Close Call

[BobW]

On the Oregon coast, my wife and I drove for 5 hours to get to our next destination. Anyway, I fell asleep at the wheel on a curvy road. My wife yelled, I woke up to see the Truck and RV half way in the soft shoulder. I turned back to the center of the road, as I did I could see the 5th wheel 30 degrees off center and going off the bank. I couldn't feel any pull from the RV, but, allot of smoke from the RV wheels sliding across the highway. Also the RV was tilted to the outside of the turn allot. My question is, what would happen if the RV went over the bank? Would it take the truck with it, or would the hitch pin brake? Are these pins sacifical? This was a close call.

[ponch]

Bob

Thank God everybody is alright!!!

I really am not sure if it would brake away or not. My guess no.

Be sure and have the tires and axles checked as well as the welds.

Ponch

[Hobo]

Bob, the pin itself will not break. Would it have taken you over the edge with it? // So many things come into play with weight, friction, weakest link etc.
Just hope we never find out and glad you are still with us.

[jdwilson3]

Bob and Kate, glad to hear that you are both still with us!!

The pin should not break. If the correct grade bolts were used to mount the hitch to the truck, they should not brake. If the 5er starts to roll, you will probably go with it. It have seen the results of an accident this summer on I-40 east of Nashville TN, the guy lost control of the rig, the 5er rolled and took the truck for the ride.

[sigo'suite]

Say a prayer of thanksgiving that you didn't take a ride down the embankment!!
I don't think they make a hitchpin or hitch yet which has the ability to process data and analytically decide when it should relieve itself of it's responsibility.
If it did happen it would be because some segment of the coupling device failed.
My assumption would be that in this day of "Legal Aggression", we will never see it. Who would want to take the liability for approving a mechanism with such capability, for use by the general public. UhUh, don't see it ever happening

[osiebosie]

Oh, I am glad you are okay and didn't flip. I have wondered that before while driving down the road. I've especially wondered it when we are driving on a very narrow road with a steep embankment. Of course the embankment is on my side. I always felt that if the fiver went, we'd go right along with it. It's a scarey feeling.

I'm glad you didn't flip. No more falling asleep at the wheel. When George is driving (and I'm not asleep) I keep checking him and making sure he is very awake. That's one of my biggest fears.

Sharon

[47hook]

I'll add my "Glad everything worked out OK" to this thread. We just spent a couple of weeks up and down the OR coast and it is a twisty road.

Just a thought, you might want to check your 5er tires for problems like flat spotting and maybe the overall condition of the suspension...sounds like a heck of a ride.

[Motor31]

Your post is a good reminder that you should travel when rested and stop when you get tired. Pushing to get to a destination is risky not only for you but for those on the road near you.

As to your question, no the pin is not sacrificial. It's one of the strongest points in the rig because it has to handle all of the weight and forces from towing. If the trailer goes somewhere, you are going with it. The simple fact is that you have a 15,000 lb to 20,000 lb trailer acting on a 6000 to 7000 lb truck. If the trailer gets away from you it will take you with it. I've seen a couple 5th wheel RV rollovers and several pictures of others and none of them had the rigs seperate. The light duty truck did get twisted off of it's wheels with the trailer.

This can happen in strong winds as well so be careful when you travel if there will be strong winds and crosswinds. Even fully loaded semi's get pushed over.

[Haggis]

On the Oregon coast, my wife and I drove for 5 hours to get to our next destination. Anyway, I fell asleep at the wheel on a curvy road. My wife yelled, I woke up to see the Truck and RV half way in the soft shoulder. I turned back to the center of the road, as I did I could see the 5th wheel 30 degrees off center and going off the bank. I couldn't feel any pull from the RV, but, allot of smoke from the RV wheels sliding across the highway. Also the RV was tilted to the outside of the turn allot. My question is, what would happen if the RV went over the bank? Would it take the truck with it, or would the hitch pin brake? Are these pins sacifical? This was a close call.

The answer to your question Bob; All the roll overs you see in the ditch involving Commercial Trucks with a trailer attached both are always attached laying in the ditch.

Your Guardian Angel must have been watching over both of you the day you fell asleep at the wheel.................................Haggis

[wingnut60]

In reference to the strength of the king pins on a Mobile Suites trailer, let me pass on the results of an experiment I tried, which failed miserably:

Unit #1869, 36TK3, factory extended pin mount (Lippert)

When I got this trailer in February, I was bound and determined to use a gooseneck adapter to pull it. Against the advice of everyone who I talked with, I installed a B&W gooseneck hitch and got an adapter rated at 20,000lbs. I wanted to not have to deal with a bed hitch--leaving the adapter on the trailer was a very appealing idea. I did everything the adapter company said to do, including bolting the adapter to the king pin plate. So, if you can picture this--a very clean looking installation, and I was ready to head out with my very heavy trailer connected to my truck with the goosenect ball and adapter. Hooking up was so easy, why doesn't everyone else do this? I was pulling out of the back yard and I have to make a sharp turn into the street--the breakaway cable got in a bind and pulled the pin, locking the brakes. The ground was soft, and the dragging wheels began pushing up sod. Finally, the trailer quit moving, but I really didn't notice the drag and just kept pulling. Suddenly, a loud KA-POW! I stopped pulling and looked at the adapter/hitch box, which were bent at a terrible angle. Getting out to assess what had happened: when I kept pulling the dead weight, stress on the hitch pin plate was too much, and the KING PIN JUST PULLED OUT OF THE WELD. Would this have held in the highway situation you just described--no way. The forces I put on the king pin could not have been more than what would happen if the trailer tried to turn over--take the truck with it, maybe, but the pin/plate would not have survived in one piece. This was the factory provided extended pin box. I backed up some--this put the adapter/pin in a less of an angle--and lifted the trailer off the bed ball. Lesson learned.

Happily, I had a Mor-Ryde extended pin box that I got in the trailer deal; three hard hours later, I was on the road with the new pin box and the B&W companion hitch. And the adapter survived without a scratch and the company refunded my money.

I don't know about any other king pins and boxes, but there is no way this factory setup would have held together in a rollover.