Ridecamp: Re: [RC] Nick Warhol- Very scary story, please go check your hitch!

It's been a long day...

Milinda
----- Original Message -----
From: "Milinda Ellis" <milinda@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Ridecamp Guest" <guest@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, May 28, 2002 7:11 PM
Subject: Re: [RC] Nick Warhol- Very scary story, please go check your hitch!


> My husband had to chime in on this.  He said people need to know how to
> recognize which grade bolts are which:
>
> Look at the head of the bolt.  If it is smooth or with a number (provided
> it's not metric), it is not satisfactory for a hitch.  Period!
>
> If it has three lines on the head of the bolt, it is a grade 5 bolt, which
> is satisfactory for light loads and occasional hauling.
>
> If it has six lines on the head of the bolt, it is a grade 8 bolt, which
is
> the best you can buy.
>
> If the bolt is metric, they start off with 8.8 and go up numerically.  The
> higher the number, the better the bolt.
>
> And a welded-down hitch is even better than one bolted down.  The absolute
> best way is using bolts AND welding.  ANY WELDING ON A HITCH  OR FRAME
SHOULD BE DONE
> ONLY BY A PROFESSIONAL WELDER!!!
>
> Milinda Ellis (and Billy [who is also a welder], who is looking over my
> shoulder)
> Beargrass Cleveland Bays
> Jewett, Texas
> milinda@xxxxxxxxxxx
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Ridecamp Guest" <guest@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Tuesday, May 28, 2002 6:04 PM
> Subject: [RC] Nick Warhol- Very scary story, please go check your hitch!
>
>
> > nick Warhol nickw@xxxxxxxxx
> > Hi everyone- I have a very scary story to relate that happened to a
friend
> > of mine a week ago or so.  She has a 1993 Ford F-250 truck she bought a
> few
> > years ago that came with a standard class three, Drawtite hitch, bolted
> on.
> > She tows a Logan two horse slant-load trailer that she likes very much,
> and
> > uses several times a month.  When she got the new trailer, she took the
> > truck and trailer to a U-haul place to have it wired up and inspected.
> They
> > got her all set up with a plug, electric brakes and an overall safety
> > inspection.  She has towed without incident for about three years now,
> until
> > recently.  She loaded up her two horses and took them over to the Sunol
> > regional Park, one of the jewels of trail riding in the Bay Area.  After
a
> > 15 mile freeway drive from her barn to the park, she drove the 3 miles
of
> > windy road that leads into the staging area.  She stopped at the kiosk
to
> > pay the ranger his parking fees, then started down the little road to
the
> > parking area.  About a hundred feet from the kiosk, at about 10 miles
per
> > hour, the whole right side of the hitch came loose and went crashing to
> the
> > pavement!  There are usually six bolts that hold the hitch to the frame
of
> > the truck, all but one, on one side, had either broken or had come
loose.
> > Needless to say the whole rig came to a sudden and quite violent stop.
> She
> > jumped out and found the horses were fine, they just got bounced around
a
> > little.  They unloaded the horses and after dragging everything off the
> > road, they went for a ride before getting everything towed home.  Good
for
> > them.
> >
> > The thing that she can't quit thinking about, is what if that had
happened
> > at 65 miles an hour on the freeway, or right at the apex of one of those
> > sharp turns on the drive in with a hundred foot cliff, or on the steep
> hill
> > leading up to her barn. Who would ever think that the hitch would come
off
> > the truck, I mean completely off?  She could have had the worst
experience
> I
> > could ever imagine, yet escaped with a ruined hitch and a severe case of
> > jitters.
> >
> > I happened to have a spare class three hitch from when I upgraded my
truck
> > to a class five, so I installed it for her with a few modifications.  I
> > drilled out the small bolt holes and used oversized Grade 8 hardened
> bolts,
> > lock washers, and red locktite on all the threads.  The red stuff is the
> > permanent thread sealer, designed to be used where you don't ever want
to
> > remove the bolt.   The blue locktite is for securing bolts you want to
be
> > able to remove in the future.
> >
> > I also got some validation to the thing I learned the hard way once a
long
> > time ago- hook your electric brake breakaway wire to the bumper of your
> > truck, not to the hitch.  If the hitch had come off on the freeway, the
> > breakaway wire would have not done anything, since it was clipped to the
> > hitch itself.  Most hitches have a nice little spot to clip the wire to-
> > don't use it.  In this case the safety chains would have not done a
thing
> > either, since they were hooked to the hitch.
> >
> > The action item we need to take from this close call is for everyone to
go
> > out and look at those bolts that hold your hitch on. Yes- even the
people
> > who use the fifth wheel hitches, bolts hold those on as well.  I have to
> > admit that I have never inspected my hitch bolts, but I sure did last
> week,
> > and know what?  They were tight.   I hope yours are too.
> >
> > Nick Warhol
> > Hayward, Ca.
> >
> >
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> >
>


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
 Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
 Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=