terrifying first experience! first time boat owner!

just bought my first boat 1992 tracker nitro 180/150 envinrude out board. not a good start to my boating experience - bought it from a local boat dealership - sales man was very young and cocky- i have never owned or towed a boat before- he hooked it up to the my truck on a ball - i asked if it was on right and he replied yes and your safety chains are on - 2 miles down the freeway at 60 mph the trailer disengaged from the ball smoke from the tires and loud screeches trailer swinging wildly! thank god i was in the far right lane and was able to pull to shoulder and stop-i stepped out of my truck terrified and saw the safety chains were the only thing still hooked up and the bumper of my 5 month old new truck is heavily damaged - i tried to reengage trailer onto ball ( never done this before) and my finger got caught and cut almost to the bone 7 stitches! mind you cars are racing past at 70 mph and i am in shock! luckily some guy saw it happen and stopped and helped me hook it up properly! everyone says id should sue but i just want my bumper fixed and my 50 dollar copay for treatment paid! salesman had hooked it up improperly! some one could have been seriously hurt or killed! also it was rush hour! what do you experienced boat owners think? ive wanted a boat all my life but now am afraid to tow it any where- how can i be sure its hooked up right? 04/20/2010

Re: terrifying first experience! first time boat owner!

My personal thought is that you could go back to the manager of the dealership, tell him what happened in detail, and hope they will cough up some money for damages but it probably isn't worth suing.

As for towing, I have been towing various things my whole life (many decades) and only had a hitch come apart once - it happens! - that's what the safety chains are for. Take care in hitching up, make sure your coupler is adjusted properly and chains aren't any longer then they need to be. When done, climb on the back of the trailer to make sure you can't pop the coupler off the ball.

Take your time, do things right, double check, and you will likely never have a problem again.

Re: terrifying first experience! first time boat owner!

I'd definately call the manager/ owner of the dealership. Explain what happened and what remedy you seek.
As far as being able to check the hitch is on the ball correctly;

A. Verify the coupler and ball are the same size...ie 1 and 7/8" , 2" ,
or 2 and 5/16"

B. When you lower the coupler onto the ball, verify the yoke comes down behind the ball. CAUTION NEVER STICK YOUR FINGERS BETWEEN THE COUPLER AND BALL!!!!! You can lean down and visually see the yoke.

C. After the coupler is down on the ball and the tongue weight is on the tow vehicle set the latch to the " LOCK " position and insert the safety. ( the pin or lock that goes through that 1/4" hole on the latch.)

D. Now you can look underneath the coupler and again visually verify the yoke is behind the ball, but pulled up resonably tight to the ball. There is a nut or in some cases two below the yoke that adjust the tension of the yoke to the ball. To tight and the latch won't latch, to loose and the coupler bounces around on the ball, or worse comes off the ball.

E. Hook up the safety chains ( we've already learned how important they are, right ) and the lights. Verify the lights are working


Take your time, Don't get into a rush, check and double check. I understand being a newbie, but remember the habits you start now will stick with you.
You got off to a rough start, DON'T let it ruin this pasttime for you.

Let us know what the dealership does for you.

Re: terrifying first experience! first time boat owner!

You won't have a chance on earth in court. Unfortunately the dealer is only liable until the instant the back tires of your trailer hit the public road. Inside the lot the dealer's insurance is liable, from the minute your tires hit a public road you are 100% responsible for the truck, trailer, and boat.

The ONLY exception would be if the dealer himself was driving your truck. I ALWAYS hookup myself, I never trust anyone else to do it. Even at a Uhaul place when renting a trailer I double check everything after they are done.

That is a terrible first experience. HappierWet summed it up. One thing he didn't mention is that you should also re-check after driving a few miles or at every stop for gas / supplies / etc. I always re-check the chains, the ball, the trailer tires, and the wiring at every stop. After awhile it becomes habit, a quick pull here, a tug there, a glance at the tires, done.

When hooking up, I also usually pull forward about 10 feet then check once more before getting on the road to make sure everything settled right.

The first time I ever towed a trailer I had an experience similar to yours. The trailer was a big car carrier trailer and everything was fine until I went over a steep set of railroad tracks. The decline on the other side was so steep the trailer fell off the ball and I had to drag it over the tracks the rest of the way by the safety chains, since I wasn't about to try to fix the problem while sitting in the middle of the tracks. Turns out the tongue had been sitting on top of the ball the whole time because I didn't know you have to press the lever to lock it into place. Fortunately I didn't have a car on it at the time.

Re: terrifying first experience! first time boat owner!

