trailer safety-- look what happened to my trailer

coming back from des moines goodguys i was about 60 miles from home there was a small dip in the road and then there was a loud bang. the photo shows that the coupler failed, the trailer was kept upright and held in place by the weight dist bars, none of the welds broke, it was the coupler that had a complete failure.

i bought this trailer used last year,(28 foot enclosed) the coupler was changed to a new12,500# bulldog unit by a well know local trailer shop and new brakes and tires.

the trailer wgt on the cat scale was 18,500lbs for the truck and trailer
so the trailer was about 11,500.

so i guess i am getting new equipment with a higher load rating.


the ems guy

 

damn,lucky you

 

Hell yea ... no kiddin' !

 

That not luck, that's having the proper equipment doing it's job. This type of failure is exactly why you cross your safety chains.

 

Wow, I sell, use, and install those couplers.

Was there an absolute ton of tongue weight? Generally the tongue weight is around 10 to 15 % of total gross weight. On a car trailer sometimes more depending how its loaded.

Was there a ton of pressure on the bars, or kind of the standard amount that would be necessary to help bring the back of the truck up closer to it's stock height?

I am very interested in how this turns out as far as you taking it to the shop that did the work and how the factory rep of bulldog handles it.


VERY GLAD this didn't turn out disasterous, Joe

 

I seen this happen to a friends horse trailer right after having a new coupler installed. It was caused by the welder not having his shit together. The weld had undercut all the way around. Made the wall thickness of the frame rails about 1/3rd what they started out at.
The Wizzard

 

That looks like more of a trailer tongue structural failure than the coupler. I've never seen a Bulldog fail and it looks like it is still coupled, the break is in the area where it attaches to the trailer frame.
Glad you were blessed with good luck on this one, they usually don't turn out quite that well.

 

If I'm going long distances with my car I always drive it. I don't have much trust for trailers, but thats just me.

 

Complete repairs should be on the manufacturers dime if so long as you were not overweight.. Normally I find manufacturers underrate their product.. good thing this did not end in tragedy.. Looks sort of like the welds failed??

 

Did they weld vertically, on the inside of the coupler at the end of the channels, possibly weaken the coupler?

 

You might look at going to one of the mobile home couplers, I'd suggest a pintle hitch but I don't think you can use your weight distribution bars with those.

Are you using the swaybar type shoes on your bars? If not you should look into it while you're revamping the hitch, they make the trailer handle real smooth.

 

That's the first thing I thought, too. I've changed dozens of twisted, bent, broken, abused and bastardized couplers but I've never seen one fail like that.

 

Is that a bulldog coupler or one of the cheap China ones? I'm betting someone welded the inside of the coupler with a vertical weld just behind the failure point. I also would be interested in knowing the tongue weight. I'd also like to see a picture of the coupler without the sway bar in the way.

This is a pretty serious failure that many are going to want to know the cause, and the coupler manufacturers response. Many of us install these things regularly, if there is an issue with the coupler, I want to know about it. Gene

 

Can't tell from the pix,---But are you using a 2 5/16 ball??

 

Thats why you drive your car to the show! j/k thats a good reminder that anything can fail, and to always be prepared,

 

Can the load levelers force that break? Also looks like the hitch bolts may have been loose? Looks like washer marks on the vertical hitch bolts/nuts. Sure got lucky on that one!

 

Really doubt that EMSguy was hauling a trailer queen in the trailer. Would bet he was hauling product and display.

 

Some good questions asked here.......hope further investigation reveals the cause and you will post the findings.

Ray

 

Glad you are ok. Lots of variables here but the main point is you got it stopped ok.

 

Did you hit this bump?

 

It does look like it failed right at the front of the tongue rails where it would have been welded on the inside.

I'd guess that when someone who knows what they are looking at inspects it they will say that the weld caused issues with the metal in the coupler causing it to fail.

Looking at the whole setup I'd have to think that the way the trailer was loaded was a big contributor to the problem. Rather than an evenly balanced load I'm thinking it was loaded pretty heavy on the front end.

On trailers in the State of Washington the State Patrol inspectors won't pass a coupler that is welded on the tongue anymore as they now require them to be bolted on with proper bolts due to suspect welds .

 

i have welded lots of hitches BUT refuse to use a "BULLDOG " hitch of that style ! not enopugh weld area to use with the traier weight {in my brain} them bull dog s are made for horse trailers and rental trailers !! my favorites are the big " atwood""a" shaped ones w/ 5/16 " ball or the one with a hitch- ball - adjustment height on the trailer side ! the weak point on a bill dog is where it bent or broke !!and usually the slide is not working properly -due to customer neglect!!my 2 cents worth ! but never had a hitch failure !! and use only a 2 5/16 ball w/the big shank diameter !!!!! thanks mike "carryallman" wahl

 

The amount of pressure, or tongue weight, that the bars are lifting up, is basically supported by the tongue where the bar hangers are.

 

Looking at the picture, it looks like this trailer originally had a house trailer hitch. The round hole is where the original jack would have been. You can see the depth of the side and where the original hitch was welded on. It looks like it was cut down right about where it bent. The equalizers use the ball as a fulcrum point and add upward pressure at the ball.

If you are hauling that much weight and you have a pickup, you would be better off with a 5th wheel hitch.

 

===============================================
i agree, it failed just before the frame rails, all welds were intact, the old "a" style couple was beat up and needed replacing. there is a 15,000 atwood " a" style but having a hard time finding one in stock somewhere. i was advised to stay away from mobile home couplers as they are not for constant use trailers.

the trailer shop is suggesting a higher rated and adjustable coupler but i prefer a "a" frame style. comments??

i do agree with the previous post also trailer is heavy up front, and the weight bars bring it close to level, i need to up grade the bars from 1200 to 1500 or 1700,

i weighted the van and trailer on a "cat" scale, van front axle 3600#, van rear axle 5300# trailer axle's 9800 (van is a gmc 1ton) total weight 18,200#

i am trying to avoid a pick up, the kids like the room in the back of the van. was planning to get a new diesel van next year. also a pick up would require a new trailer (ouch $$$)

 

I hope the OP will stay with this thread and let us know what the guy who just did the hitch update/replacement has to say and then on to the final resolution.
Dave

 

I agree with the trailer company... I used to work for a trailer manufacture and the type of coupler that broke loose on your trailer is common on cheaper open deck trailers and some inexpensive open car hauler trailers.

The triangle style coupler is a lot stronger and has more area to weld onto the box tubing of the trailer tounge.
Also when you replace it go to a 2 5/16 ball size.

Find Redneck Trailer Supply on the web and look at what they have to offer.

 

Wow, good to hear there was no tragedy with this.

And perfect timing for all of us getting ready to drive across the country to the Salt. Checking out the trailer should not be the last thing we do. Got to do it early in case there is something needing fixing.

 

============================================

but this bulldog was rated for 12,500# trailers???

 

The rating is good but it's the way it was installed onto the box tubing is what made it weak.
We used to use that type of coupler because the farmers liked the design.
But when it came to car trailers we used the triangle design.
The triangle design goes further back and welds along the sides of the box tubing plus across the top.