Hitch Problems

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larbailey

Member
Joined
May 17, 2010
Posts
23
My wife and I are new to the RV set. We purchased  a new  Outback by Keystone and love it. Our problem is withe the hitch. Our salesman recommended and installed a Husky Centerline hitch. On the drive home from the dealer, both pressure plates broke. The factory rep was very helpful and replaced the hitch but on our next trip one of the replacement  plates broke. Are we doing something wrong? Has anyone else had any experience with this particular hitch good or bad?

 
Did the dealer hook it up the first time it broke?  If that's the case, they did not do anything wrong.

I am not familiar with Husky Hitch, I heard the name, but never seen one in person.

I tow with a Reese Dual Cam which is also weight distribution with sway control and never had a problem with it and several people on this forum will tell you the same.

A lot of people also use the Equal-i-zer Hitch, which has some similarities to the Husky in how they work, except I have always heard good things about the Equal-i-zer.

I can only think of a few things that could go wrong.
- it may not be installed properly, since I am not familiar with them, I cannot confirm that
- it may be that they are rated for a lighter trailer, I don't know the weight of your trailer or the rating of the hitch
- it may be a bad design which is prone to failure, again I have not seen them.

If you cannot find the cause, I would suggest asking the dealer to swap it for a Reese or Equal-i-zer.
 
I'm not sure what part "pressure plate" refers to, but obviously something is being over-stressed. I'm surprised the Husky rep did not propose a different set-up to avoid future problems, but maybe he is more salesman than technician. In any case, I'd contact him again. I don't think you are doing anything wrong, but the hitch clearly is not up to the task it is being used for.

Using the attached brochure as a guide, what part is it that breaks repeatedly?
http://www.huskytow.com/FTP/PDF/P01045_HTCH_CenterLinePDF.pdf
 
I know this is an old thread, I'm giving it life to relate a similar problem.  I had a Centerline hitch installed when I picked up my new trailer.  I towed it home and it seemed oddly difficult to unhook the spring bars, it took a lot of force.  I didn't think too much of it, since a "professional" installed it.  Went on my first trip and the bottom of the lift bracket (the part where the spring bar rests) snapped off.  Husky wanted to just send a replacement part, but since that's a 1/2" thick piece of steel and there was no sign of imperfection in the metal I assumed they screwed up the install.  I had Husky send the new parts to a different dealer and I had the hitch re-installed.  It turned out the first place installed the lift brackets too high, which put too much pressure on the brackets.  Good thing the trailer was sitting still when it broke, it could have been dangerous if I was on the road at the time. 

 

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