|
|
Veteran
Posts: 167
 
Location: Monroe, WA | check out ebay item 200096960874 Wait for all the pictures to load, read the limited description of the damage - THEN scroll down and look at the interior shots of the horse compartment. Check out that caved in bulkhead between horses and the LQ! This is why we all do that last walk around to check it all, right? Man, talk about a nightmare. Poor darn horses, from the scrabble marks they must have been really spooked. Kate |
|
| |
|
 Expert
Posts: 1283
Location: Home of Wild Turkey Whiskey | I called the guy with the trailer, phone # is listed in the add. Trailer DID NOT come off the ball, the truck crashed, bent the coupler then trailer made contact with the truck. The guy who owns it now paid to have the coupler repaired, he said $1,000. After reading your post, I got inquisitive because I have never seen a gooseneck, much like a LQ gooseneck come off of the ball. I have moved trailers around the house here by lowering them down on a spare tire. The pin weight on a LQ trailer will be sufficient enough that coming off the ball would be very unlikely if not impossible. |
|
| |
|
Expert
Posts: 2689
 
| Originally written by HWBar on 2007-04-09 12:44 PM
I called the guy with the trailer, phone # is listed in the add. Trailer DID NOT come off the ball, the truck crashed, bent the coupler then trailer made contact with the truck. The guy who owns it now paid to have the coupler repaired, he said $1,000. After reading your post, I got inquisitive because I have never seen a gooseneck, much like a LQ gooseneck come off of the ball. I have moved trailers around the house here by lowering them down on a spare tire. The pin weight on a LQ trailer will be sufficient enough that coming off the ball would be very unlikely if not impossible.
I don't think it is pin weight (load) per se, it is the fact that it is one end of a bridge.
I once saw a trailer that had it's neck folded in, it was in the back lot at a stable in Mass. The truck had obviously stopped a lot quicker than the trailer could, probably due to hitting something hard. By the time I saw it the axles had been picked off, the dividers were gone and I think maybe a ramp and a couple of doors. Tragic, it was gone by the next show I went to there.
|
|
| |
|
Expert
Posts: 1283
Location: Home of Wild Turkey Whiskey | Originally written by Reg on 2007-04-09 1:10 PM Originally written by HWBar on 2007-04-09 12:44 PM I called the guy with the trailer, phone # is listed in the add. Trailer DID NOT come off the ball, the truck crashed, bent the coupler then trailer made contact with the truck. The guy who owns it now paid to have the coupler repaired, he said $1,000. After reading your post, I got inquisitive because I have never seen a gooseneck, much like a LQ gooseneck come off of the ball. I have moved trailers around the house here by lowering them down on a spare tire. The pin weight on a LQ trailer will be sufficient enough that coming off the ball would be very unlikely if not impossible. I don't think it is pin weight (load ) per se, it is the fact that it is one end of a bridge. I once saw a trailer that had it's neck folded in, it was in the back lot at a stable in Mass. The truck had obviously stopped a lot quicker than the trailer could, probably due to hitting something hard. By the time I saw it the axles had been picked off, the dividers were gone and I think maybe a ramp and a couple of doors. Tragic, it was gone by the next show I went to there. The bridge description was very good Reg, This guy said that neck/coupler had folded under on this trailer and he had it fixed(??) |
|
| |
|
Expert
Posts: 2689
| Originally written by HWBar on 2007-04-09 1:28 PM
Originally written by Reg on 2007-04-09 1:10 PM Originally written by HWBar on 2007-04-09 12:44 PM I called the guy with the trailer, phone # is listed in the add. Trailer DID NOT come off the ball, the truck crashed, bent the coupler then trailer made contact with the truck. The guy who owns it now paid to have the coupler repaired, he said $1,000. After reading your post, I got inquisitive because I have never seen a gooseneck, much like a LQ gooseneck come off of the ball. I have moved trailers around the house here by lowering them down on a spare tire. The pin weight on a LQ trailer will be sufficient enough that coming off the ball would be very unlikely if not impossible. I don't think it is pin weight (load ) per se, it is the fact that it is one end of a bridge. I once saw a trailer that had it's neck folded in, it was in the back lot at a stable in Mass. The truck had obviously stopped a lot quicker than the trailer could, probably due to hitting something hard. By the time I saw it the axles had been picked off, the dividers were gone and I think maybe a ramp and a couple of doors. Tragic, it was gone by the next show I went to there. The bridge description was very good Reg, This guy said that neck/coupler had folded under on this trailer and he had it fixed(??)
