[Formulabruce]

A buddy had his son tow a car in a enclosed trailer back home. Just before getting on the highway, at 30 ish mph. The hitch broke, dug into the pavement. As did the jack.
Trailer full was at 6k lbs. Hitch ball is rated at 6k..
The hitch mount is NOT forged, its a cast steel. It is 20 years old and was just used on a 2,600 mile trip.
Note some rust under the label, but ... this is scary. This could have been really bad at speed. Pics below.

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

D
A
M
N

just out of curiosity , what brand was it ?

Glad it wasn't a complete catastrophe
easily could have been

[694.1]

Counterfeit Chi-com crap?

[400 4spd.]

The rust under the label indicates there was a fracture. That compromise is all it takes for a complete failure. Think of it as scoring a line on glass. When enough pressure is applied it will fail or break at that point.
Personally, I wouldn't use anything rusty as a hitch component.

[Stuart]

I'm glad it didn't turn out badly. I had the hitch come loose on my little utility trailer while hauling my motorcycle once; fortunately the safety chains held, but it was pretty scary until I got slowed down and was able to stop. That sort of thing will cause some grey hairs for sure

[Goatracer1]

I had a ball brake while towing an empty utility trailer many years ago. The safety chains held and I wish they had NOT. It was on a 1965 Tempest wagon. The frame rails bent inward and the gas tank dropped down.

[Goatracer1]

Sorry that should have been "break". It's late at night here.

[Mr Anonymous]

I'll use a hitch like that with my open trailer, but with either of my enclosed ones (24 or 32ft), I use the weight distribution hitch for this exact reason.

I have also seen the ones with the depressed hex to hold the hex on the ball.....break across the hex area.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

[Drag Star Le Mans]

Sucks it happened but at least at low speeds. Could have been bad at highway speeds.

[Jeff Hamlin]

That could have been a disaster, glad it ended well.
That thing should have been scrapped a long time ago.

I never leave my hitches in when, not in use and if any were to get that rusty I would toss it.

Crossing the safety chains is a must to hopefully prevent the tongue from a full drop in these types of situations.
Towing can be stressful enough this just adds to it.

[JSchmitz]

That is scary. That is NOT a cast part though. It's a piece of bent cold rolled steel welded to square tubing. There probably was a score in the metal from the bending process that caused a stress riser. The surface rust had NOTHING to do with this failure! It may have been fabricated with poor quality material. It was also very likely loaded well past it's rated weight. Glad it turned out ok. Definitely do NOT skimp on receiver hitch parts! I've seen many trailers with bent axles because people think the trailer should hold however much they can pile on it.

[george kujanski]

Good idea to cross the chains. Will do that from now on.

George

[TAKerry]

Originally Posted by Jeff Hamlin

That could have been a disaster, glad it ended well.
That thing should have been scrapped a long time ago.

I never leave my hitches in when, not in use and if any were to get that rusty I would toss it.

Crossing the safety chains is a must to hopefully prevent the tongue from a full drop in these types of situations.
Towing can be stressful enough this just adds to it.

This. To address another post, the rust may not have contributed to the failure but it is a clear indication of an old getting to be worn out part. The hitch itself should be inspected carefully at least once a month. Crossed chains are the proper way to hook up a trailer. Get stopped by DOT once and you will change the way things get done.

Glad you were not hurt and it didnt turn into a tragedy.

[dataway]

I've cold bent a lot of cold rolled steel ..... sometimes it bends fine, other times it leaves fractures. No rhyme or reason that I can spot just looking at the metal before bending. That part looks like it was doomed the day it was made. My guess is they use some heat in the bending process and that piece wasn't heated enough. Typically cold rolled of that thickness will snap right off if bent in a radius like that when insufficiently heated.

[400 4spd.]

In case anyone misunderstood my post, I was only pointing out that the rust is indication that the part all ready had a fracture/weakness that led to the break. Not that the rust caused the break.

[padgett]

Just a thought but do not leave ball in receiver, rides next to spare tire when not in use. Suspect foam was part of towing package from factory.

+1 on crossed chains, Had a trailer tongue break once at speed on Interstate with a race car in tow. Chains kept nose off ground and was able to coast to stop safely. Then got to drive race car to the next exit.

[grandam1979]

What was that hitch rated for like one like a 5000# how thick is the 2x2 area?

[71GP76TA]

Whole thing looks like a rusty POS that should've been replaced long ago..

[David Jones]

Wow.


30 years ago, in a previous life, I sold Drawtite hitches/ball mounts etc. 1000's of them. A semi load a month. I have NEVER seen a ball mount break for any reason including wrecks.


Wow.

[71GP76TA]

Originally Posted by David Jones

Wow.


30 years ago, in a previous life, I sold Drawtite hitches/ball mounts etc. 1000's of them. A semi load a month. I have NEVER seen a ball mount break for any reason including wrecks.


Wow.

He probably backed into a couple brick walls with it..