How I had a wreck with myself!

[sparker1]

Driving the motorhome, towing the Pilot, I turned into a truck stop in Grand Junction, CO. As I braked to go uo the ramp into the fuel lanes, I felt a huge "whump" and looked into the rear view camera to see my Pilot was loose back there...the hitch had broken. One more bump when I stopped. Fortunately, no damage to the Pilot, insurance will cover the damage to the motorhome with little or no deductible. One of the people who dropped by to tell me the car was loose knew of an RV supply about a mile away. A new hitch extension ($100) and new wiring harness ($66) and we were soon on our way. Will get the body work done back in FL later on.

[RugerShooter]

Thats sucks

[accadacca]

Glad nobody got hurt. I had hitch trouble this year too, sheared my ball off. Thanks goodness for safety chains and cables. :eek2:

[Mtnman1830]

sh!tty deal. good to hear it didn't hurt anybody, and was a fairly inexpensive fix, at least to get back on the road again

[Cirrus2000]

I had hitch trouble this year too, sheared my ball off.

So, like, were you standing too close to the hitch when it broke? 'Cuz, ouch.

Dang shame about the damage, Stan. Just a good thing that things weren't any worse!

[sparker1]

Thanks for all the comments. I feel grateful that the damage wasn't worse.

[JP]

:eek2: Sorry to see that Stan! That just sucks, on the brighter side, nice pics :mrgreen:

[Rev. Coyote]

Boy, that was fortunately minimal compared to what it could have been. So the drop hitch itself broke at the weld? What brand was it? Good thing your chains snagged the Pilot.

I looked at the picture and nocticed rust around the rim of the break. That means your hitch weld was half broken through for a while. You've got me going out to check mine! Also, thinking it's NOT a good idea to leave the drop hanging back there unused (especially in the humid east) -- another habit I will change.

Thanks for posting this -- it is a lesson to us all.

And glad you're all safe!!

[sparker1]

Boy, that was fortunately minimal compared to what it could have been. So the drop hitch itself broke at the weld? What brand was it? Good thing your chains snagged the Pilot.

And glad you're all safe.

The thing that actually broke was a hitch extension, rated for 6k lbs. It didn't break at a weld, just right in the middle of the steel. From the rust, it appears to have been cracked for some time, just not visible. Anyway, the new extension is solid steel, not hollow, and is rated for 10k lbs. I don't know the brand of the old extension, new one is Blue Ox. Under the circumstances, I feel fortunate. There was no significant damage to the Pilot (small bumper scratch) and nothing that will prevent driving the motorhome. Also, no collision with another car.

I had a ball come off once, saw the car was loose and eased to a stop on an incline, so no damage. I've been lucky twice, and thankful for safety cables. I think I'll replace them now, just in case.

[sparker1]

:eek2: Sorry to see that Stan! That just sucks, on the brighter side, nice pics :mrgreen:

Thanks, JP. My wife appreciates the compliment on the photos. She took them with her Olympus P&S. :lol8:

[Rev. Coyote]

Boy, that was fortunately minimal compared to what it could have been. So the drop hitch itself broke at the weld? What brand was it? Good thing your chains snagged the Pilot.

And glad you're all safe.

The thing that actually broke was a hitch extension, rated for 6k lbs. It didn't break at a weld, just right in the middle of the steel. From the rust, it appears to have been cracked for some time, just not visible. Anyway, the new extension is solid steel, not hollow, and is rated for 10k lbs. I don't know the brand of the old extension, new one is Blue Ox. Under the circumstances, I feel fortunate. There was no significant damage to the Pilot (small bumper scratch) and nothing that will prevent driving the motorhome. Also, no collision with another car.

I had a ball come off once, saw the car was loose and eased to a stop on an incline, so no damage. I've been lucky twice, and thankful for safety cables. I think I'll replace them now, just in case.

Blue Ox sounds like a good one... I'll check it out. And yes, replace those cables. I'm sure they stretched during the incident.

Now I'm going out to check my hitch.