The one that I saw had it's whole 8 or 9ft over_the_truck_bed area bent downwards.
The gusset plates at the sides, that I normally think of as being in tension, were crinkled up.
Different accidents, different trailers I guess.
There could be a case for a slightly weaker coupler & sub-frame under the goose area - on the grounds that; "If somethings gotta give, let it give."
Volvo or Mercedes used to boast of the "crumple zone", I guess thats standard in cars now.
OK, I didn't mention any TRAILER brand or model names (-:
Edited by Reg 2007-04-09 1:51 PM
|
|
| |
|
Veteran
Posts: 167
Location: Monroe, WA | Yeah, the crumple zone on this one is sure all along the lower edge of the front. Scraped backward nearly a foot and everything bent back with it - sure seems like it would have had to ride up and over the truck to do that, OR come loose (you did say the coupler was broken and replaced?) and skid. The landing gear was obviously replaced, as well! The pictures are fascinating. I looked through again and there are no pics at all of the interior showing what happened to the LQ in the crumple zone. Three horses thrown forward with enough force to bend everything that badly, it had to be a pretty good hit! Looks like a bit more of a project to repair than I'd like to tackle....Kate |
|
| |
|
Expert
Posts: 2614
| I'm sure glad to see a thread on this subject.Have always wanted to address it with somebody,but was unsure of the responses. Isn't this the type of accident that Steve Heckaman's wife died in a few years ago? I don't remember reading the details in any article that I saw about it,but remember hearing from a couple of people that the coupler came off of the ball and hit the back of the truck and she was in the back of the crew cab.I believe their rig was hit head on by a supply truck if I am not mistaken.I think I still have the issue of the equine magazine maybe Horse & Rider,that it was in. That tragic accident is what I always think about when we pull a GN trailer/LQ.I'm scared to death of that GN looming behind us and coming off of the ball in a wreck and right in on top of us.What are the odds of that happening? That goofy paranoia aside,we were sold a LQ trailer,brand new,by a dealer and had a lot of difficulty unhooking it.The next time we hitched up,we could not get the coupler latch to lock,and a local trailer repairman looked at it and told us and showed us after some examination that the coupler latch had been bent at some point,probably pulling it around on the lot with a tractor and boom.Dealer in MO.(NOT Jim's Motors of Cuba,though.They are great.) Can a hard enough blow cause the coupler to come off of the ball?Guess it could,since this is twice that I've heard of it. |
|
| |
|
Expert
Posts: 1283
Location: Home of Wild Turkey Whiskey | Hard enough crash can cause the trailer to come off the ball, or shear the ball/coupler, no doubt about that. Trailer comes off the ball, even if it's unlocked, on normal roads/driving conditions? Very Unlikely if not impossible.
Edited by HWBar 2007-04-09 3:36 PM
|
|
| |
|
Elite Veteran
Posts: 602
Location: md | That happened at the league about 10 yrs ago. Going up a slight incline around a bend the gn came off the ball may not have been on there right?] It did a number on the sidewall of the truck. It was not even the guys truck, his fil or some such. Only a day or 2 old. |
|
| |
|
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 534
Location: Zionsville, Indiana | Several years ago we had a customer pull in on the way to a horse show. He wanted us to look at the plug on his lead cable because he was having trouble getting it in the socket. When the technician dropped the tailgate, he noticed that the closed and latched gooseneck coupler was sitting on top of the ball, not around it. This was a living quarters trailer, three horse I think. The driver almost had a heart attack. He had driven about 30 miles to get to us, then was headed to St. Louis, another 200 miles. Thank goodness he had trouble with the plug, or this wouldn't have been noticed until the coupler stem went through the bed. Obviously his brakes were working just right, and the road co-operated. We have a downhill entrance to our parking lot, and he managed that too. I told him to go buy a lottery ticket while his luck was still holding. Incidentally, his teen aged daughter hooked up the trailer. |
|
| |
|
Expert
Posts: 2689
| The opening and closing of mine is semi automatic, but there are several opportunities to screw things up.
