Time To Check The Hitch

[jlogger]

I'm sure most people do a better job at checking their hitches than I did. But just in case, here is a friendly reminder to check your hitch before you pull out for the season. I noticed my trailer was riding low in the front a month ago when I brought the boat back out to Port Bay. Looked underneath and crapped myself. This is what I found today when I pulled it off to replace it. 4,200 lbs of boat plus gas, gear and the trailer. This could have been BAD.

[lost a lure]

Two bolts away from catastrophic failure

[Sk8man]

Two days ago a medium sized trailer carrying trash to the dump broke loose from the truck trailering it right in front of me  and luckily I was switching lanes at the time.

[Gill-T]

It shows the strength of steel!  I feel better going over all the rusty bridges in our area after seeing that picture. Thanks for sharing as it is a good lesson for all. 

[sherman brown]

not only should you check the hitch, but the ball should be checked before any trip. it doesn't happen often, but the nut does come off. I found this out the hard way. I hooked up to the trailer and took off on our 70-mile trip. we got about 1/3 of the way and went over a rr track. everything got crazy. the boat was swaying back and forth like crazy. it was jerking us around like a rag doll. I very slowly applied the brakes, and it started moving forward real slow. once it moved forward and took the slack out of the safety chains I laid down on the brake and pulled over. so, we were stranded. the ball was still in the trailer with the nut and washer missing. i walked back to the rr tracks and thought i saw the nut lying about 50' down the road before the rr tracks. got to the nut and was looking around for the washer. then i found 2 pieces of the washer. it had broken in the middle and wasn't working to keep the nut from backing off. tried to get it back together but the threads were shot where the ball hit the pavement when it was loose. got to looking behind the seat and found another ball. shortly i was safely back on the road after the lock washer failed and could have caused a major accident.