My friend forgot to lock the hitch. Doh!

[1985 Century Mustang]

This just happened 2 weeks ago, my friend and I were in a hurry to go out fishing on my boat. I left him in charge of hitching the boat up. I drove 3 city blocks and heard a disturbance, looked through the rear view mirror and saw the boat bouncing around. The boat came off the unlocked ball, broke my rear bed window and destroyed my rear tailgate. Dumb and Dumberer. I learned my lesson. Thank God he put the safety chains on, or the boat and some vehicles would of been damaged, no doubt.

 

[1985 Century Mustang]

$440 some odd bucks Later.
New 1/4 plexiglass window, a new tailgate shell, and painted to match my truck from the body shop. Good thing I had a friend in the body shop, he only charged me $200 for the paint job. The new tailgate was only $111. The plexiglass was $103. We split the cost in half.

 

[1985 Century Mustang]

I'll be the only one hitching up my trailer from now on. Lesson learned indeed.

 

[airshot]

Neighbor did that this past summer on his new Ram truck. Just in a hurry and not paying attention, snapped the coupler lock but it wasn't all the way down on the ball... Came up and destroyed the rear bumper and tailgate before he could stop. 4400.00 later, he learned a good lesson. I always try to check everything twice before I leave...knock on wood....!!

 

[dingbat]

Many moons past, I forgot to latch the hitch on the way out on a 4 am fishing trip.
Fortunately, the hitch came off just as I was pulling out of the driveway. No damage, but a valuable lesson to double check everything before leaving.

 

[stresspoint]

ahhh , the old trailer bouncing off the ball trick.
i did it when i was working on my trailer , since i had no intentions of driving anywhere i just dropped it on the ball to gain height had to turn the trailer around in the driveway to work on the other side , just lucky for some reason i hooked 1 chain on or it could have been a mess , no damage done , just a chunk of the road where the drawbar dug in.
stuff happens , glad to see I'm not the only absent minded person here

 

[airshot]

While I have not had a ball come off, I did one real dumb thing a few years back, all hitched up and ready to pull out the drive...got in the car and my favorite tune was on the radio, of course I had to crank it up a bit and down the road we went. Noticed a little drag but just kept going listening to the tunes. At a traffic light the next car was pointing to my boat, so I got out to check...yep the tongue jack was still down !! Wheel completely ground down and now the shaft was bent!! Very embarrased as all the traffic went by watching some idiot trying to get his damaged jack cranked back up because he was stupid for not checking it before leaving!!

 

[KJM]

Once put boat out from ramp, tied on to side of ramp with bow rope and proceeded to drive truck and trailer up to park. Didn't notice the rope had hooked in wheel well of trailer. Hauled boat up onto ramp and almost sent two passengers over the back. Always check that now! Often the best lessons we learn are the ones you learn the hard way.....

 

[stresspoint]

missus reversing boat into lake shallow beach launch , I'm directing , keep coming , keep coming , next thing i see the car floating but slowly sinking .
3 weeks later after removing the car interior it was dry enough to put the carpets back in.

sometimes it helps when launching to remove the rear tie straps ...

 

[airshot]

My, my, how all these little errors seem so familiar !!

 

[jeepinandy58]

Years ago, was in a hurry, didn't lock down the trailer hitch. Hit the gas to get through a light, had to hit the brakes because another car failed to yield the right of way. Next think I know, the trailer is passing me. All things considered, I came out okay. About $2k in damages, no one hurt. Havent been in that big of a hurry since then.

 

[Grub54891]

Had mine come off the ball. I bought the rig used. Reguardless, left the driveway and a block down the street it came off. What happened was the last owner somehow bent the flip lever, straightened it out and you could not tell that the piece that grabs the lower clamp was cracked almost off till it broke off completely. Luckily I was close to home and took one off my other trailer to get it fixed and g boating. Glad the safety chain held and I was going slow.

 

[1985 Century Mustang]

Had mine come off the ball. I bought the rig used. Reguardless, left the driveway and a block down the street it came off. What happened was the last owner somehow bent the flip lever, straightened it out and you could not tell that the piece that grabs the lower clamp was cracked almost off till it broke off completely. Luckily I was close to home and took one off my other trailer to get it fixed and g boating. Glad the safety chain held and I was going slow.

Glad it wasn't a Shyte show.

 

[airshot]

Neighbor was rousing his NEW truck to tow his boat, forgot to snap the coupler, safety chains worked, but 4400 dollars to repair his tailgate...ouch!

 

[1985 Century Mustang]

Neighbor was rousing his NEW truck to tow his boat, forgot to snap the coupler, safety chains worked, but 4400 dollars to repair his tailgate...ouch!

My tailgate was $120 brand new on eBay, it was $200 to paint it and the rear topper plexiglass window was $90. I escaped some expensive damages rather easily. My friend who forgot to close the latch and pin it gave me half. I have a new tailgate now.

 

[airshot]

My tailgate was $120 brand new on eBay, it was $200 to paint it and the rear topper plexiglass window was $90. I escaped some expensive damages rather easily. My friend who forgot to close the latch and pin it gave me half. I have a new tailgate now.

Your lucky, my neighbor's truck was brand new and those bumper sensors are not cheap !! I always make a habit of jacking the trailer jack up after snapping the coupler to be sure it was attached then snap the padlock closed to keep it in that position. I never let others snap my coupler just for my piece of mind.

 

[1985 Century Mustang]

Your lucky, my neighbor's truck was brand new and those bumper sensors are not cheap !! I always make a habit of jacking the trailer jack up after snapping the coupler to be sure it was attached then snap the padlock closed to keep it in that position. I never let others snap my coupler just for my piece of mind.

Yeah thats the last time I'll trust anyone to lock my boat hitch. I learned a valuable lesson.

 

[airshot]

Yeah thats the last time I'll trust anyone to lock my boat hitch. I learned a valuable lesson.

Actually you got away pretty cheap, but still a valuable lesson ! There are certain things you "must" do on your own for piece of mind !!