Young punk boat salesman just wanted to get your money and get you on the road, lucky it didn't kill somebody! Most boat related items, I just do it myself and double/triple check to be sure it's right. An aircraft-type check list for your the boat/motor/trailer probably would be a good idea. Don't let first bad experience ruin your boating career, besides most folks will have a few "learning experiences" stories to tell. Good Luck!

Re: terrifying first experience! first time boat owner!

HappierWet said:

C. After the coupler is down on the ball and the tongue weight is on the tow vehicle set the latch to the " LOCK " position and insert the safety. ( the pin or lock that goes through that 1/4" hole on the latch.)

Click to expand...

I'll give this one a big second! I had a very similar experience to you, on my second or third time towing the boat. I drove over an extremely bumpy dirt road that rattled the latch loose and came right off. I had gotten back onto a concrete road by then and was doing about 45 when I see the boat swinging wildly in my rearview mirror. Fortunately the chains held and I got way with only a few dings in my bumper from the tongue.

Before that I thought the latch hole was only for locking it so it couldn't be stolen from your driveway. So always put a lock or latchpin on your latch when towing!

Re: terrifying first experience! first time boat owner!

Is a car dealer that sells me a car responsible if I don't know how to drive a car? I think not.

Never let anyone else rig your tow set up. At least not without double checking it yourself. I'm sure the coupler was sitting on top of the ball. I have made the same mistake myself. If you'd just pulled up on the trailer tongue you would have seen it was not attached.

Re: terrifying first experience! first time boat owner!

It would be interesting to know if a 2" hitch was placed on a 1 7/8ths ball.

Re: terrifying first experience! first time boat owner!

two things.

Talk to the manager or dealer, not to the salesman. Make sure you calmly explain what happened, you had never towed before and the salesman set it up WITHOUT explaining anything to you. And then, tell them all you want is to be made whole (cover med deductible and make sure the hitch is safe to use). Before I went in, I would make sure the ball is the correct size for the hitch. If not, the salesman should have said something or not let you leave the lot.

Second, in addition to what has been said prior to how to hook up and what to check, I give several good pulls up on the tongue after I lock the boat up. Once you are familar with how the lock hitch should be, you have the opportunity to see if it's loose. More than once, I've given the tongue of a trailer a good pull and found it wasn't tight or locked. Best to fix it then, before it makes the move to the chains. After having a boat pop off the hitch, I found this gives me some piece of mind.

Re: terrifying first experience! first time boat owner!

Yup, thats a terrible first experience!

I check and recheck my trailer every time. I'm surprised no one has mentioned (or I missed) it, but before I take off I always stick my head underneath and do a visual check that the ball is seated and locked in place.

That experience will stick with you forever for sure...but that's not a bad thing, here on in I'll bet you will be one of the safest boat towers out there.

Hope that bumper works out for you.

Re: terrifying first experience! first time boat owner!

If I am at a car dearship and have a mechanic work on my car, then I leave their lot and get into an accident because their mechanic failed to perform....I would think there is some liability. I mean where's the line?

A. I have brakes done, or tires replaced, then one falls off when I leave the lot?

B. I let U-haul install a trailer hitch and it falls off going down the road?

C. A representative of a dealership fails to properly inspect or perform due diligence and something bad happens?

Who's liable?

I used to laugh about " Brake Light " warranties, but I would never throw someone under the bus like that.

Re: terrifying first experience! first time boat owner!

Did you take a Boating Saftey Course? Trailering and Towing would have been covered in Chapter 4, along with a host of other potential dangers that you will eventually encounter. Do yourself and others you will encounter on the water a favor, slow down and get educated first.

Re: terrifying first experience! first time boat owner!

The first thing you should do is make sure you have the right sized ball on your hitch. The size should be marked on the top of the ball itself and on the coupler on your trailer. They must match.

I imagine the guy at the dealer ship dropped the coupler on the ball and set the latch. But, if your ball was smaller than the coupler, it's a disaster waiting to happen. He should have checked it, of course, and so should you have checked it.

Anyhow, that's my guess as to why this accident happened.

Re: terrifying first experience! first time boat owner!

HappierWet said:

If I am at a car dearship and have a mechanic work on my car, then I leave their lot and get into an accident because their mechanic failed to perform....I would think there is some liability. I mean where's the line?

A. I have brakes done, or tires replaced, then one falls off when I leave the lot?

B. I let U-haul install a trailer hitch and it falls off going down the road?

C. A representative of a dealership fails to properly inspect or perform due diligence and something bad happens?

Who's liable?

