Oh shit moment

Holy crap! Stuff happens even when you're a seasoned tower. I guess that's why safety chains were invented. Great job recovering and not getting hurt. Say an extra prayer tonight!
 
Thanks brotha. I am usually pretty anal about checking everything when hooking up to any trailer. This time I let a little shitty situation of a frozen lock distract me. Only takes once to learn that lesson.
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I have been considering a B and W stow and tow hitch. This is one of the reasons why I am hesitant. Right now I have to actually put the stinger on the truck when I tow. It automatically makes you pay attention to which one you are putting on and there is only on ball to hook to once its on.
 
wow, that's unreal! I'm glad you are safe and everything turned out about as good as it could of with that situation. Thanks for sharing the story. It's a good reminder to always double check your ball.
 
I have been considering a B and W stow and tow hitch. This is one of the reasons why I am hesitant. Right now I have to actually put the stinger on the truck when I tow. It automatically makes you pay attention to which one you are putting on and there is only on ball to hook to once its on.
Truth to this. Before the Tremor when towing with my F-150 I was familiar with seperate set ups. The flip hitch does make you pay more attention. I learned that.
 
wow, that's unreal! I'm glad you are safe and everything turned out about as good as it could of with that situation. Thanks for sharing the story. It's a good reminder to always double check your ball.
Thanks man, I was extremely fortunate. That could have ended really bad for not only me but some poor motorist that got caught up in my ignorant mistake. I hope this post helps to remember to check everything in their hookup.

One thing I did do right is wrap up the slack on the emergency brake cable. It was really long so I made multiple wraps around the safety chain hook. If the brakes didn't engage there's no doubt the trailer would have fishtailed.
 
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We have had a couple of towing incidents in our state at work where trailers have popped off the the ball while towing. Everytime the safety department investigates, the first response is, if they would have used a pintle hook the accident could have been avoided. While accidents are always possible, pintle loops are a much more secure towing option. We have a fleet of about 18 trailers in my group alone and we have just about got all of them switched out to pintle couplers. It makes me feel a little better when I’m the one pulling the trailer. Epspecially the ones that are upwards of 16k pounds.
 
Glad everything was OK.
I have two complete coupler's one with a 2" ball that I use for the ATV trailer with no brakes, and then a 2 5/16"s ball that I used when I was towing my brothers toy hauler. I always have a pucker factor on if I have the correct ball installed. It's probably because I usually only tow two or three times a year, and the last few years it's only been once a year.
 
This past Wednesday, I was towing a 20' covered trailer back to NJ from the NY Adirondaks. When I went to hook up the trailer, the hitch lock was frozen (was 12° there) so I had to make a run to a hardware store in east bumfuck jabib for map gas to heat it up so it would unlock. Finally got that out, so I backed under the hitch and hooked up my tow chains, plugged my lights in, and dropped it on my GEN-Y and away I went on my 300 mile trip. About 200 miles into my trip - moving at 65 to 70mph on the NY Thruway, a critical brain fart I had hooking up the trailer came roaring in out of nowhere... HOLY FUCK the trailer just jumped off the BALL!!! The emergency brake on the trailer engaged and while I watched plumes of white smoke from the trailer wheels in my side view mirror, and a trailer about to either ram me and start to fishtail, I made about as perfect an emergency stop as I could have hoped for. I was although in a fucking crazy ass precarious spot between the Thruway traffic and a sweeping on ramp. Traffic was wizzing by me on BOTH SIDES at 70 to 80 mph. I got out, and almost instantly realized, this dumb ass (that's me) hooked up to the 2 1/8 ball and it was supposed to be the 2 5/16!!!

I was lucky as hell the chains did their job and absolutley zero damage was done to either my truck or trailer, but now I had to get coupled back up and in a safer place!! I quickly jacked her up and backed under the same 2 1/8 ball to drag the trailer with locked up brakes to the shoulder where I was able to flip my hitch and hook up to the correct ball without the fear of being eaten alive by the front grille of a Semi.

> in before, I know..stupid.
Holy shit brother. Your Guardian Angel was there for sure. That’s crazy. I’m glad you are here to talk about it. The thing is your situation will be in the back of my mind and I’m sure others also. Next time someone is hooking up their trailer they might just double check because you mentioned it here. Some dudes might let their pride get in the way of helping others with their stories. Thanks for sharing.
So glad no damage to your sweet beast as well.
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I want to say thanks to all of you for your positive thoughts and words. God bless you all.
Big John you are loved here. You are a huge part of this Forum you sick F#%k. We need you around. You’re as everyone else on this FORUM included in my Daily prayers. I can’t wait to enjoy a lot of fun and adventures times in person my friend. I have a lot to learn from you my brother. Stay safe and well neighbor.
East Coast Strong ? ??????
Donny MO FU ?
 
