Reese Hitch Failure?

[sinder]

I always raise my trailer off by 1/2 inch on my Reese hitch before unlatching. Most of the time it will release with no problem. I do occasionally run into the same issue johnboytoo encounters when backing in to a site. Usually I just have to nudged the truck forward or back depending on the grade of the site, in order to release the hitch.

[atom ant]

Originally Posted by AlanN

Oh, I'm SOOO looking forward to learning to do this... :-) I've only had 24 years of hitching a bumper hitch to a 30' TT, but this sounds like it'll be so much more entertainment! This, and watching the roof bubble up! (Sigh)

You will LOVE it Alan! No more back pain dragging that gimongous hitch around, breaking your ribs when you slip with the equalizer tension bar, hooking up sway bars, cranking that dang tongue jack! Now its just push a button or two, yank a lever, and ram it in

(PS - I have no idea what your TT setup is - I'm just recalling mine and it really did take 6 weeks for that rib to heal)

[AlanN]

Originally Posted by atom ant

You will LOVE it Alan! No more back pain dragging that gimongous hitch around, breaking your ribs when you slip with the equalizer tension bar, hooking up sway bars, cranking that dang tongue jack! Now its just push a button or two, yank a lever, and ram it in

(PS - I have no idea what your TT setup is - I'm just recalling mine and it really did take 6 weeks for that rib to heal)

Haha! No worries.... the TT is ten years gone, but the ribs are almost healed! :-) Tightening the torsion bars was always the most fun!

[JellyStonePark]

Originally Posted by JellyStonePark

Wow, you discribed our exact situation last week with our Reese R20 hitch. The R20 has the two piece jaw that you are referring to. Long story short we hitch our 38fl before leaving Moab only to find the jaws wouldn't close all the way leaving an apprx. 1/2 gap. Tried re-opening the jaws to release the pin with no joy! Ended up having to have a mobile repair outfitt come out to get us going. Got back to Denver safely, and called Reese immediately. I don't have the words to give you a picture of the failed parts but. the mechanizm that opens the jaws of the hitch failed. I thought they were made of some sort of metal instead they seem to be made of some sort of composite type of material. That material shattered not allowing the jaws to open or close.

Reese has agreed to send an entirely new hitch, in the next few weeks I will be shipping the failed united back to them for their inspection and investigation as to why it failed. By the way just for the record, this was not the first failure of this unit. Originally, we purchased the hitch with slider rails. Unfortunately, the locking mech. would allow the coach to slide back when a large enough bump was encounter on the road. Ended up switching the legs out for the standard static legs that worked fine up to this last issue.

Last night I could not adequately discribe what component failed on our Reese R20 hitch. If you look at the Reese Website you will find whats called the Linkage & Linkage Bushing Part #58491 this is the component that opens and closes the jaws on both the R16 and R20 hitches. As you look in the illustration on their website, you would think the portion at the top where the pin goes in would be made of a metal product. It's not, when this piece breaks you can neither open or close the jaws. Point is, if you have either of these hitches It would be worth the time inspecting this part for cracks or breakage.

[homeguy]

Originally Posted by atom ant

You will LOVE it Alan! No more back pain dragging that gimongous hitch around, breaking your ribs when you slip with the equalizer tension bar, hooking up sway bars, cranking that dang tongue jack! Now its just push a button or two, yank a lever, and ram it in

(PS - I have no idea what your TT setup is - I'm just recalling mine and it really did take 6 weeks for that rib to heal)

I had no idea you were a Dodge truck fan! Congrats on coming from the dark side! (of course I am referring to the "ram it" part)

[JohnEileen]

We have a B&W hitch on our 2013 350 diesel Ford. We were getting a lunging effect on certain types of roads when we were pulling our Redwood home. Is this normal is there anything you can do to prevent or soften this effect? Thanks for your help! This forum is awesome!

John and Eileen
2013 Redwood 36RL 2013 Ford 350 Diesel Larriet

[Foxfire]

Originally Posted by JohnEileen

We have a B&W hitch on our 2013 350 diesel Ford. We were getting a lunging effect on certain types of roads when we were pulling our Redwood home. Is this normal is there anything you can do to prevent or soften this effect? Thanks for your help! This forum is awesome!

John and Eileen
2013 Redwood 36RL 2013 Ford 350 Diesel Larriet

How much air is in the air bag on the trailride? It should be around 60 pounds. What are your brakes set at? I keep mine at 10.

[Oriana]

Originally Posted by JohnEileen

We have a B&W hitch on our 2013 350 diesel Ford. We were getting a lunging effect on certain types of roads when we were pulling our Redwood home. Is this normal is there anything you can do to prevent or soften this effect? Thanks for your help! This forum is awesome!