1) Failing to lock it - maybe a super sized hump in the road could unhook it, or a high railroad crossing.
Now THAT would be something, get stranded on a railroad bed with a foot of air between the ball and coupler )-:
2) Failing to unlock it when unhooking - would probably raise the back wheels of the truck off the ground with the landing gear.
3) Having it locked before lowering it onto the ball. Yeah, I can see how THAT would jump off in the first 100 miles, IF you got that far. I don't know how I'd miss seeing that one, it would have to be a couple or three inches higher than usual and on my truck the ball is down the trap door hole. Yeah, I'd notice that (I HOPE).
|
|
| |
|
Location: Texas | Ya'll do hook up your safety chains, don't you? |
|
| |
|
Member
Posts: 30
| Originally written by Tx. Vaquero on 2007-04-09 5:16 PM
Ya'll do hook up your safety chains, don't you? Glad to see this question. I've always had this fear of the trailer nose "fishtailing" or yanking back & forth once it's holding on to your truck by simply a couple of chains. Is this thought totally wrong? I'm not a chain user because of this thought. |
|
| |
|
Location: Texas | Just a couple of thoughts: If you are in a wreck and the ball or coupler break, it might keep the trailer from coming through the cab, and if the ball or coupler just break, it might keep the trailer hooked to the truck long enough for you to get stopped, instead of letting it cross the road into some unsuspecting traffic. They are there for a reason and even though they may be a pain to hook up, it is worth the effort. |
|
| |
|
Regular
Posts: 70
Location: Northern, CA | ...hmmm...finding all of these "wrecks" just fascinating! In thirty plus years of hauling, have never seen a GN jump off the ball. Guess it happens, but haven't seen it. Safety chains...HELL YES! They are there for a reason! I'd much rather have my truck slowing down and stopping my trailer, than some other poor slob out on the road. If it whacks into the truck's crash panel, so be it! We always think about the safety of what we are hauling, and those who are on the road with us, versus any potential damage to a tow vehicle. |
|
| |
|
 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 383
Location: Texas | I've seen one a long time ago (when I was a little kid) that managed to bounce off the ball at low speeds, it may have been sitting on the ball locked. It punched through the bed and ripped it out to the back bumper if I remember correctly. |
|
| |
|
Expert
Posts: 2614
| It is a state law where I live that most trailers,horse,utility,ect.have safety chains if they are a certain size trailer. Sometime in the last year or so,a utility trailer came loose from the bumper ball of the truck,crossed the median,and a car hit it and the driver was killed. I think it was after this that it became a state law.I know that when we were stopped by a state trooper for running with our park lights on,which we weren't aware we were doing,(also against the law here) he looked in the bed at our hookup,chains,ect.to see if we were using chains. |
|
| |
|
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 544
Location: Claxton, Ga. | Chain it?? YES, I would rather have it beating the back of my bed to pieces instead of coming into the cab with me if it ever happened. |
|
| |
|
.jpg) Expert
Posts: 2828
Location: Southern New Mexico | I've seen it happen once. It was ALL human error. The pickup had a flat bed (hauler bed?) and a gooseneck with cows on it and they didn't check to make sure the ball was locked and there were no chains. The people went over a set of RR tracks that had a big hump in the road to fast and the trailer came up, off, and into a fence. I was just glad that there was no one comming from the other way AND that I was behind them.
