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thomas201
Eastern Panhandle WV
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Joined: 08/21/2014
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No one has yet mentioned a flashlight. Drag your lazy carcass out of the cab and really look. I spent a day jacking and cribbing 50,000 pounds of trailer and grease that a driver dropped 2 miles from the shop on an interstate in Baltimore. He completely submarined the 5th wheel, the marks showed the pin was in front of the 5th wheel.
Cause for dismissal where I worked.
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12th Man Fan
Flower Mound , Texas
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Joined: 03/05/2009
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The fact that he was able to re-hook the trailer and pull it for 3.5 hrs makes it obvious it had to be operator error the first time, in my opinion.
2014 GMC Duramax 4X4 DRW Crew
2015 DRV Tradition
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GMH
Canada
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I would say operator error also. One time I hitched up and forgot to close the front cargo hatch, so I had to unhitch. The handle on my BW would not stay open due to the pressure of the kingpin on the jaws, so I pinned it open. I pulled ahead, closed the hatch and re-connected. I raised the landing gear and pulled ahead a couple inches so that I could remove the wheel chocks. On my way back to the truck I was horrified to see the handle still pinned in the open position! I got away really lucky and won’t make that mistake ever again!
* This post was
edited 08/27/22 03:03pm by GMH *
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Learjet
Louisiana
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Joined: 02/21/2006
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OMG!...that was a high hitch if I was a betting man or the handle was not fully to the rear of the truck.
IF the B&W is hitched properly...confirmed from visual inspection and the handle is pinned....NOOOOO way would that happen...period...physically impossible!
Let the haters hate ![[emoticon]](http://www.rv.net/sharedcontent/cfb/images/smile.gif "smile")
2017 Ram Big Horn, DRW Long Box, 4x4, Cummins, Aisin, 3.73
2022 Jayco Pinnacle 32RLTS, Onan 5500, Disc Brakes, 17.5" tires
B&W Ram Companion
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MFL
Midwest
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Joined: 11/28/2012
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Learjet wrote:OMG!...that was a high hitch if I was a betting man or the handle was not fully to the rear of the truck.
IF the B&W is hitched properly...confirmed from visual inspection and the handle is pinned....NOOOOO way would that happen...period...physically impossible!
Let the haters hate
Yup ^^above is correct!
Oh...no reason to hate the messenger LJ for stating a fact!
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time2roll
Southern California
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Joined: 03/21/2005
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Unless there is twisted and ripped metal that failed.... operator error. If the hitch works fine after with no repair.... that confirms no hitch issue.
Best to assume human error unless proven the equipment was defective and needs repair.
Plenty of RV equipment can be damaged by user oversight error.
2001 F150 SuperCrew
2006 Keystone Springdale 249FWBHLS
675w Solar pictures back up
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dieseltruckdriver
Black Hills of SD
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Joined: 08/24/2005
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GMH wrote:I would say operator error also. One time I hitched up and forgot to close the front cargo hatch, so I had to unhitch. The handle on my BW would not stay open due to the pressure of the kingpin on the jaws, so I pinned it open. I pulled ahead, closed the hatch and re-connected. I raised the landing gear and pulled ahead a couple inches so that I could remove the wheel chocks. On my way back to the truck I was horrified to see the handle still pinned in the open position! I got away really lucky and won’t make that mistake ever again!
Your experience is exactly why I say no one does a proper pull test. It is also why I never do one. If you don't know how much throttle you need to use to pull out when your hitch is open you are not doing a proper pull test.
Before anyone jumps on me, I drove semi's for 17 years weighing 120,000 lbs. I have never dropped a trailer. When I got my B&W, I did an actual proper pull test. I hooked up, pinned the jaws open and raised the legs a 1/4" off the blocks then pulled out from under it and let the trailer drop. You would be shocked how much throttle it took to pull away with only the trailer weight holding things together. That is the only way to know if your pull test is good or just a feel good exercise.
When I hook up, I do three separate visual checks. That way even if I get distracted I know I did a visual check. I painted the bottom part of the pin yellow so my wife can see that it is below the jaws and the jaws are closed. She checks me every time before we move.
I hope this never happens to me, but if it does, I know it will be operator error, not equipment error.
2000 F-250 7.3 Powerstroke
2018 Arctic Fox 27-5L
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GMH
Canada
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dieseltruckdriver wrote:
Your experience is exactly why I say no one does a proper pull test.
When I hook up, I do three separate visual checks.
I hope this never happens to me, but if it does, I know it will be operator error, not equipment error.
A proper pull test (with the landing gear slightly raised and the wheels chocked or brakes applied) would have saved my bacon. The second visual check DID save my bacon. I never do a proper pull test, only a brake test. If I had done my usual brake test before the 2nd visual, I would have dropped the trailer and it would have been 100% my fault.
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dieseltruckdriver
Black Hills of SD
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GMH wrote:dieseltruckdriver wrote:
Your experience is exactly why I say no one does a proper pull test.
When I hook up, I do three separate visual checks.
I hope this never happens to me, but if it does, I know it will be operator error, not equipment error.
A proper pull test (with the landing gear slightly raised and the wheels chocked or brakes applied) would have saved my bacon. The second visual check DID save my bacon. I never do a proper pull test, only a brake test. If I had done my usual brake test before the 2nd visual, I would have dropped the trailer and it would have been 100% my fault.
I should have added that I don't move until the visual checks are done.
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blofgren
Surrey, B.C.
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Joined: 11/26/2005
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GMH wrote:I would say operator error also. One time I hitched up and forgot to close the front cargo hatch, so I had to unhitch. The handle on my BW would not stay open due to the pressure of the kingpin on the jaws, so I pinned it open. I pulled ahead, closed the hatch and re-connected. I raised the landing gear and pulled ahead a couple inches so that I could remove the wheel chocks. On my way back to the truck I was horrified to see the handle still pinned in the open position! I got away really lucky and won’t make that mistake ever again!
I had to pin the handle open on my B&W once to hold the jaws open in order to unhook as well.
With my previous hitch, I had the hitch pinned open while trying to hook up and could not figure out why it would not latch after a few tries. When I "reset" and looked over everything again I was shocked to see my mistake. Bad things can happen when in autopilot...
2013 Ram 3500 Megacab DRW Laramie 4x4, 6.7L Cummins, G56, 3.73, Maximum Steel, black lthr, B&W RVK3670 hitch, Retrax, Linex, and a bunch of options incl. cargo camera
2008 Corsair Excella Platinum 34.5 CKTS fifth wheel with winter package & disc brakes
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