I have a new F350 and a gently used bumper pull horse trailer that is about five years old. Yesterday, with two horses loaded, the trailer disconnected from the truck (very scary). I drove the truck and trailer prior to loading and everything seemed fine. The saftey pin was still connected to the lock after the trailer disconneted. Can anyone tell me why this happened and what I can do to fix the problem? Thank you.
Re: My horse trailer disconnected while is was driving
Wrong size ball on the hitch ?
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Re: My horse trailer disconnected while is was driving
My guess would be the ball-hitch is too small.
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2003, F250, Super Duty, Super Cab, 7.3, Auto, 4X4 Silver, 2" lift in front only, 46 gal fuel tank, Billet Grill, 285X75X16 BFG MT, Bilsteins, Firestone Air Rear, B&W Gooseneck, We call it the "Silver Knocker"
Re: My horse trailer disconnected while is was driving
My guess would be that the "Ball" on the hitch is too small.
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2003, F250, Super Duty, Super Cab, 7.3, Auto, 4X4 Silver, 2" lift in front only, 46 gal fuel tank, Billet Grill, 285X75X16 BFG MT, Bilsteins, Firestone Air Rear, B&W Gooseneck, We call it the "Silver Knocker"
The size is usually stamped on top of the ball and somewhere on the hitch. The most common size is 2 inch, but some of the heavier trailers use a 2 5/16 size. It is also possible that the hitch failed (there are several types..."bulldog" that closes from the side or conventional style that grips the bottom of the ball with either a lever or screw-in action). It is also possible (but rare) that the ball has worn enough to let the hitch uncouple...I like to keep it lubed with axle grease. If nothing obvious is seen, I'd recommend having a good trailer shop look at it before towing again.
Best,
John
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Re: My horse trailer disconnected while is was driving
The other option is that there is a jam nut under the hitch which allows some adjustment for the lower clamp on the ball. It may have backed off and the hitch, all though locked was not clamped well on the ball. The net effect, the hitch acted like it was not clamped down. This could explain why it has not been an issue in the past.
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Re: My horse trailer disconnected while is was driving
Could also be that the hitch was "on" the ball and not "over" the ball.
If the ball is towards the back of the hitch when you lower the jack, the "flapper-doodle thingy" that is supposed to lock up under the back of the ball, can actually get hung up on top of the ball. The prevents the hitch from going down over the ball, but you can latch and lock the handle, and you think it's hooked up right. If you were to get down and look from the side, you'd see it was not right, but from up above, it's kind of hard to tell.
Re: My horse trailer disconnected while is was driving
Boatpuller makes a good point about the hitch not being properly engaged, which can happen even if you have the right ball for the hitch. Check to confirm that the ball and hitch are the same size, and be sure that the hitch is all the way down on the ball and engaged next time you hook up the trailer. If still not clear, see if you can't post links to a couple of pictures - some of the experienced folks here can likely diagnose your problem quick with close ups of the hitch and ball. Does your truck have an original equipment or an after market, frame-mounted, under the rear bumper hitch? I'd be real careful about pulling a 2 horse 'bumper pull' trailer from the bumper, itself .....
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Re: My horse trailer disconnected while is was driving
I'd hook it up and try jacking up the trailer and see if you can get it to happen again when you can see whats goin on...
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Re: My horse trailer disconnected while is was driving
Definitely makes your pucker-upper pucker up even more. Reminds me of when I was pulling my pontoon boat (with 2 inch ball size), with my van that had 1 7/8 ball. I was just going for fuel and didn't think 1/8 inch would make a difference. WRONG! Hit one bump and the trailer came completely off the coupler. All the tongue weight was riding on the safety chain, until I could get the van pulled off on the side of the road. I guess I was going about 45 to 50. Had to go back home and change my shorts! I had to give myself one of those STUPID signs that day.
I pull that sign out every once in a while to remind myself that someone was watching out for fools and little children that day.
short_stuff
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Re: My horse trailer disconnected while I was driving
Good advice so far. Now, hook your trailer back up to the hitch as you always would. Make sure it is locked on. Now extend the foot and see if it *pops off*. If so, you either have a ball that is to small, or your hitch is broken in some way. Let us know what you find out.
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