John and Eileen
2013 Redwood 36RL 2013 Ford 350 Diesel Larriet

If you have the Trailair hitch with air bag, have you applied grease. They have a total of 9 grease nipples, 3 either side and 3 on the bottom. Adding grease improved the ride on our coach. I top off the grease every 1500 to 2000 mls.

The other improvement was adding Airlift 5000 air bags and compressor to the truck rear end.

[Jim & Mary]

Andy, do you know what type of grease for the trail-air? I have no literature that came with it.

Thanks, Jim

[JohnEileen]

We have a Rotoflex by Trail Air on the RW and Band W on the Ford 350 Diesel. So perhaps we got the wrong part on the Redwood or on the Ford?

[Adamsvr]

Originally Posted by JohnEileen

We have a B&W hitch on our 2013 350 diesel Ford. We were getting a lunging effect on certain types of roads when we were pulling our Redwood home. Is this normal is there anything you can do to prevent or soften this effect? Thanks for your help! This forum is awesome!

John and Eileen
2013 Redwood 36RL 2013 Ford 350 Diesel Larriet

Pretty normal; however, to minimize the affect, get some Firestone Ride Right Airbags for your truck. Pump them up to 65 or 70 pounds. Will make a notable difference.

[Oriana]

Originally Posted by Jim & Mary

Andy, do you know what type of grease for the trail-air? I have no literature that came with it.

Thanks, Jim

Jim,

Unfortunately we are currently visiting with our son in Dubai and not home until July 1st, and I have no idea regarding the type of grease I bought. We also didn't get any literature, so I went to our local Canadian Tire and bought a grease gun and a tube of quality multi purpose grease.

[JellyStonePark]

Right On Time for the Holiday Weekend!

Just wanted to follow-up with all of you concerning out "Reese Hitch Failure" thread. As stated earlier, Reese had agreed to replace our entire hitch instead of repairing it. As we worked out the details, we were told not to expect the new unit until first part of June putting a serious damper on the Memorial weekend plans. Low and Behold I come home today and find guess what "I brand new Hitch" from Reese. On the two crates I noted it states Meets 2014 Requirements. In inspecting the contents of the crates Reese has made several improvements to our original model. The whole unit seems "beefier" and the component parts seem to have a better fit, finish, and operation. I can only say Reese, has impressed the heck out of us, and our local dealer Kettleson has gone out of their way to fit us in for installation during this crazy busy week before the holiday. That's What I call Outstanding Service

[Oriana]

Great news, hope install goes well and you have a great weekend.

[0nTheRoad]

Good news JellyStonePark!!!

We're very happy with our Reese hitch, hope the new one is as good!!!

[atom ant]

Fantastic news Jellystonepark!

I was going to offer you my hitch over Memorial Day - as mine will not get used.

[JellyStonePark]

Originally Posted by atom ant

Fantastic news Jellystonepark!

I was going to offer you my hitch over Memorial Day - as mine will not get used.

Brad, thanks for being willing to assist us with your gracious offer. I am sure Ketelsen will take good care of us tomorrow. But wanted to give you a big thanks for your willingness to help. I had a chance to tear down the old hitch yesterday for inspection and pictures before shipping it back to Reese. It appears the bushings failed (they were out of round) caused be the pin weight of the Redwood. In turn caused the cast iron to rub the top of the lateral saddle brackets causing them to wear, ultimately they came in contact with the handle that opens and closes the jaws causing the connector on top to shatter. All this because of wore bushings would not support the weight of the coach. The bushing on the new hitch are orange in color (instead of Yellow) and appears to be more robust and denser in nature.

[atom ant]

You didnt happen to get pics did you?

[JellyStonePark]

Good Morning Brad, Yes I took several pics and will get them downloaded tonight after work. Have a Great day and look for pics later. Again Thanks

Darrell

[JellyStonePark]

Looks like we lost the images! let me try again. The following images were taken of the Reese R20 hitch that failed during our last outting. It should be noted this hitch is only six months old and had only 1500 miles on it when it failed.


The above image is the cross member of the hitch with the head removed. Looking down from this prospective note on the top of the blue cross member wear on top of the shackles that contain the yellow isolation bushings show wear in the way of metal to metal contact. When the bushings failed the head began to rest on the top of the shackles.


Here you can see when the bushing collapsed, the washer that is mounted on either side of the bushing actually started wearing away the blue cross member. In the image on the right you can start to see how outta-round it became caused by towing and pin weight.


Here is more evidence of the wear to the sleeve and washer as those bushings over time began to collapse more.





Finally, you can see in the top two images here the wear contact points. The upper right image is under the head had been filed down approximately 1/4 of an inch. This brings us to the last image again looking at the head of the R20 upside down. Notice how the two springs create a V at their connection point. That connection point isn't made of metal, as I would of expected. The image on the right is tucked between the operation handle and the under side of the head. It contains a pin and bar that opens and closes the jaw. It is this piece that actually shattered causing the failure.

Best Regards




Darrell V. Galloway