Racked / bent my hitch?!

MooseMan · 08-05-2012, 08:13 PM

Today I hitched up at our campground near Estes Park CO and headed out to return home. Left the sway control loose until a gas station near the interstate. Tightened it up - (bottomed out the threads per instructions, went 1/2 turn over since I know I25 can be windy). Got hit with a wind gust on I25 that was pretty significant - but it all corrected very fast. when I got home I found that the hitch where the sway control connects was bent upwards and in towards the ball. The arm mechanism has a little resistance but still works.

I cannot believe it. Thinking I will relocate sway control to other side of the hitch.

TV = Ford Expedition
Trailer = Passport 2950BH probably 5500 lbs loaded.

Clanton24v · 08-05-2012, 11:21 PM

Wow that's not cool that shouldn't have bent. Kinda makes one question the integrity of the entire hitch

MooseMan · 08-06-2012, 03:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clanton24v

Wow that's not cool that shouldn't have bent. Kinda makes one question the integrity of the entire hitch

Yeah I'm a little freaked out about that too.

**JRTJH** · 08-06-2012, 05:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MooseMan

Yeah I'm a little freaked out about that too.

That hitch looks pretty new and probably is still under warranty. It should not bend like that. I'd be contacting the dealer to find out how they (and the manufacturer) can help you resolve this problem. One possibility is that you turned too tight, the sway control was pushed in as far as it could go and you managed somehow to turn a little bit tighter. In that case, you could have actually pushed a 1" x 4" bar attached to your a frame into your hitch causing the bend. It could have happened easily if you turned too tight (even with the sway control "loose") while maneuvering out of the campground or around fuel pumps at the gas station.

Never seen a hitch bend like that unless there was an accident that caused significant damage to the trailer or the vehicle. Speaking of damage, The receiver on your Expedition must have been "tweeked" pretty good if the hitch bent like that. I'd be for taking the hitch off and going through the receiver with a fine tooth comb to make sure all the bolts and attaching points are not damaged.... Lots of potential for hidden damage to the TV as well as your hitch.

MooseMan · 08-06-2012, 06:46 AM

I took one tight turn yesterday that I can recall, but I don't think as tight as some that I have taken. Perhaps that was the culprit, which would be unfortunate.

We are due to go out again this weekend and I'm not excited about pushing it with this hitch - may have to pony up the bucks to replace it.

Would the Equalizer brand hitches be as susceptible to the tight turn consideration? I like the simpler design / no separate sway control. Our driveway forces a few sharp turns and is a bit off camber in places, so it can be tricky.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JRTJH

That hitch looks pretty new and probably is still under warranty. It should not bend like that. I'd be contacting the dealer to find out how they (and the manufacturer) can help you resolve this problem. One possibility is that you turned too tight, the sway control was pushed in as far as it could go and you managed somehow to turn a little bit tighter. In that case, you could have actually pushed a 1" x 4" bar attached to your a frame into your hitch causing the bend. It could have happened easily if you turned too tight (even with the sway control "loose") while maneuvering out of the campground or around fuel pumps at the gas station.

Never seen a hitch bend like that unless there was an accident that caused significant damage to the trailer or the vehicle. Speaking of damage, The receiver on your Expedition must have been "tweeked" pretty good if the hitch bent like that. I'd be for taking the hitch off and going through the receiver with a fine tooth comb to make sure all the bolts and attaching points are not damaged.... Lots of potential for hidden damage to the TV as well as your hitch.

The Sod Father · 08-06-2012, 09:01 AM

The beauty of the Equalizer is that you do not need to remove an anti sway device to back up or make sharp turns. I made a number of tight turns with I had my Equalizer and never had an issue. I believe the Reese Dual Cam also gives you this freedom and does not require an additional anti sway device.

The issue I DID have with the Equalizer was sway (tow vehicle is an SUV with a squishy suspension) but that was resolved with the Hensley.

LittleJoe · 08-06-2012, 03:33 PM

Only time I have ever seen this happen is from putting the hitch into a bind.
It looks like the clearances are not set up properly for length of travel of sway bar versus allowable arc travel of the ball/hitch.
eg. turned too short and sway bar slide bottomed out its travel and ball/hitch on main bar had more travel allowable.

Always a good idea to remove sway bar when arriving at campsite before tight turns begin. At very least remove tension from bar so there is no friction, if you are sure you have enough clearance.

Philip Saran · 08-09-2012, 05:00 PM

For the person who has the SUV with the squeshy suspension,
it's time for air bags and new shocks, if your TV has more than
10K miles on the factory shocks, they are dead, it's time for a
set of good aftermarket shocks.

I have Rancho 9000 adjustable shocks on my truck and they
work very well.

On the bent hitch head, the dealer will only want to sell you a
new one, the mfg "may" be willing to help out some.

I had one experience where I made the mistake of towing a car
trailer with out using the torsion bars and went down and then
up again over a very steep driveway and I cracked the hitch
head and about 5 hrs later when I was backing up in a parking
lot it broke in half and dropped the trailer. Mine was out of
warranty already and I was the second owner, but I called the
mfg and explaned what happened and I then mailed the broken
parts back to them and they sent me a new replacement.

Your results or milage may differ.

Also helps to own more than one hitch so you have a spare.

Laredo291OH · 08-09-2012, 07:07 PM

I have the Reese dual cam pulling a 29ft camper. It works great behind my GMC 2500HD. Helped tremendously behind my GMC 1/2 ton Yukon, but didn't eliminate sway completely. Have used the hitch for 2 years now and have never had a problem with bending it or removing it for sharp turns. In fact, on the way home from Disney this year I turned too sharp and bent the bumper of the truck, but the hitch was fine.

Luckily on these new trucks (2010) the bumpers are so light weight I was able to pull it back out and you can't even tell. My recommendation would be going to a Reese dual cam.

MooseMan · 08-09-2012, 07:40 PM

Thanks guys. I talked to the dealer Monday and for what it's worth he suggested taking a mallet to it and pounding it down - which I did and it looks better now. I explained it all to the dealer and asked about the Equalizer which they do sell, and it sounds like it would not be very compatible with my driveway, which is steep and has a section that is fairly off-camber. Sounds like I would tear up one of those hitches - specifically the L-shaped connectors.

I also called EZ-Lift and they are sending a replacement head.

So plan A is to switch out the head and keep running the config I have until next season and I can see how it all plays behind an Excursion, and re-hitch if needed.

**JRTJH** · 08-09-2012, 08:08 PM

Mooseman,

Apparently you've removed the hitch head from the receiver to "beat it back into submission" but you never said whether you crawled under the Expedition and looked at the receiver attaching bolts, the truck frame and the welds on the receiver crossbars....

I'd urge you to spend some time under the back of your TV making sure that the truck and receiver don't have any damage and that all the attaching hardware is tight, in good condition and not damaged or missing.

You may have already done this, but I didn't see any results in your posts about the condition of the receiver.... If it's damaged, loose or missing hardware, it could well become your "weakest link"

MooseMan · 08-10-2012, 04:54 AM

JRTJH yes I forgot to add that. I did crawl under there and check it out. No visible cracking or weld breaks and I looked at where the hitch mounts against the truck frame and couldn't find a discrepancy (i.e. clean frame metal that would indicate that the hitch bent or shifted and exposed part of the frame that has been covered up for years). Also took a wrench up there to make certain the bolts were all secure as well.

Thanks!

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