Broken Towball..

Submitted: Sunday, Oct 19, 2008 at 11:46

ThreadID: 62684 Views:7597 Replies:7 FollowUps:6

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Member - Borgy.. (SA)

G'day everyone

Yesterday i went to my mates garage to change some tyres over on a ute that i have just bought...My mate also owns a towing business...When we opened the roller door to one of the bays , sitting behind the door was a 100 series V8 Landcruiser in a rather sorry looking state, I asked Tony what had happened to the Toyota, His words " have you ever had someone tell you that tow balls don't break??" Apparently a week ago the fella was towing his boat home after a day out when the ball broke causing him to run off the road into some trees, apparently he was very lucky the car didn't roll. Thats about all i can tell you for now as my mate was in a hurry and had to go......

Here is a couple of pics...

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Cheers......Borgy

Sorry about pic quality, taken with my mobile

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Reply By: Member - MUZBRY-(MURRAY)(Vic) - Sunday, Oct 19, 2008 at 12:03

Sunday, Oct 19, 2008 at 12:03

Gday
Some years back while in another job, we had a trailer that had a tow ball hitch. The job was to tow the trailer and pick up bags that others had filled (with what dose not matter).After going down a steep incline , then to flat ground and then down again, the tow ball broke off, sending my ute down the hill with the trailer pushing on the tail gate.
After a safety check by the safety officer, we came to the conclusion that the change from steep to flat and then to steep had snapped the ball.
We had exceeded the angle that the ball and socket would work and put massive strain in the ball, tow bar, chassis,and trailer and the weakest part broke.
Murray

Muzbry
Great place to be Mt Blue Rag 27/12/2012

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AnswerID: 330711

Follow Up By: Member - Fred G (NSW) - Sunday, Oct 19, 2008 at 12:16

Sunday, Oct 19, 2008 at 12:16

Interesting, Murray. The weakest link in the hitch is also the cheapest, so maybe we should consider replacing it regularly. Certainly something I've never considered.

Fred.

FollowupID: 598336

Follow Up By: Member - Borgy.. (SA) - Sunday, Oct 19, 2008 at 12:18

Sunday, Oct 19, 2008 at 12:18

G'day Muz

A few weeks ago i pulled up at a service station on my way home from town. Just as i pulled in a young lad in his fathers brand new xR8 Falcon towing a car trailer pulled in alongside me, i dont know what the hell he thought he was doing , but next thing i knew he had jumped the kerb in front of us and proceeded to park the Ford in the creek in front of us...lol..well it was funny after wards.....Of course he couldnt back the car back out because of the angle it was on, just about standing on its nose, so he walked across the road and asked one of the workers there if he would bring his front end loader over and pull him out...when i came back out of the garage they were hooking a chain around the back of the trailer...i asked them if they thought that was safe pulling the car and trailer together, basically pulling on the towball, well the frontend loader driver told me " yeah why wouldn't it be??" i told him how i had seen towballs snap before causing all sorts of dangerous problems...his words " AH BULLS*#T" so i said no probs but before you attempt it i want to move my missus car...they ended up pulling it out with no probs, but i would hate to think what might have happened if the ball had broken....

Cheers.....Borgy

FollowupID: 598337

Reply By: Miss(an)Jo - Toad Keeper (Bris - Sunday, Oct 19, 2008 at 12:12

Sunday, Oct 19, 2008 at 12:12

Here is some pics for ya.. is not the tow ball, but the..well take a good look and you'll figure it out..

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AnswerID: 330713

Follow Up By: Member - JohnR (Vic) - Monday, Oct 20, 2008 at 08:31

Monday, Oct 20, 2008 at 08:31

Did somebody stand on it Jo?

FollowupID: 598466

Follow Up By: Miss(an)Jo - Toad Keeper (Bris - Monday, Oct 20, 2008 at 08:50

Monday, Oct 20, 2008 at 08:50

Nope.. Some D Head in a doof doof (well I have to 'assume' that part) driving at some insane speed at midnight on the freeway decided that he didn't see me in the far left lane and drove the front end of his car straight under the pajero and threw me across 3 lanes over to the median strip.
Other damage to the vehicle and myself was incurred, but to damage a tow assembly like that, lift and throw me like he did, he certainly was not sitting on the speed limit!

FollowupID: 598469

Follow Up By: Miss(an)Jo - Toad Keeper (Bris - Monday, Oct 20, 2008 at 08:53

Monday, Oct 20, 2008 at 08:53

Did somebody stand on it!! HAAHA! sorry John but gotta giggle..

Even a hugely obese person could not stand on it and completely rip the steel apart and curl it under the vehicle like it was!

FollowupID: 598470

Reply By: Willem - Sunday, Oct 19, 2008 at 12:47

Sunday, Oct 19, 2008 at 12:47

Yep I busted a towball towing a 27 footer van with an old FJ55

Actually got told off by a scaley in Katherine NT that the Tojo towball was only rated at 1600kg and at that stage the van was close to 4000kg. I said crap and just at that moment the weighbridge was needed and they asked me to move my rig and so I kept on going.

But the fella was right and about 3 months later the towball broke off. Luckily I was pulling into a layby at Bonnet Well, south of Tennant Creek and was only doing about 10kmh when proverbial hit the fan. The van went under and then over the rear bumper and made a mess of the rear doors. I managed to straighten the lot out with the help of tyre levers and a dumpy hammer and fitted a new ball and after smoko away we went again.

Cheers

AnswerID: 330716

Reply By: Angler - Sunday, Oct 19, 2008 at 15:44

Sunday, Oct 19, 2008 at 15:44

Saw one break at camooweal once behind a Holden towing a van about 16 foot. Bit of a steep entry caused the problem I guess.

Pooley

AnswerID: 330738

Reply By: Flywest - Sunday, Oct 19, 2008 at 19:41

Sunday, Oct 19, 2008 at 19:41

Get bigger ballls!

Or maybe it's time to hand in the "man card!"

LOL!

Cheers

AnswerID: 330772

Reply By: Ray - Sunday, Oct 19, 2008 at 21:00

Sunday, Oct 19, 2008 at 21:00

I have heard that you should replace the tow ball every year?????
I change mine every two years.

AnswerID: 330796

Reply By: briann532 - Sunday, Oct 19, 2008 at 21:57

Sunday, Oct 19, 2008 at 21:57

If regularly towing or towing anything of considerable weight, I would highly suggest a "Trigg" hitch.

Cheap insurance.............
I also find it exceptionally easy to connect the hitch. Far easier than a ball. I also have a reversing camera on my patrol installed about 3 inches to the right of the hayman reese. this allows for reversing up to the hitch using the camera. VERY easy, then you just slide the pin in and push the circlip through.
It actually takes longer to connect the chain and wiring than hitching the trailer.

Just my 2 cents and .02 cents GST's worth, but I reckon its a lot easier and safer option.
Brian

AnswerID: 330811