webhannet wrote: It's odd that the causes of breakways aren't spoken of in the media.
I doubt the 'media' has a clue what a tow bar, receiver, safety chain, or any other equipment we use is much less what constitutes a safe hookup. I think all they are concerned with is the 'accident' because it make for entertaining reading to the general populous.
Dave
Life doesn't come with a safety fence around it... enjoy it anyway.
There are at least two areas of concern that I've always had, having observed both as causes of "break-away" accidents. First, there are an alarming number of RVers who are ardent "do-it-yourself" types who rely upon _bumper mounted_ hitches. I've seen them fairly often, and have read stories of bumpers being loose and accidents resulting. The other incidents occured from mischief that can occur when stopped for a rest or meal and some young punk comes along to steal a pin from the hitch. That never happened to me but, as a result, I've always made a "tour" of my hook-up to make sure that everything is in place.
The stories that I refer to have come to me from journals and claims reports while I was active as an insurance broker.
Robert McNabb wrote: The other incidents occured from mischief that can occur when stopped for a rest or meal and some young punk comes along to steal a pin from the hitch. That never happened to me but, as a result, I've always made a "tour" of my hook-up to make sure that everything is in place.
Robert, they aren't stories. When we used to go boating, we would park the truck with the boat trailer nearby to ramp. 2 times the wheel lugs where loosened, the hitch was popped, the winch bolts also loosened. Finally my friend stayed behind to catch these vandals.
Well, we got 'em! Our equipment weren't the only ones getting vandalized. A few other boaters had the same problem.
So everytime we head out, stop for gas, stop to walk the dog, etc, I always check the toad hookups, tires and also everything on the MH.
The last thing I want is to see the toad going by as I'm driving.
2008 Chevy Silverado 4x4 3500 RC/LB 6.0
2007 Chevy GS Conquest Super C 6340DK
2007 Chevy HHR Toad 2LT 2.4
1990 Chevy G20 Cargo Van 305
1967 Chevy Camaro Pro Street 468/650hp BBC
My 70's Show - Tom Kent Radio Network - KLTH - K•HiTS 106.7
Johng wrote: Good Stuff Bill, Hope all is well, how is that Malibu working out??
Happy RVing
Love the car.
There are a few things about the car that I wish was a little different, a little better engineered, a little more detailed.
The seats are comfortable for long trips - but the arm rests just are not designed well - at least for me. My left arm is higher than the arm rest and the right console is too far back to be comfortable.
I do like the 4 cylinder in it - plenty of power for my needs and noise level is very low. The automatic transmission is great but for some reason I get the feeling the mileage would actually improve if it was "tweeked" just a little - shifting and etc.
Now it is giving me a steady 34 mpg up to 37 mpg - depends on the roads.
I had to buy a 4 inch drop receiver for the tow bar - otherwise I had way too much angle. Now I have a 3 1/2 inch angle and that should work out better.
Haven't towed it yet (behind motorhome) - but I did hook up the tow bar to the Suburban and took it for a spin - didn't even know it was back there. Looking forward to my trip.
Did you install any protector for the Malibu - towing? I'm thinking about doing that because the car is so low.
I'll get organized soon and take some photos - been too busy is all. Today was my last day of scheduled work for my company. I instructed my son to "write me out" of the regular schedule beginning June 1st.
God Bless
Bill
Bill W. Trammell
Wife - Judy
2001 Monaco Dynasty Chancellor
2008 Malibu 2LT toad
Dropping a toad is indeed a rarity but I saw a guy that dropped his brand new, big 5er in the road as he pulled out of the RV park.
This must be a much more common occurence as 5ers don't have safety chains or cables.
I haven't even the slightest fear of loosing my toad what with five padlocks on all hardware and double set of safety cables and I check everything during stopovers.
2007 FIESTA LX
TRITON V-10 & JEEP LIBERTY TOAD
3 TIMES RETIRED
CH. 13 "BLACKJACK"
Since gaining the Malibu as a toad - I decided to change my safety chains. I did have them wrapped around the chassis - but I never really liked that setup.
