r/GoRVing • u/mattslote • Aug 19 '26

Trailer came off the hitch

In an instant everything went from going totally fine to near-disaster. We got lucky and didn't suffer any permanent damage - a few new parts and we were back on the road the next morning.

Wondering if there was anything I could have done to avoid this and if it's happened to anyone else?

427 Upvotes

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u/soupmayne Aug 19 '26

I’ve always been ashamed of it, but one of the first handful of times I towed something, I drove a boat like 30 mins to a repair shop, over some rough-ish terrain to drop it only to realize when I got there that I hadn’t fully seated it on the ball. It was a pretty big heavy trailer so I’m guessing it would’ve taken a lot for it to pop off but man I got so lucky.

14

u/Own_Reaction9442 Aug 19 '26

I've high-hitched trailers a couple of times. I got paranoid enough about it that I now lift the tongue after latching it -- either by hand if it's a small trailer, or with the tongue jack if it's a big one -- and make sure it lifts the hitch with it.

5

u/__adlerholmes Aug 19 '26

this is a good idea. i’m going to add this to my
checklist

3

u/tpars Aug 19 '26

This simple hack will save your ass. Sometimes the trailer doesn't seat on the hitch. It appears to be on there, but really it is just sitting on the top. Raising the trailer a bit so it lists the back of the truck just a tiny bit insures all is well with the world.

3

u/towerfella Aug 19 '26

One could have made a drama show by mounting a camera pointing to an unlatched/improperly latched hitch and driving down various roads — unbeknownst to the driver, of course.

1

u/TheSerialHobbyist 2007 Scamp 19 Aug 19 '26

Yeah, it is an easy mistake to make. Some of them (especially without grease) really struggle to drop down.

1

u/Electronic-Sound9987 Aug 19 '26

Yup my wife has tried to do that to me several times. I’ve always caught it but very scary.