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Originally Posted by stayalert
hi jack - labrat - was this accident associated with using the towing vehicle combo (Pintle/ball) while towing a trailer set up for use with a ball or a pintle?
Was it a lunette that was involved in the accident?
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It was a lunette - the trailer was an 8 foot single axle flat bed trailer (weight approx 800 - 1000 lbs) loaded with approx 2000 lbs of building material (plywood, 2x4s, 2x6s, concrete, etc). Combo hitch was an 8 ton unit.
According to my uncle (as I recall) he was going about 45mph - primary road (not interstate) - road takes a gentle left bend - pothole ahead - uncle steered to avoid - truck misses - trailer hits it - the jolt sheared the ball off - trailer tried to go straight while the truck is still turning - trailer hits the safety chains - truck's rear end is jerked hard to the right - trailer nose bounces off the chains to the left - trucks rear end gets jerked hard to the left - trailer pendulums a few more times all while my uncle is trying to keep the truck on the road which is still turning left - he eventually rode it out and stopped it.
To his credit the load was very well secured and didn't shift but an inch or so. However, he did admit later that he had too much slack in the chains and he didn't cross them under the trailer tongue. He also had almost no weight in the back of the truck - he was delivering the supplies and just wanted to drop the trailer and leave rather than unload the back. He got lucky - lesson learned.