitch are you using? Sorry to hear about your misfortune. As GordonR said, you're not the first and won't be the last. I'm just trying to make sure I'm not in that position. As serious as it was, I'm glad to hear the Montana didn't also suffer damage.

We have a Reece 16K hitch. It was in no way the hitches fault.

[Parrothead]

The Bedsaver thing is great. We always do the visual check to make sure the bar is across the pin. We saw a really bad example of a novice with a rental one time, they didn't lower the legs and pulled away. The whole thing dropped on the tailgate. When we bought our first unit 12 years ago no one showed us how to unhook or hook up anything. We brought the unit home and then tried to get the truck off the unit. My brother was there from Phoenix and he and Ed were up in the bed of the truck looking under everything. Quite a sight. Try as we might nothing would pull the bar loose. It was Thanksgiving and our dealer didn't answer the phone so I just started calling any dealer I could find in the phone book. Finally got one and since I sounded like a hysterical woman (woman I am, hysterical not usually)they took pity on me and said "back up 1 in." How simple and did we ever feel like fools! When we bought our second unit they did tell us this.

[kdeiss]

I painted the jaws white like mentioned above.leaving early in the morning when still dark I use a flash light to make sure the jaws are closed the white paint helps a lot

[Dane]

This is an excellent suggestion! Until now I was not aware of the Bedsaver. DHenry thanks for taking time to share. We are going to seriously look into this.

quote:Originally posted by Melissa and Mike S

That's awesome, I just sent it to my husband via email! THANKS!

[captbanjo]

Dane, someone else here said it but in case you aren't (at least once you apparently were not) doing it...by all means ALWAYS do the pull test. Same for anyone else. Please. We're new to the fiver world but it is instantly apparent that the pull test is vital. It only adds a couple of minutes and could save you thousands as well as possible injury in case someone is close to the rig when it falls. With the pull test, the fiver will never fall. You'll simply disengage from the trailer if you haven't locked properly.



Perhaps it goes without saying – we won’t make that mistake again. The moral of this story – triple check your hitch to see that it is locked!

[Montana_381]

One thing to watch out for if you're using the white teflon disk:

If the "fingers" have been trimmed off on one side, make sure that the ones remaining are towards the rear.

If they're turned to the front and your hitch is tight then it may not latch. (Had this happen when I went to pick mine up from the dealership after having some work done on it.)

As others have said, do a test pull before raising the landing gear.

[Montana_1235]

I have a Reese hitch and it has a lever that you have to slide in after the pin is in place I suppose like many others are made. You can close the arm and just back into it and it will close also. It also has a locking hinge that goes down over a section of the arm to hold it in place. It will not lock if the jaws are not closed. So if you close the hinge, (I use a padlock to keep it in the closed position), the jaws cannot open. The pin cannot come out of the hitch. I have to get out of the truck to close the hinge and lock it. That’s when I check to make sure the jaws are closed. Even after a visual confirmation that the jaws are locked, I too do a pull test. Just paranoid I guess.

I have a fiend that dropped his trailer on the bed but that was because he didn’t have the front jacks down and locked when he pulled away.

Dane which hitch do you have?

I’d really like to know how some of the other hitches work. I’ve seen several threads where people have dropped the 5er on the bed because the hitch didn’t lock.

Bill

[Dane]

quote:Originally posted by Bill n Pat

I have a Reese hitch and it has a lever that you have to slide in after the pin is in place I suppose like many others are made. You can close the arm and just back into it and it will close also. It also has a locking hinge that goes down over a section of the arm to hold it in place. It will not lock if the jaws are not closed. So if you close the hinge, (I use a padlock to keep it in the closed position), the jaws cannot open. The pin cannot come out of the hitch. I have to get out of the truck to close the hinge and lock it. That’s when I check to make sure the jaws are closed. Even after a visual confirmation that the jaws are locked, I too do a pull test. Just paranoid I guess.

I have a fiend that dropped his trailer on the bed but that was because he didn’t have the front jacks down and locked when he pulled away.

Dane which hitch do you have?

I’d really like to know how some of the other hitches work. I’ve seen several threads where people have dropped the 5er on the bed because the hitch didn’t lock.

Bill

Bill we have the Reece 16K. As mentioned earlier, the hitch was in no way to blame for thie screwup.

Dane