Travel trailer hitch

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how old is your trailer? Do you know the manufacturers weight ratings? Can you supply a picture of what you are talking about?
 
Be sure you know what your trailer frame is made from and be careful in how you attach anything to it. Is this a new trailer and is it bent now? I can't recall ever having seen a travel trailer with a bent tongue that was not in a wreck.
 
Good point , have owned 5 different TT never had issues with them,I watched a video of a TT owner that hit a big bump in Alaska and bent his hitch.Just got me thinking about my hitch
 
Good point , have owned 5 different TT never had issues with them,I watched a video of a TT owner that hit a big bump in Alaska and bent his hitch.Just got me thinking about my hitch
So let’s be clear, you’re not talking about the receiver on your tow vehicle?

I didn’t see the video but if it did indeed bend the trailer ball coupler, chances are he was way overloaded at the front of the trailer.
 
If the tongue bent from hitting a bump, it likely absorbed the force of the impact so it didn't bend or break the main frame of the trailer. Stiffening the tongue without considering the rest of the frame is like putting a penny in a fusebox to keep a fuse from blowing.
 
I have never seen anyone do this. Why is a good question...
Steel can bend quite a bit before breaking, is yours bent?
As mentioned, if you make one area stiffer it will then just transfer the forces to another area - the part right behind where your reinforcement ends, and then you will have the same concerns at that point which you tried to remedy further forward.
Welding will also weaken the steel at the weld bead, so keep that in mind.

Looks are deceiving. Look at the Uhaul trailers that are built with really small tubing, looks like it would break on the first trip, but in reality that steel is very thick, thicker than an RV trailer tube, so thus it is strong.
 
In the video the guy "CLAIMS" he was just driving along and they hit a pot hole there have been a couple lately, this is not the one i was thinking of but you get the general idea

 
Those are Lippert frames. if this is the video I am thinking of, he had it happen going to Alaska and was in a construction zone when he hit a hole, moving slow. The welder who repaired it said that it was not uncommon to see Lippert frames do this. The metal is only 1/8 inch thick. My Bigfoot has a BAL frame on it made from 2x5 tubing with 1/4 wall thickness front to rear.

Lippert products are marginal at best.

Charles
 
In the video the guy "CLAIMS" he was just driving along and they hit a pot hole there have been a couple lately, this is not the one i was thinking of but you get the general idea

Wow, so my gut feeling has been correct all along that these trailers are almost all are underbuilt. I have changed the axle and wheels on both trailers to something beefier. I also avoid using WDH as they can put tremendous amount of stress on the frames. At least some are using I beams (like the one shown in this video) instead of the 2x4 1/8" thick as the A-frame.

Pretty disappointing that none of the companies stand behind their product.....
 
Wow, so my gut feeling has been correct all along that these trailers are almost all are underbuilt. I have changed the axle and wheels on both trailers to something beefier. I also avoid using WDH as they can put tremendous amount of stress on the frames. At least some are using I beams (like the one shown in this video) instead of the 2x4 1/8" thick as the A-frame.

Pretty disappointing that none of the companies stand behind their product.....
I live in Alberta not Florida ( but wish i lived in Florida not Alberta) our roads are rough really rough maybe not as bad as Alaska but close, we get frost heaves where the road will get a bump 3ft high where water under the ashfault will freeze and expand contract etc. Last year going to Ontario around Northern Ontario in May i swear i got my 18000lb 5er airbourne on more than one occasion. It another reason i have a toyhauler - because its built on an I beam frame rather than a drop frame like a lot of luxury 5ers. Besides the toy part because we can double tow toys on a trailer behind a 5er here in Alberta
 
Aren't all hitches weight distribution,of some degree ??
No. These are what wdh are


Many people use them as they think it helps with squad (which does) but it also puts a lot of stress on other components. I am willing to bet that frame wouldn't bend if there was no wdh on it. Also i have seen hitch (on the tow vehicle) fail on a bump when there was a wdh.
 

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