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Trailer comes off at 75mph
Yup, I agree with most all reply's. Will definately change some of my hook up set ups.
Trailer was empty and was only fish tailing after it came off the truck. This trailer pulls like a ghost trailer. As for speed, Hmm right again. Traffic eats you up when you leave rural settings and head into a spur/bypass around a larger city, I may get shot running the speed limit  !. Like I said, I was not even in the fast lanes.
EW, this time, the trailer was definately on to begin with, I use my crank to make sure the truck lifts a bit but I have had that happen with a u-haul, my nut came off the ball and all that was keepin it on was the tounge weight. Since then, I pinned all my nuts on my balls (hmm dont sound too good eh?)
All in all, you all are right, I got away with one and so did a family or a couple or a grandpa that may of been my victim. One thing for sure, when I feel I make a mistake, I always learn and never let it happen again. I posted this for the sole pupose of informing others not to make my mistake. WOW, looking back it is a scary thing driving on the highway and not knowing what the other guy is doing!
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Trailer comes off at 75mph
BA, it pointed out the need and value of good safety chains. It amazes me how lax either our state laws are on trailers or the enforcement of the laws. I have never known of a trailer causing a cop to pull someone unless big rig. kt
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Trailer comes off at 75mph
Glad everything ended up without injury for you and yours 
On another note, it really scares me when I see trailers being towed down the road and attached with very little hardware, be it light duty safety chains, crappy latching pins or inadequate hitches.
I required the dealer to install a pintle hook on my 12k utility trailer before it left the lot, and the boat would have one if it had electric brakes rather than the surge type. But even an improperly attended to pintle can kill.
A local fly by night contractor hooked his rig to his truck on a rainy morning and was in such a hurry he forgot to drop the hook on the pintle. Killed two people a mile down the road when the trailer drifted into oncoming traffic.
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Trailer comes off at 75mph
I had a pintle come loose 25 years ago on an empty fuel tank trailer. Luckily my dad was following and flashed his headl;ights at me. I was driving a dump truck and couldn't hear nor feel it hitting the rear. Though the truck and hitch were new and I was just a 16 y.o. kid then, even then the pintle setup for locking the ctach didn't seem robust or even well designed or made. My feeling then as it is today is perhaps that drivers inherently see the pintle as carrying a lot of tongue weight and thus "safety" is disregarded for the need to keep the latch locked.
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Trailer comes off at 75mph
Begin Rant...
Sadly true. I found that my local marina runs their hydraulic trailer with the latch open, in fact the latch is frozen open. How do I know this you ask? Well, when the tractor towing that trailer with my boat on it blew a tire and almost sent her over an embankment I hooked on with my truck and finished the haul. The marina owner had fastened the trailer and safety chains as I backed under her. I checked the attachment before I pulled away but the locking mechanism was unfamiliar to me, it looked like it was latched.
Took it another couple thousand feet to my storage building and off loaded the boat onto blocks. I then delivered the trailer back to the marina. When I arrived I needed a yard attendant to unhook the trailer since I was not familiar with the hydraulic operations on the thing (it lifts itself off). He never flinched when I asked how he did that without first unlatching the hitch "it has been frozen for years, it will never come off with that much tongue weight" he stated. I purchased my own trailer a month later.
God help us.
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Trailer comes off at 75mph
A defective hitch or any other part is operator/owners responsibility. Period.
Being afraid of a hitch because of an isolated event is sort of like being afraid of bald tires, replace them.
Most pintle hitches on larger trucks these days are self closing, you can't leave them open. On our big trucks and the highway tractor the pintle hook opens and closes by air and there is a warning light and buzzer in the cab if it is in the open position.
Cutter, surge or electric brakes have no bearing on the type of coupler, I have several trailers that have surge brakes on a lunette ring. In fact my triaxle boat trailer I pulled the Fountain around on was equipped with that very setup.
Best of luck.
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Trailer comes off at 75mph
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A defective hitch or any other part is operator/owners responsibility. Period.Being afraid of a hitch because of an isolated event is sort of like being afraid of bald tires, replace them.Most pintle hitches on larger trucks these days are self closing, you can't leave them open. On our big trucks and the highway tractor the pintle hook opens and closes by air and there is a warning light and buzzer in the cab if it is in the open position.Cutter, surge or electric brakes have no bearing on the type of coupler, I have several trailers that have surge brakes on a lunette ring. In fact my triaxle boat trailer I pulled the Fountain around on was equipped with that very setup.Best of luck.
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Interesting Murf, I suspected the lash allowed by the pintle would create less than desirable towing conditions with surge brakes. How did the thing react when braking? Did it slam the brakes a bit?
Pintle would be much easier on me as generally I am alone hooking up.
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Trailer comes off at 75mph
Out of all the things we adults need to pay attention too, this is one that I sometimes have took for granted. A quick check on the hitch and off you go. Here is a funny thing about what happened. The day before we left at 4 am we stopped at a wayside about 6:30 to potty. I was parked way the hell out on the end of a wayside (daughter wanted to walk). The semi's were all lined up for the night and filled most of the spots and then some on their side of the wayside, a few others with trailers were in there also. Comin out I jumped in my truck and took off with out looking at the trailer system. Not that I always do, but, I had a feeling like I should of. Be it that someone may of been messing with it or maybe that I just wanted to check it I dont know. (I am sure no one was messing with it But I just had a feeling. Anyone ever have a feeling about something and then later it happens? Well, since this was the day before the event of course this did not happen but its funny how I can't remember a time when I worried about a trailer coming off and then a day later it happens.
Another reason to hug and kiss the kids everytime they take off for a trip. Remind them that it can happen so fast they wont know whats going on. A trailer fly's over the medium and your playing with the radio! Scarry yes, something worry about all the time nope!
Have a great night folks
Tom
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Trailer comes off at 75mph
BA did you have that "funny feeling" when you backed over your PTO without disconnecting it the other day? tehehehe
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Trailer comes off at 75mph
BA, as to the funny feeling; call it what you wish but I think we are often given such foresight. It we just payed attention to it. kt
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08-12-2008, 00:10 
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