Edited by Terri 2007-04-09 9:32 PM
|
|
| |
|
Member
Posts: 45
Location: Florida | <<hanging my head in embaresment>> My father AND brother-in-law both have had the coupler jump off the ball hauling flat-bed trailers. They both were freak accidents with two different trailers, two different trucks. Both got the load stopped, but not with out doing damage to the bed of their trucks. Dads just put enough stress on the tailgate that you have to get it just right to get it open. BIL on the other had was beat all to heck on the inside and destroyed his tailgate. Both have been hauling trailers since they were old enough to drive, there was nothing different than anyother day. It did scare the beegeebees(sp) out of them though. |
|
| |
|
New User
Posts: 3
| The wife of a family member was decapitated a few years ago when they were headed home from a horse show with a 4 horse GN trailer. The weather was bad and they came up on a bus stopped in the middle of the road and had no time to stop and no place to avoid it. The GN took off the passenger side of the roof of the truck and the wife's head and the two front horses had to be euthanized. This happened in SC by the way and they were carrying TW's. This is why we have a BP. No they aren't as stable to pull but we did get the stabilizing and sway control hitch and are very pleased with it. |
|
| |
|
Member
Posts: 22
Location: Webster, NH | I'd like to see the pickup that was pulling this trailer. It was one hell of an accident. First clue is the salvage title. That means the trailer was totaled by the insurance company. So there was $30,000 or more damage to this trailer. Second is the door to the horse section. It looks like there is structural damage midway down the trailer. There must have been a lot of twisting going on with this trailer to produce that warp. Third is the damage to the front end. This trailer was probably climbing into the bed of the pickup. I'm going to guess here that it ripped itself off of the ball, probably bending the post in the process. Safety chains stretched to their full extent, if they didn't break. This was a massive accident. My guess is there is probably little on this trailer that's where it was when it was made. Probably stress fractures in the skin, and bent frame members. There are a lot of pictures, but none of the places I'd like to see to actually assess the condition of this trailer. I'd like to see one from the pickup bed view looking up. I'd bet that would scare the bejesus out of the bidders. I also doubt this trailer still tows straight. And as I said, I'd like to see the pickup. I bet it was totaled as well, and looks even worse.
Jim Clark-Dawe |
|
| |
|
 Elite Veteran
Posts: 736
Location: Western WA | I think more people tow without safety chains than we realize. When I bought my truck, it was set up with a removable 5th wheel hitch that allowed the truck to switch from towing a 5th wheel to a gooseneck with the proper hitch. I ordered the corresponding gooseneck hitch from Reese (rail system was Reese) and it isn't even set up to attach safety chains: http://www.reese-hitches.com/gooseneck_goose.html Decided to keep the one from my previous truck which is made by Hitchhiker, and fit the bed rails, and has safety chain fasteners. |
|
| |
|
Veteran
Posts: 150
Location: Le Claire IA | I'll hang my head too because of some other problems I'm having with my new truck/old trailer matching I've been reading, coming to this site, and finding out stuff I should have known. I have no chains on my trailer...It came this way when I bought it used off this site from down South. No chains, no welds, no holes and my gooseneck hitch in my old truck was new a few years ago from an Iowa horse trailer dealer and it didn't have anywhere to attach chains. So both were unsafe. Trailer goes in ASAP and I put in a B&W hitch. It also doesnt have a break away box and it came with car tires instead of the ST's. I do a lot more research now than I did before. |
|
| |
|
 Veteran
Posts: 238
Location: West Coast | Originally written by equinetrans on 2007-04-10 6:45 AM
It was one hell of an accident. First clue is the salvage title. That means the trailer was totaled by the insurance company. So there was $30,000 or more damage to this trailer. Second is the door to the horse section. It looks like there is structural damage midway down the trailer. There must have been a lot of twisting going on with this trailer to produce that warp. Third is the damage to the front end. This trailer was probably climbing into the bed of the pickup. I'm going to guess here that it ripped itself off of the ball, probably bending the post in the process. Safety chains stretched to their full extent, if they didn't break. This was a massive accident. My guess is there is probably little on this trailer that's where it was when it was made. Probably stress fractures in the skin, and bent frame members. There are a lot of pictures, but none of the places I'd like to see to actually assess the condition of this trailer. I'd like to see one from the pickup bed view looking up. I'd bet that would scare the bejesus out of the bidders. I also doubt this trailer still tows straight. And as I said, I'd like to see the pickup. I bet it was totaled as well, and looks even worse. Jim Clark-Dawe My thoughts exactly, that must have been one heck of an impact and there must be damage they aren't showing. That's an fairly new and expensive trailer to total off. The damage they show doesn't seem to add up to enough to justify totalling it. I noticed they don't show the floor or the underside of the gooseneck. I'll bet there's a lot of scary damage there. Based on the rust on it, it looks like they did repair the coupler rather than replacing it. I find that pretty scary. |