I used to laugh about " Brake Light " warranties, but I would never throw someone under the bus like that.

Click to expand...

I know this absolutely never happens on this forum.......but taking your post into consideration.....I think I'm going to change my reply. Since the dealership DID connect the trailer, I think they would shoulder at least some of blame here. Good point.

Re: terrifying first experience! first time boat owner!

When I bought my first SeaDoo, on the day I arrived at the dealer to pick it up the salesman was busy with another customer. I saw my new boat in the lot, so I told the Salesman I would hitch it up and be ready to do the paperwork when he was done. He emphatically said NO, so I waited.

When the time came he brought out a huge checklist....must have had 50 points on it. He hitched the trailer, showed how to put the tie downs on, explained backing up, etc, etc. The last page of the list covered a sea trial. He was very convincing that we should have one of his techs go out with us for the first launch and ride. I graciously declined. At the end, I signed his paperwork verifying that all has been discussed.

When we first started the procedure I explained to him that I was a 30 year boating veteran, but he insisted on going thru it anyway. Bottom line is that because of their service we ended up buying 3 more brand new boats from him in subsequent years.

My very first boat, 30 years before that, came with a well written owners manual. I had to read that one myself.

The moral of the story is that the best dealers take care of their customers, and if you buy from a less than best dealer, its up to you to learn.

Re: terrifying first experience! first time boat owner!

I was reading over on a jet ski forum the other day about a guy who bought a brand new sea doo with the new I-Catch system. The dealer didnt put straps on the back of the jet ski and the I-Catch came un hooked on the high way sending the jet ski skidding across the highway. The dealer gave him a new jet ski to replace the one he bought no problem.

You better bet its the dealers fault for hooking it up incorrectly. Given you had the right sized ball.

Re: terrifying first experience! first time boat owner!

I'm sorry to hear about your plight, but I have to smile a little thinking about how howling mad you must have been when you cut your finger, on top of everything else! Man, I would have probably broken my foot from kicking the boat trailer while cursing!

Re: terrifying first experience! first time boat owner!

marcortez said:

It would be interesting to know if a 2" hitch was placed on a 1 7/8ths ball.

Click to expand...

Sounds like it to me.. we did that last year. I didn't know our boys had changed the ball on my truck to a 1 7/8 to pull a dirt bike trailer, so we drove 3 hours south and bought a 24 foot pontoon boat on a scissors trailer with a 2 inch coupler on it. Amazingly enough, it SEEMED like it connected quite securely. I drove 2 miles or so and stopped to check the rig again... never towed a scissors before, and already I wasn't liking it. We hit the freeway and got 20-30 miles before the whole rig jumped loose and yanked out the rusted safety chains.

When we went over a bumpy overpass at about 45 or 50mph, I saw the trailer hitch jump into the air, so I waited for it to come back down to the ground and then eased on the brakes to make contact. Then, using the weight of the pontoon and trailer going downhill as friction against my bumper, I eased it onto the shoulder of the side of the freeway. We figured out what had happened, lashed the hitch onto the ball with extra tie-downs, and tip-toed a mile or two to the next exit where there happened to be a Wal-mart. Talk about dumb luck... with the emphasis on dumb.
I was absolutely amazed that nobody had gotten hurt.

That whole thing scared the living bejeesus out of us, and the rest of the trip home I was a nervous wreck. Oh, after replacing the ball with a 2 inch, I threw the smaller one away.

Re: terrifying first experience! first time boat owner!

ftl900 said:

I saw the trailer hitch jump into the air, so I waited for it to come back down to the ground and then eased on the brakes to make contact. Then, using the weight of the pontoon and trailer going downhill as friction against my bumper, I eased it onto the shoulder of the side of the freeway.

Click to expand...

I think you're my hero

Re: terrifying first experience! first time boat owner!

Here's a question to the OP; you state that "salesman had hooked it up improperly!" Not doubting that, it seems very likely. But what is the evidence?

As has been mentioned, if the trailer has a 2" coupler and the salesman attached that to a 1-7/8" ball, you likely have a case against the dealership. To me, it'd be kinda like if a car dealer put the wrong bolt pattern wheels on the car, or didn't tighten the lug nuts, and one fell off as you were driving home from the lot.

Otherwise, just have to learn from it. I think it is very important you determine the exact cause so that it doesn't repeat. Was there a bolt or padlock locking down the tongue latch? Could it be that you just hit a bump and the latch popped open?

As another poster said, no doubt you will become a very safe tower as a result of this experience.