Re: Ball mount - cushioned stainless
I had bought one of those a number of years ago, it was on clearance at one of the many box stores that have come and gone. It was cheap, looked like a good idea so I bought it. Being that I set it up for a fairly large trailer, which didn't get used every day, it was a good 10 or 12 months before I came to use it. Just so happens it was on a rather long ride, PA to TN. I took the smaller truck, which at the time was an older Dodge half ton, and my 27' tandem axle flat bed. I was headed out to pick up a small tractor. The trailer was light, well within the trucks ability to tow but being a somewhat clunky trailer when empty, I figured that the cushioned hitch would help a bit.
I got underway about mid morning, stopped a few times to check everything over and all was well, so I figured I'd be good for a while without constant stops. I had stopped about three times along my way from PA to about the point where is got into WV along the upper border of MD and PA. It didn't recheck it again till I hit Louisville. There I noticed that the hitch pin looked funny, it was dark so I took a closer look, and found that the angled part of the pin had cracked and had straightened, and was partway through the pin hole. I always carry spares, and was planning on using my locking pin when I stopped for the night anyway. I tapped out the broken pin, tossed it in the truck and put on the locking pin, filled the tanks and off I went.
I got into TN pretty early in the morning, about 8 hours before I had to meet the guy to pickup the tractor. I got some sleep through the morning, got myself some food and went and got the tractor. I did the same routine, several start of the trip checks, this time also checking the tie downs as well as the trailer and the hitch. About 150 miles into the ride home I started to notice that the trailer was creaking or banging around a bit, I stopped at the next truck stop to give it a once over but found or at least noticed nothing. I continued on, and avoid some of the hills in WV, decided to run I-81 for the last part of the drive. I made one stop in VA along the way, at this point the banging and creaking had gotten worse. I even unstrapped the tractor and moved it forward to increase the tongue weight a bit. This helped but after another 100 miles it was back. I stopped in MD for fuel, and while creeping up to the pump something just didn't feel right. While filling up, I got out did a quick once over and found that the cushioned hitch looked like it had been moving, there was rust bleeding from the pin area, plus the hitch looked farther inward that it was before. Figuring I'd better check it out, even though I was almost home, I pulled over to the side of the lot, jacked the tongue free of the trailer and pulled the receiver, which took some doing. What I found was that the locking pin was nearly sheared, it had been banging back and forth on the far ends of the slotted coupler, the rubber inside rolled out like a bunch of ball bearings. and the coupler was cracked along one corner from the slot to the back edge of the tube itself. No doubt I had found the cause of all the noise. I had the old coupler in the truck and swapped it out, and had several pins to use so it was a quick fix, but as far as the cushioned coupler, I'd have to say it was pretty much a gimmick. It might be fine for the occasional user, or for running your boat down a rough dirt road to the launch but not for cross country travel.
I wasn't hauling big weight, maybe 2500 lbs tops, (about 1200 lbs for the trailer and maybe 1000 lbs of weight on it). Not enough for the truck to really work hard pulling it. This was about 10 years ago, I'm not sure who made that particular coupler, it was most likely one of the more common brands as I wouldn't have bought it if I saw China or something on it, especially back then. I figured it had lasted about 1200 miles in all, maybe even less. I don't think it would have let go of the trailer before I got home but I wasn't taking that chance and it probably would have screwed up my hitch. The hitch was greased slightly but not loaded with grease. The rubber had not come in contact with any grease, I did drive a few hours in some rain partway home but that shouldn't be a concern. The only thing in my mind was that I have no idea how old the coupler was when I bought it at the store, it could very well have been old stock but I still don't see where a year or two of age on a part like this would be the cause. The trailer was well withing the rated limits marked on the hitch as well. The trailer took only a 2" ball, and I've towed that trailer with that truck all over the east coast over the years. The truck is long gone but I still have the trailer and still use the coupler I installed that night when the rubber one failed.