|
| |
|
Veteran
Posts: 167
Location: Monroe, WA | WHAT'S JUST AS SCARY - THERE ARE 12 PEOPLE BIDDING ON IT AND IT'S UP TO SLIGHTLY OVER $15,000!!! sheesh, where do these guys get their brains...... I am married to an old fashioned master welder - one of those guys who can build or fix ANYTHING, certified up the yahoo, built everything from oil rigs to humongous boilers and all associated piping. He just shook his head at this one. What can these bidders possibly be thinking - even stripping the innards of the LQ out, you'd probably have a total reconstruction of the front frame before it would be roadworthy! Maybe the sum of removed parts - refer, AC, appliances, bathroom, those e-jacks,.... A bit over two days to go - I can hardly wait to see what the final bid is on it. |
|
| |
|
 Veteran
Posts: 246
Location: Northern IN. | Headhunter, here's a tip for you, or anyone who uses any style of gooseneck hitch that pins into bed rails, like the Reese that you are talking about. I use this same set up in my rigs and for the safety chains and break away cable just get yourself three extra pins, just like the ones that pin the center hitch part into the rails, then take the hooks off of your safety chains and drop the last link down into the next empty slot on either side of your center hitch (these would be the holes that you would use for a fifth-wheel camper hitch), put your lanyard down in any one of the remaining holes and insert your extra pins through all three. Does this make sense? It doesn't sound like I'm explaining this very well, but if you have the "rails" you can picture it, I suppose. Talk to y'all later... |
|
| |
|
Elite Veteran
Posts: 736
Location: Western WA | Yeah, I think it makes sense. Its ok to attach to the bedrail? That's considered part of the truck not the hitch (ball, etc)? |
|
| |
|
Veteran
Posts: 246
Location: Northern IN. | I sure think so, those rails are bolted to the frame of the truck, I don't know any more "solider" of a place to hook them, short of welding them right to the side of the frame! lol. As far a legal, before I did this, I used to hook the hooks themselves into the "Triangular" cut-out area right behind the ball, (on Reeses "The Goose") and was checked by a Diesel Bear during an inspection, and he didn't say anything about it, and I know he looked the hitch over good. For what it's worth, talk to y'all later... |
|
| |
|
Expert
Posts: 2828
Location: Southern New Mexico | After looking at the trailer again, it looks to me as if it came off the truck and the brakes locked up like they should, because all the damage points to a nose dive into the pavement at high speeds. It doesn't look as though it impacted the cab of the truck, just the road. |
|
| |
|
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 309
Location: MO | Bids are up to $18,100 - 38 bids, 12 bidders. Anyone looking for a used trailer better keep this one in mind and AVOID it at all costs. |
|
| |
|
Veteran
Posts: 167
Location: Monroe, WA | Originally written by Cloud9 on 2007-04-11 2:12 PM
Bids are up to $18,100 - 38 bids, 12 bidders. Anyone looking for a used trailer better keep this one in mind and AVOID it at all costs. Ya know, the more I think about all the plush amenities this on has in the LQ - somebody wanting to put a nice LQ into their trailer could actually come out pretty good just stripping it out and then selling the ALUMINUM shell for salvage metal....... LOL too darn bad I'd have to haul it across three states to get it home to strip! I LOVE that neo-angle shower...... Kate |
|
| |
|
Expert
Posts: 1283
Location: Home of Wild Turkey Whiskey | You could buy everything inside that trailer for under $5,000 NEW. |
|
| |
|
 Elite Veteran
Posts: 671
Location: THE GREAT NORTHWET, OREGON(THE REAL GODS COUNTRY) | Thanks for the info and comments.This stuff is priceless.Show and tell! |
|
| |
|
Elite Veteran
Posts: 736
Location: Western WA | Just curious.....is the auction closed and what did it finallysell for? |
|
| |
|
Veteran
Posts: 167
Location: Monroe, WA | Yeah, seller "ended it early because item no longer for sale", whatever THAT means.... item number was 200096960874 The listing reverted to the starting bid of 100 bucks and wiped off the number of bidders - so maybe ebay had something to do with it. |
|
| |
what happens whe a GN jumps off the ball
