H@LY SH!T!

[Horton]

 

[Horton]

It is a surf boat sooo... whatever

 

[DavidN]

Yup, that’s exactly the reason why I don’t use aluminum hitches.

Breaks right off without any forewarning.

[bigtex2011]

oh dear

[braindamage]

Ouch!!

[MDB1056]

@DavidN - good advice. No aluminum. Wow….never seen that before

[skihacker]

Honestly never occured to me that an aluminum draw bar was even a thing.

[dbaconaz]

WOW Crazy! Had no idea that aluminum would do that! Seems like DOT would ban them???

[Horton]

brake lights work

[dbutcher]

It's kind of impressive to me that the safety chains held. Also, the tow vehicle appears to have gone through the median guard rail without overturning. The trailer wasn't that fortunate. I have never seen a drawbar that appears to have been solid or filled with something. Of course I've never seen an aluminum drawbar before so I wonder if that is typical of aluminum drawbars. I know I will never buy one that is filled or is solid aluminum.

[6balls]

Safety chains didn't save that one. Why have I never even heard of an aluminum hitch receiver set up? Maybe cuz I grew up in farm country.

[Cnewbert]

Safety cables didn’t save the boat and trailer but they may well have saved the lives of other motorists if the trailer didn’t have a break away brake lock.

[BraceMaker]

@dbutcher aluminum hitches are always solid.

 

3 things I see. Boat isnt on trailer because it wasnt strapped down no stern straps.

 

Ratings ratings ratings. Like anything DOT gross weight and tongue weight matter.

 

And finally chicken or the egg, Ive had trailers come off going down the road. I had an axle spindle come off going down the road. Those safety cables were far too long. When my trailers came.loose thebchains were short enough to keep the tongue off the pavement and stop.

 

 

 

[teammalibu]

The majority of adjustable hitches I see online are aluminum!

[bbruzzese]

Had a steel one do that to me a few years ago. Thankfully was only going about 30mph and safety chains did their job.

[lpskier]

I wonder if the hitch failed, causing the boat to flip, or if the torque of the boat flipping broke the hitch shaft. Bummer either way….

[Bongo]

@BraceMaker, RE: shorter safety chains so tongue doesn't hit the pavement. This is also why I cross my safety chains in an X pattern under the tongue. Actually do it a couple times if I need to pick up a little slack. So the tongue will land on the chains. At least in theory. Also surprised when others don't.

 

I've never had a boat trailer come off, but have had two different snowmobile trailers let loose. In each case, the nut on the bottom of the ball of backed itself off. Once a non-event, but the other was in two-way traffic. Was able to use the electric trailer brake to get the trailer to sit down and stop swaying as I slowly pulled over...

[jjackkrash]

I have 4 aluminum weigh-safe hitches. I won't use anything else if I can help it.

[jjackkrash]

2k lbs. carry-weight rating and 18.5K tow rating.

[gsm_peter]

Never seen or heard of one i Aluminium.

I Sweden and most of Europe they must be ested and certified and inspected by a 'DMW' reguraly.

 

The boat, cargo must be sufficient strapped to the trailer. Sometimes checked by the Police....

 

Greatfull no one seems to be injured.

[BraceMaker]

@Bongo basically that issue older trailer needed to have the guts of the latch replaced. the nut was frozen and hitch too loose. Eventually I replaced the whole tongue.

 

I also had a jetski trailer do it empty you assume the hitch is adjusted but check your trailers from time to time use a floorjack to see if the trailer will come loose.

[EFW]

My whole life I have driven tractor trailers. I feel like such a dummy when I am shown the simplest tricks that I never knew with smaller boat trailers. Safety chains and cables. It's so easy to adjust them when your cables are too long for the given application. You do not have to cut them to length. All you have to do is twist them in a linear fashion from the hook to get the desired length. Then you still have the chain length or cable when you need them for something longer. fwiw.

[skihacker]

I could be wrong but I always thought dot required safety chains and cables be crossed,

[EFW]

You do cross them. Just twist them up to get the correct length if yours happen to be not correct.

[Dacon62]

Safety chains/cables have been longer since the introduction of the swing hitch which requires them to be attached behind the swing hinge. And because boats are wider now and sit higher on the trailer the length of the swinging portion has needed to be longer to avoid submerging the brake cylinder while launching/retrieving the boat. Makes for very long safety chains/cables. Not ideal from a safety standpoint.

[BraceMaker]

@Dacon62 yes but a "safety chain loop" or a section of tube welded to the forward section keeps the chains or cables routed and catched the tongue. You can also bolt the chain into the tongue as well as where it secures behind the hinge.

 

[Cnewbert]

I’m wondering (out loud) if by keeping my cables too short it might prevent the break away cable from pulling free during a trailer unhitching episode and activating the trailer brakes, as the short cables might hold the tongue too close to the hitch to allow this action.

[BraceMaker]

My opinion is the breakaway cable is not something to rely on its an o crap last resort

[ski6jones]

That oughta buff right out.

[Cnewbert]

@BraceMaker I think the very split second my Prostar trailer jumps the hitch I’ve immediately entered O Crap territory! ?

[BraceMaker]

@Cnewbert you'd be surprised how tolerant you'd become working at a marina.

[Kwoody51]

FL man uses wrong trailer hitch materiel and boat goes surfing down the road.

[BrennanKMN]

If the hitch broke at the receiver, why isn't the remaining part still in the trailer tongue coupler in that picture?

 

Aluminum hitches are pretty popular. Anderson Rapid Hitch is one I see a ton. Given that the vast majority of the aluminum hitches I see are drop hitches, I'd bet that it was a larger drop hitch and there was a panic brake event evolved. A hard stop on a huge aluminum level arm sounds like a bad situation.

 

[ScottScott]

The swingaway tongues do bring up an interesting safety chain issue. I don't know if any of the manufacturers include any type of management for the chains that adequately handle the extra long chains needed for the swingaway tongue. All that is needed is a loop closer to the hitch that the chains can be routed through, while still be attached to the main trailer behind the hinge.

 

Another note is the safety cables many of these trailers are shipped with. For appearance most are coated in rubber. Sounds great until the rubber cracks and water gets in and stays, causing the cables to rust without the rust being easily visible. After only a couple years I suddenly noticed that my cables were just hanging on by the rubber coating.

[BraceMaker]

@ScottScott

 

 

Proper solution welded loop on the tongue chains through the loop.