JUst had my car hauler part company with my truck as i was taking off from a bumpy dirt road onto a paved one. It was empty at the time (thank goodness...was going to pick up my 66 442 from the paint shop after 3 years!) It was latched and locked, large heavy duty hitch with the 2 5/16 ball. Apparently, just enough wear in the latch or the ball to allow it to slide up and when the turbo kicked in on the diesel, It was enough to disengage. Also broke both safety chains and destroyed the wiring. One chain stayed connected (even with a broken open loop) Emergency brake system wasn't working, battery dead. Heard the banging, thought it was the pot holes. Saw it in the mirror and slowly came to a stop on the shoulder. Lucky, lucky, lucky. Will post a pic of the type of hitch when I get a chance. Needless to say, replacing everything including the ball and the emergency braking system. May want to inspect yours from time to time...... :shock:
Close call Dave. Glad it wasn't too bad. A word people CHECK!CHECK!CHECK! Afew months ago along the hwy 11 bridge down here, a boat trailer broke free went into the oncoming lane and went through the pass. side window, killing a woman riding w/ her husband. PLEASE check your load and trailer often, the life you save could be mine.... :Smarty:
I have a new car hauler and it came with a charger in the battery box as part of the break-away kit. Apparently it uses the truck power to charge the battery as needed... Frank
Apparently it uses the truck power to charge the battery as needed... still won't keep the battery from dying eventually. check your battery every so often when the trailer is sitting solo to see how it's doing.
Well, it recharges (even the dead) battery as soon as you hook back up. Hopefully it won't be needed in the first few minutes...
i will reiterate: this will STILL not prevent the battery from eventually becoming electrochemically incapable of holding a charge. and that's assuming you don't have a 'mechanical' (shorting of plates, leakage of electrolyte, etc) problem. seriously, is it really so difficult to disconnect the plug and test the battery voltage?
Update on this. I took the trailer to a big time RV repair place and they checked it out as well as replaced both broken safety chains, wiring, a new 2 5/16 ball (old one looked a little worn), and a new larger diameter pin for the safety latch replacing the lock I had on it. The coupler itself checked out fine. All they could figure was the slop in the safety latch (by the small diameter lock) combined with the worn ball, the severe pot holes that had it banging up and down and when the turbo kicked in it was just enough to pull it off the ball. The electric safety brake system had a dead battery. Going to get the new one that recharges off the truck when connected and running. I would guess that just like car batteries, there are ones that can't be brought back once fully discharged and better ones (like deep cycle marine batteries). Want to research that a little more before I buy another one that doesn't work when I need it. Meanwhile, it's parked.
I bet you needed to change your shorts[we all know that you like to race in shorts :laugh: ] after that ride.Glad it went as good as it did for you
We have a type 27 deep cycle battery on our popup camper that is used for both the brakes in emergencies and to run lights, etc. when camped at a non-electric campsite. Since you probably don't have lights to worry about, a type 24 should work just fine for your trailer brakes. When I replace the battery this spring (it's from 99), I'll get a type 30 deep cycle, but that would be over-kill for you. Glad to hear that everything is going to be OK!
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: I'll never live that down. Actually saved a little embarassment and friction when I was DQ'd for that. After they matched me heads up with Gessler in a bracket first round, I didn't plan to stop at the tree after my burnout. I mean, we only qualified 3 full seconds differently. Lot of fun running an 11 second car with a 14 second car heads up. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