Today I bought new chains and then drilled a hole in each chassis tail - then put in #8 bolts and double nutted it plus washers and the locking liquid too. They won't come loose and plus I can easily inspect them when I open up the rear hatch.
Plus - I ran the chains down through the hitch "eye" so that just in case that darned thing was to come loose unexpectedly - the chains would keep it above the pavement.
Now - if the toad does get loose it will have with it a portion of my rear chassis frame, minus a major portion of the toads front end.
big dave wrote: I know of a situation where the bolts holding the baseplate to the toad sheared and the baseplate with the breakaway switch came off. He was making a turn onto a freeway ramp at the time, and was able to get stopped without damage to anything but the front of the toad.
When I heard about his problem, I crawled under my toad and found my bolts were loose also. My question is, how long before they come loose again? (they were LocTite'd) Should I crawl under the toad during a trip? Etc. I could do everything right and still have a problem. I do plan to move my breakaway switch off the baseplate, but that will make it a lot more difficult to use.
My point is that until I know the details of each accident, I'll withhold judgment.
...perhaps, you should chain your baseplate to the frame of your tow vehicle and chain your hitch to the frame of your motorhome.
2002 Winnebago Journey DL - 39QD
330 Cat with 6 Speed Allison
Toad: 2006 Grand Cherokee Limited 4x4 Hemi
The hitch on coach is bolted to the frame. The chains I installed now run from tail of frame over and through the little eye's in the "hitch"(where most folks hook their cables or chains) and then back to the toad. At the toad then Blue Ox has small eye's built right into the baseplate.
The baseplate is designed and mfg for the vehicle and is bolted onto the toad. The baseplate is secured to the car with a safety cable on each side that runs around the front part of the frame of the toad (as much as a frame exists on them).
Like I said - if the hitch falls off in case the bolts shear off, the hitch may fall down and toad may pull back a bit but the hitch won't hit the pavement as it will be stopped by 2 chains (each capable of holding the weight of the toad). If the baseplate breaks or comes loose on toad the safety cables are there to provide their protection and yes - I am looking at them and just may reinforce it with chains also.
All in all - it would take something like another vehicle striking the toad hard from the side to cause the hitch assembly to fail. Always possible though. I just don't want something to happen when I could have prevented it.
If I can I will take a photo of my hookup and post it. That photo will also include the slide assembly on which my coach's engine and transmission are cradled - some don't believe exist.
I want to be able to sleep at night.
God Bless
Bill
* This post was
edited 05/10/08 06:48am by sepisllib *
Robert McNabb wrote: There are at least two areas of concern that I've always had, having observed both as causes of "break-away" accidents. First, there are an alarming number of RVers who are ardent "do-it-yourself" types who rely upon _bumper mounted_ hitches. I've seen them fairly often, and have read stories of bumpers being loose and accidents resulting. The other incidents occured from mischief that can occur when stopped for a rest or meal and some young punk comes along to steal a pin from the hitch. That never happened to me but, as a result, I've always made a "tour" of my hook-up to make sure that everything is in place.
The stories that I refer to have come to me from journals and claims reports while I was active as an insurance broker.
I would venture to say that there are quite a few do it yourselfers that are at least as capable as many of the techs at your local RV repair shop or auto repair shop for that matter. I have been a mechanic in the past, I choose to make my living behind a desk now, but just because someone gets paid to do a job doesn't make them any better than someone doing it for free.
As far as the pins go, that is why this do it yourselfer has choosen to use locking pins on his setup. Both the 1/2 inch pins that attach to my Jeep bumper and the hitch are locked. So without the keys your not going to get anything loose on my tow setup. You might can steal my saftey cables, or my wiring cord, but the Jeep won't be coming off. I guess if your toting around the right size wrench and breaker bar, you might get the ball loose but not too many kids are that ambitious.
It is safe to say that accidents happen. There are mechanical failures, there are individual failures. Without knowing the specifics of each and every case, I think it is wrong to put blame any place in general. Just check your setup regularly and make sure everything is in place and mechanically sound. That is all anyone can do.
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Our equipment weren't the only ones getting vandalized. A few other boaters had the same problem.
