Reciever Hitch (broken)

**robbentler** · 5 Days Ago

So, I drug the boat to homer for a couple days of snowy winter king fishing. When I got home and unhooked the trailer, I had the hitch break off in my hand. Glad I made it home. I think one more bump and it would have been dragging on the chains.

What do you guys use for a reciever hitch? I've been looking at the B&W hitches since they are adjustable. Any thoughts?

**bnkwnto** · 5 Days Ago

Wow, you are a lucky man. That was a close one!

**Bob the fisher** · 5 Days Ago

Robbentler... I'd say that the fishin gods were watchin out for you buddy. That is way to close for comfort... I happened noticed that my hitch is starting to bend so I got an new one for this year. I'm not taking any chances. Especially after seeing your post. Dam glad I got an new one... "fishon"

**bkmail** · 5 Days Ago

Wow, thank goodness you made it off the road before she gave way. I wonder if the continous saltwater dunking or just a heavy load repeatedly flexing it at the elbow stressed it enough to snap? It does look a little rusty....
Be safe!
BK

**sayak** · 4 Days Ago

I have wondered about those deep bend hitches for years because they always seemed as though they would be prone to metal fatigue. My fears are now confirmed.
I think if you have to drop down from your receiver more than an inch or two, an adjustable hitch is the way to go.

**sweepint** · 4 Days Ago

That looks like a clean break, was there a weld there? Could the temp have been a factor here? I see the size boat what was the hitch rated for? I sume you had chains on.
Well welcome home safe and sound.

**slabhunter** · 4 Days Ago

Originally Posted by bnkwnto

Wow, you are a lucky man. That was a close one!

x2!!

There are many of those designs in use here as the launch ramps vary so wildly around the State. How long you had that one? And as others noted, a clean break tells me that the metal selected wasn't the correct alloy as it resembles those of the cheaper farm tractor attachments I break from time to time.

**JR2** · 4 Days Ago

Oh I have had nightmares that were not as scarey as that photo. Glad to see you made it home safe. I have a hitch that looks exactly like that, but its not used very often, mostly its on the back of my truck to deflect hondas, time to take a good look at it.

If it were me I would be looking at an adjustable drop style hitch from a reputable company. I would also oversize it, the hitch I have for my boat (about 10-12K lbs of boat and trailer) is rated at 20K as is the coupler on the boat.

On a side note, How was the fishing? How was the road down to Homer?

**Old John** · 4 Days Ago

I think right now would be a good time for you to buy a lottery ticket, and fill out a bunch of gueesses on the Tanana ice classic

**Roger** · 4 Days Ago

Need to send that photo to the company name stamped on the hitch, Might get an upgrade for free

Glad you made it back .I had the entire receiver bust off the frame on our move up here that was not fun

**Cap'n Ron** · 4 Days Ago

Geeze, Rob, I really do want to meet up with you this summer...amazing I may still get to do that! Reminds me of the time I was riding in my little brother's Corvair on the new freeway behind the house doing 80, and we pulled down the off ramp and when we stopped the entire right wheel and suspension came off and the car flopped to the ground!

That looks like a 3500 lb. drawbar, maybe. You are towing between 4-5,000 lbs. You should get a drawbar rated to at least double that, say 10K lbs. and be fine (right on JR!). Put a 1" shaft heavy-duty ball on it too. Both should be the expensive ones, not the WM stuff. That metal at the break doesn't even look like forged steel, it looks almost cast...I've never used an adjustable draw bar, but anything with adjustments would, IMO, have weak points that a solid drawbar would not.

Your experience and Roger's above make it a good idea to check your entire hitch system...the receiver could be made poorly too. Even if the safety chains work to keep the trailer from digging into the ground, they don't help if the entire hitch fails...and if you are at highway speeds, I've seen some pictures of jacknifed boats and bad wrecks when the drawbar or ball broke.

Glad you are safe...and stay that way!

**JR2** · 4 Days Ago

Something like this ought to work for you..

http://www.etrailer.com/Ball-Mounts/Curt/C45900.html

Rated at 14K, not cheap.

**robbentler** · 4 Days Ago

Sorry I didn't get back so fast. Night shift worker/day sleeper. That was a hitch I've used for a couple years towing my last boat. 2 5/16" ball with 1" shank. The rust on it (looked) to be just surface spots. There wasn't any rust inside the break, but one little line about half way across looks to be some sort of weak spot. I was speakless when it fell off after unhooking the coupler. Buying an ice classic ticket is a great idea....

JR2, I was researching hitches last night and found that one to be the highest rated adjustable around. I think I'm gonna go with that one. Thanks for confirming my thoughts on it.

Yeah, I had my safety chains hooked to the truck and my surge brake safety chain hooked up too, but all I could imagine was that big boat and trailer winch upright slamming into my truck as I'd try to stop.

The fishing in Homer was very slow due to a big storm in the Gulf I guess. We had huge rollers that kept us close inside and behind some islands. The roads and ramp were great though. No ice anywhere at all. But gas and diesel is getting out of control in Homer. $4.87/diesel and gas was close behind.

