Re: ihc-digest V6 #207

["daniel.r.felix.1" <dfelix2@domain.elided>]

On Thu, 15 Oct 1998, Brian wrote:

> Other stupid mistakes I've made:
> 1.  Safety chains, properly attached, check 'em, then check 'em again.
> 2.  Seat the ball in the hitch and lock it, check it, pull it up, check it,
> check it.
<snip>
> Brian '65 D1200 4x4 345 4bbl 4.11 the "Taxi"

Speaking of stupid mistakes.....

Didn't actually happen to me, happened to my father, just about 2 months
ago.  We have a 1-ton Dodge dually that we use to haul our tractor and
mowers around on.  Dad was coming home from mowing one night, and the
hitch on the trailer failed.  Don't know if it was locked or not, but the
hitch failed, nonetheless.  Failed as he was going over an Interstate
overpass.  Luckily the safety chains caught, and everything stayed there.
He decided to put a new hitch on.  Got the new hitch, put it on.  Went and
mowed a few days later.  New hitch failed, he thought.  Turns out the old
hitch was a 2", and the new one was a 2 5/16".  So if you have to replace
a hitch, make sure that you have the right ball size.  It may seem like
common sense, but the smallest details are overlooked.  
Oh, something else that no one has mentioned yet that I have seen.  Use a
1-piece ball.  Not one that has a bolt thing with a ball around it, a
_1-piece_ ball.  Eventually on the 2-piece ball, the ball part will wear
and the bolt will stick up higher than the ball, and then proceed to wear
on the hitch, to the point of causing it to fail.  That is one reason we
think that the first hitch failed, is because we had had a 2-piece ball
before and it had cracked the top of the hitch.  
My 2 cents worth, that is all it is worth, as I haven't had a lot of
experience....


Dan Felix
3 Scouts all pulled home by the Dodge and trailer described above