Hummer Uh Oh....

[Jerry Winchester]

Headed up I-35 out of OKC today when I casually look at the back up monitor and see the Hummer in echelon formation with the coach. I slow down oh so gradually and ease off on the shoulder.

Upon inspection, the pin that holds the tow bar adapter to the Hummer had come out and the safety cable was holding that side of the truck in line (sort of).

It looks like the safety clip that secures the pin came off and allowed the pin to work out. Then the adapter slid out of the square tubing attachment.

Luckily, the tow bar is set up to swivel when the adapter came loose. And equally lucky was the fact that I had an extra receiver hitch pin and it was a direct replacement for the one that came loose.

I can't imagine how the retainer pin came loose, but I can tell you I will pay more attention to these in the future.

[garyde]

Hi Jerry. Phew! I can imagine the look on your face when seeing two tons of steel being dragged behind you sideways.

[jello_jeep]

Wow Jdub, good eyes, and good fortune on your part. That is scary!

[Petervs]

Don't worry! Be happy!

That is why you have insurance!

Your agent should be the one saying "whew", not you.

[MangoMike]

Nice save.

At least the emergency brake was off.

mm

[Jon Wehrenberg]

That was way harsh.

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Headed up I-35 out of OKC today when I casually look at the back up monitor and see the Hummer in echelon formation with the coach. I slow down oh so gradually and ease off on the shoulder.

Upon inspection, the pin that holds the tow bar adapter to the Hummer had come out and the safety cable was holding that side of the truck in line (sort of).

It looks like the safety clip that secures the pin came off and allowed the pin to work out. Then the adapter slid out of the square tubing attachment.

Luckily, the tow bar is set up to swivel when the adapter came loose. And equally lucky was the fact that I had an extra receiver hitch pin and it was a direct replacement for the one that came loose.

I can't imagine how the retainer pin came loose, but I can tell you I will pay more attention to these in the future.

Jerry, glad your safe! Good save.
I don't know exactly the kind of pin of which you are referring, or where it is located, but here is a source for a pin I used to use in boat racing. It is known as a " PIP Pin ". If it is installed in the properly shaped hole , it will not come out! ( remembering to install it is critical here )
Things to take into account when choosing the pin for a particular application are, its cross sectional area, its tensile strength, and the alloy of the pin and its components.
Unless you take all of these aspects into account in choosing a pin, you should only use the pin as a safety pin to retain the pin originally designed to take the load.

If you are already using a pip pin and it came out then one of three things:

It wasn't installed properly.
The pin is defective.
The hole into which it goes is not properly shaped.

I am only using your name to introduce the pin to anyone that might not know about it, and not to single you out in any way.

http://www.jergensinc.com/pins.aspx?...=search_engine

Jerry, it is important to examine all of the tow components to be sure that nothing was stressed past its fatigue point and or bent in your incident.

[dale farley]

Jerry, I've often wondered if the saftey chain would really serve its purpose if something came loose. I guess this verifies that it does. I'm glad you caught it in time.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

There is another type of failure that may not result in a runaway toad, but may require the toad to be driven rather than towed.

We had a tow bar lock failure some time back with our other coach and our first toad. I don't know how all tow bars are constructed, but on our Roadmaster the pin that locks the arms extended failed due to a broken spring which was used to hold it in the engaged position. The arm, being free to extend and collapse, was cycling between the extreme open and collapsed positions and despite the toad weighing about 3200 pounds we could feel it banging in and out and see it happening in the TV. We disconnected and Di drove behind me. It was hitting the extremes hard enough my concern was the pivot pins would eventually fail.

From time to time it is not a bad idea to check your two bar to make sure the arms are positively locking and that the engagement pins are not sticking, a sign that there may become issues with locking.

[truk4u]

Atta Boy....