This past Wednesday, I was towing a 20' covered trailer back to NJ from the NY Adirondaks. When I went to hook up the trailer, the hitch lock was frozen (was 12° there) so I had to make a run to a hardware store in east bumfuck jabib for map gas to heat it up so it would unlock. Finally got that out, so I backed under the hitch and hooked up my tow chains, plugged my lights in, and dropped it on my GEN-Y and away I went on my 300 mile trip. About 200 miles into my trip - moving at 65 to 70mph on the NY Thruway, a critical brain fart I had hooking up the trailer came roaring in out of nowhere... HOLY FUCK the trailer just jumped off the BALL!!! The emergency brake on the trailer engaged and while I watched plumes of white smoke from the trailer wheels in my side view mirror, and a trailer about to either ram me and start to fishtail, I made about as perfect an emergency stop as I could have hoped for. I was although in a fucking crazy ass precarious spot between the Thruway traffic and a sweeping on ramp. Traffic was wizzing by me on BOTH SIDES at 70 to 80 mph. I got out, and almost instantly realized, this dumb ass (that's me) hooked up to the 2 1/8 ball and it was supposed to be the 2 5/16!!!

I was lucky as hell the chains did their job and absolutley zero damage was done to either my truck or trailer, but now I had to get coupled back up and in a safer place!! I quickly jacked her up and backed under the same 2 1/8 ball to drag the trailer with locked up brakes to the shoulder where I was able to flip my hitch and hook up to the correct ball without the fear of being eaten alive by the front grille of a Semi.

> in before, I know..stupid.
Glad it turned out ok for you.
 
We have had a couple of towing incidents in our state at work where trailers have popped off the the ball while towing. Everytime the safety department investigates, the first response is, if they would have used a pintle hook the accident could have been avoided. While accidents are always possible, pintle loops are a much more secure towing option. We have a fleet of about 18 trailers in my group alone and we have just about got all of them switched out to pintle couplers. It makes me feel a little better when I’m the one pulling the trailer. Epspecially the ones that are upwards of 16k pounds.
Pintles are better in many ways which is why the military uses them.
 
Wow! Thanks for sharing, honestly I've towed allot over the years, and quite a few miles but always feel like a rookie. I think it's my way to keep myself from becoming complacent with any aspect of towing. I've just recently picked up a bulletproof hitch with a dual ball setup and WD adapter for pulling the camper. I never even considered accidently using the wrong size ball on the flip adapter. Your story has brought that possibility to light for me!! I'll be sure to double/triple check that from now on! Thanks!

I'll share a quick story from when I first started towing...

We were heading home after camping for the weekend with our large pop up and we were running CRAZY in the morning trying to tear down camp before a big rain storm rolled in on us. We were just putting the finishing touches on getting the pop up water tight and popped down when the rain started in HARD. Like couldn't see 20ft in front of you hard.... So the (3) kids and the dog are in the truck, my wife and I are out throwing random sh*t in the back of the truck and getting the finishing touches done before pulling out. One of which was hooking up the trailer and pulling off. I hooked it all up and felt great about it, didn't even really rush (you can only get so wet, after that it doesn't really matter anymore, haha). Slowly rolling out of the campground all seemed good. Got out to the main road where the speed was 40mph plus, over rolling hills, all seemed good.... Got to the first stop from any real speed and I felt a funky little "bump" from the rear. Caught my attention.... WTF was that I thought?? Goosed the gas a little at take off to see if there was any noise from that and BOOM, the tongue of the trailer hit the ground. Worst part is the jack wouldn't raise the tongue of the trailer high enough to get on the ball because the foot of the jack had to be removed to tow. With no other option and the tongue weight of trailer being over 600lbs there was not much I could do. Thankfully another few campers stopped in the POURING rain and helped me lift it back onto the ball and get back on the road. The good lord was looking out for my family and I that day, had we made it to the highway it would have been ugly...

Turns out when I dropped the tongue on the ball, the catch was stuck on the top of the ball, and didn't go below it. Now, EVERY DAMN TIME I put an eye under the tongue of the trailer and make sure the catch is touching the underside of the ball before we pull off. Lesson learned, double/triple check everything, every time...

Be safe out there everyone!
 
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