**Fish Witch** · 4 Days Ago

Good idea to check your truck's reciever. My 2006 F-350 had a Class III reciever on a truck that was rated at 17,000 lbs which is what the dealer assured me it was good for. I swapped it for a Class V rated at 16,000 lbs before towing my boat. Same thing for the ball mount like Rob's failed mount. Nothing like the fine print for an insurance company to back out of any payment if you have a problem and the reciever wasn't rated for it.

**akboater80** · 4 Days Ago

I have a picture I can't figure out how to post, but it is of a 2" rise broken in exactly the same spot.

**robbentler** · 4 Days Ago

I just purchased the same hitch that JR2 showed me http://www.etrailer.com/Ball-Mounts/Curt/C45900.html Got it on Amazon for $124.80. Did some research on it and found that the who shaft is solid steel and not hollow. Plus it's the highest rated towing capacity of all the other adjustable hitches. Now I'm thinking about upgrading my truck reciever too.

**gerberman** · 4 Days Ago

It looks like that was a formed, or bent receiver hitch stinger, whenever you bend metal it weakens it, like a cloths hanger, just bend it back and forth and it will brake. A gusset welded to a formed piece would be much better. I put a 2-1/2" receiver on my 2500HD, and I tow a 17,500 pound boat, but my choice of tow rigs is my C4500, It feels a lot safer with that much behind me. Get a stinger that is rated for at least 1-1/2 times your load. 2 times if possible.

**patrickL** · 4 Days Ago

Originally Posted by robbentler

Sorry I didn't get back so fast. Night shift worker/day sleeper. That was a hitch I've used for a couple years towing my last boat. 2 5/16" ball with 1" shank. The rust on it (looked) to be just surface spots. There wasn't any rust inside the break, but one little line about half way across looks to be some sort of weak spot. I was speakless when it fell off after unhooking the coupler. Buying an ice classic ticket is a great idea....

JR2, I was researching hitches last night and found that one to be the highest rated adjustable around. I think I'm gonna go with that one. Thanks for confirming my thoughts on it.

Yeah, I had my safety chains hooked to the truck and my surge brake safety chain hooked up too, but all I could imagine was that big boat and trailer winch upright slamming into my truck as I'd try to stop.

The fishing in Homer was very slow due to a big storm in the Gulf I guess. We had huge rollers that kept us close inside and behind some islands. The roads and ramp were great though. No ice anywhere at all. But gas and diesel is getting out of control in Homer. $4.87/diesel and gas was close behind.

Glad you guys made it back okay and you are one lucky man to have it happen after the trip rather than during. I check over my rig everytime before towing to make sure she's hooked up good and everything appears right. Problem is you just never know when's something doing to give. I have a hitch just like that but only a 2 inch drop. It's only rated for 5K pounds. I use to pull our small boat around with it but once I got into these bigger ocean boats I bought something much more robust. I now have a one piece aluminum hitch rated for 14K pounds and the ball rated for 16K pounds. In your case it wasn't the receiver that failed but the hitch insert. Good reminder to make sure you check the ratings on everything, receiver, hitch, ball, etc.

Glad you made it back okay and if you're at the derby next weekend I hope to see you on the water.

**robbentler** · 4 Days Ago

PatrickL, Good luck in the derby. I don't think I want to fight that crowd. I'm gonna sit this one out.

**Gene McCabe** · 4 Days Ago

I agree w/ gerberman about cold forming of steel hitches, and adding welded gussets on the outside of the bend. In fabrication in industry I've seen this same thing with "cold" bends .I feel that a lot of them are offshore imports, and who can guess what "bed springs" and other scrap are in this metal.

**AKluvr95** · 4 Days Ago

This is a wake-up call for me as I drag my boat with a truck camper on 95% of the time so I have to use an extender which lowers my rating and limited me to a lighter boat than I'd like to have purchased. I am curious about the adjustable hitches though ~ seems [like Cap'n Ron mentioned] tihe weak point would be in the side flanges where the ball pins mount through.
I remember back around a dozen years ago or so, I saw a boat and trailer sitting well out into the alders at the bottom of Turnagain Pass [over the guardrail] on the curve before just before Ingram Creek. Yikes!! So glad we are not reading a different outcome from this event.

**patrickL** · 3 Days Ago

Originally Posted by robbentler

PatrickL, Good luck in the derby. I don't think I want to fight that crowd. I'm gonna sit this one out.

Thanks. If you change your mind look me up. Now lets just hope the weather is good enough.

**MacGyver** · 3 Days Ago

I also use a stinger on my camper/trailer and I was considering adding two feet to the tongue of my trailer instead of using a stinger it would be a better choice. The extension could be bolted on and remove if needed.

**robbentler** · 3 Days Ago

Stingers are almost always made of SOLID steel and are rated pretty high. I think that would be a good option. If the entire trailer tongue was extended I'd say go for it. But I'm not too keen on the idea of adding another connection that might create one more spot to bend or break. Look at those swing tongue adapters. Great idea, but how much of Alaskan roads can they really handle?

Yes this was a real wake up call for me too. Now that I bought the Curt hitch, I'll never put another walmart drop hitch on my truck again. Not worth it to me....

Reciever Hitch (broken)

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