Mile High
Denver, CO
Senior Member
Joined: 02/05/2008
View Profile
|
mbrule wrote:Mile High,
Can you provide any detail? I already stated it on page 2 of this thread. It was a broken pin - snapped right off, and it was on this forum. As I said, the bedsaver would not have done anything.
2006 Ford F350 4X4 SB CC SRW Powerstroke 6.0
2007 Montana 3400RL 5th - hi gloss, electric awning, remote system, Onan 5500, G614, JTs, wet bolts, Dish, Ariston W/D, 5th Airborne.
"A picture is worth a 1,000 words, but it uses up to 12,000 times the memory"
|
7.3 psdman
home
Senior Member
Joined: 10/16/2009
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
 Offline
|
About that hitch pin "snapped right off" I'll bet most people never see that. You are right if the hitch pin or the frame would break on the fifth wheel I doubt anything would keep your 5er from falling on the truck or maybe all the way to the ground. I was talking about the ones where the hitch itself fails or the person hitching fails to hitch up completely. I see where some place called Butch's services is selling a --Hitch Latch Kit- and it looks like it bolts on to the hitch and has a slide pin that catches the hitch pin if it comes unhitched. This set up is a lot cheaper than the bed saver and for all I know might just do the same thing. I can just see a lot of guys trying to make copies of this one but for the price I think I would go with the one they sell unless I hear of people having failures using it.
* This post was
edited 02/02/12 11:38pm by 7.3 psdman *
|
mbrule
Massachusetts
Full Member
Joined: 08/10/2011
View Profile
Offline
|
The Mad Norsky, THANKS!
That is what I am looking for.
That particular hitch has a spring to hold the bar in place? That seems like a bad design to me.
My classic Reese has the two pieces that come together to catch the Kingpin and I know there is a spring in there (I carry a spare). But I don't believe for a minute that that spring is what keeps the jaws in place when latched????
Again, I am not extolling the virtues or pointing out the flaws of any type / brand of hitch, just trying to understand the likelihood (or lack of) hitch failure.
Thaks again everybody!
|
The Mad Norsky
Yankton, South Dakota
Senior Member
Joined: 04/14/2003
View Profile
|
mbrule:
I would have to go look at the RBW hitch I still have to give a good answer here. And its out at the storage site, not at home.
Just from memory, there is a cam for locking open and another for locking closed, with the spring only serving to slide the bar over and close it once the one cam (through the operating handle) is released.
I have only done a cursory inspection of a Hijacker sliding bar hitch while browsing a dealer showroom once, so spring location and use for this one I do not know.
The Mad Norsky, Doll, Logan, Korey & Rocky
2011 Ford F350 Power Stroke dually
RV'ing since 1991
We never know where we're going till we get there!
|
mbrule
Massachusetts
Full Member
Joined: 08/10/2011
View Profile
Offline
|
Thanks again everyone for helping me beat this topic to death again!
I am convinced that it is quite unlikely that my fiver dropping on my bedrails will be caused be anything other than me screwing up or a catastrophic failure, (where the fiver hitting the rails will be the least of my worries).
That tells me that I either trust myself not to screw up or invest in one of the passive "bed-saving" solutions.
Thanks everybody!
|
|
|
allen8106
Burrton. KS
Full Member
Joined: 01/31/2012
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
Offline
|
I've only been towing a 5ver for less than a year. Always had TT before, but I have a Pro Series 15k hitch installed by the dealer where I bought my 5ver last March. There is no locking jaw like some I have seen. Only a very beefy 1/2" flat bar attached to a handle. When you back into it and the handle slams shut it's hooked. I suppose the only way it wouldn't is if I high hitched it and that seem's pretty remote.
Thoughts?
2010 Eagle Super Lite 315RLDS
2009 GMC Sierra 2500HD 6.0L
2011 Pit Bull Terrier (Jake)
|
The Mad Norsky
Yankton, South Dakota
Senior Member
Joined: 04/14/2003
View Profile
|
allen8106 wrote:I've only been towing a 5ver for less than a year. Always had TT before, but I have a Pro Series 15k hitch installed by the dealer where I bought my 5ver last March. There is no locking jaw like some I have seen. Only a very beefy 1/2" flat bar attached to a handle. When you back into it and the handle slams shut it's hooked. I suppose the only way it wouldn't is if I high hitched it and that seem's pretty remote.
Thoughts?
Sounds just like the RBW hitch I still have. The only thing I ever checked was:
A). the handle was all the way in and down towards the lock position (easy to see on the RBW because of the different colors of the handle shaft between interior and exterior positions)
and
B). I would look to check if I could see the bottom of the king pin underneath the front of the closed slide bar. It was always good to see that somewhat larger knob at the end of the king pin shaft plainly visible under the slide bar.
* This post was
edited 02/04/12 11:20am by The Mad Norsky *
|
