Busted hitch

(Corrected as much as I can - ball mount broke rather than the hitch - brain cramp & local terminology!)

Long story - I used to winch logs onto my 18 ft trailer to haul home to cut for firewood when we lived in WV. I had been doing some remodeling on a friends house and I had an 8 ft trailer on the ball, sitting at a stop light. I felt a little nudge. I looked in my mirror and it was ugly!
Some guy 2 cars back was hunting a cigarette and didn't notice the stopped traffic. He totaled the 2 week old Subaru that was between him & me and the Subaru totaled my trailer.
Apparently, the ball mount snapped on impact! I'm guessing the heavy loads of logs combined with the embossed hex in the hitch caused metal fatigue. You can see there's no rust in fracture indicating a new break.
TSC offered to replace the ball mount but I've never used another one of these with the hex stamped in it. I was able to save the springs and axel from my 8 ft trailer and build a new trailer on them that I'm still using 12+ years later.
Just a weak point to be aware of if you've been hauling heavy loads - good brand of hitch but I guess I overloaded it over the years.

 

Never seen that. What’s the trailer look like? No damage to the truck?

 

I didn't get pics of the trailer - just a basic 4x8 trailer with a wood bed. No damage to the truck! Between the trailer absorbing the initial shock & the hitch breaking, I guess the nudge I felt was when the safety chains stopped the trailer from going under my truck.

 

I don't trust the welded trailer hitches. I have been using the solid forged steel hitches for years. The only downside is that they are heavy and you can hear them bounce around in the receiver when not towing or light towing.

 

Sorry - ball mount broke. Locals referred to it as the "hitch" and I had a brain cramp. I'll correct it.

 

Should-a never happened like that. The weakest point would be where that ball is attached to that piece that's welded to the square tube. Go figure!
Amazing.

 

I use forged mounts now, too!

 

All I can guess is the straight line where the hex was embossed into the steel was subject to metal fatigue and the shock load killed it. I've never seen another ball mount of any kind brake like this, either!
The point of posting this is just to make guys aware that it has happened before. If you have an old, often overloaded ball mount like this one was it might be worth replacing it or at least smacking with a big hammer to test it.

 

Wow thats impressive.

I only use B&W trailer hitches and ball mounts when I can. I think all that Reese stuff is hecho en china.