50mm from Potential Disaster

[JohngQld447]

Hi to all,
            We spent last week at the Rainbow Beach caravan park on the Sunshine (well almost) Coast. On Friday morning a couple in a Ford Territory towing a Jayco StarCraft from Melbourne pulled up in front of us to wait for the tractor tow onto their site. Looking closer, I thought What the Hell!! The draw bar was pointing at the ground and the coupling was at an uphill angle to the tow ball. It seems the previous owner of the van had a large 4wd and added this 100mm box section as a spacer between the hitch and the draw bar to get the van level. It was only about 2.5 to 3 mm wall thickness and as you can see from the pictures, it cracked along the two bottom corners stopping only 50mm from tearing out completely. You can imagine how sick they felt knowing they were this close to having a potential major accident if it had let go.
After doing a couple of quick measurements, I suggested we get rid od the box section completely and put the coupling on the draw bar as it meant to be and we could turn the hitch and ball over and it would be almost level again. A couple of guys who had been looking on returned with a half inch drive socket set and in less than half an hour the coupling was again mounted to the draw bar and the handbrake re adjusted. Meantime another two guys got the ball off and turned over the hitch and refitted the ball.
It never ceases to amazes me the willingness of people to help others in time of need, it's just that great Australian spirit shining through. All is well that end's well and you can imagine how the owners felt receiving the help from people that they had never met before.

Click on the thumbnails for a larger view.








You can also see cracks between the front bolt holes and the outer edge.

John

[Swogjb]

Now that was a close call

I can't believe how light on the box section spacer looks
Obviously had that bit off box section sitting in the shed and a she'll  be right kinda attitude.
But clearly had NFI

Bloody scary stuff!!

[Pog]

Great story - it frightens me that the people that purchased the Jayco left this mod in place... It frightens me even more that someone thought it was a good idea to begin with!

[dazzler]

It would be fine if it was 4mm and boxed on the ends.  Imagine the forces up and down slowly killing the poor thing....   

[muzza01]

Good pick up.
Great to see there is still plenty of Aussie spirit out there.

[D4D]

Good save, that would not have ended well if it had let go.

[KingBilly]

Well done that man 

KB

[austastar]

Hi,
  Much not prettiness averted.


Well done.


cheers

[Draggin]

Gotta say thanks for averting a potential death trap. Nightmare stuff thinking what could happen on a highway at 100 km/hr.

Your powers of observation are outstanding as is your willingness to help 

I've got just one word to say to you - GOODONYA !

[mike and tracy davis]

It would seem that everyone is an engineer! some of the "best" custom mods I have seen have been from farmers who think because they can mow a paddock with a harvester and a pretty handy with a stick welder can build anything and its all good.
Glad to here that this incident did not end up with a catastrophic failure while under tow.
:cheers:Mike

[Variflex]

Had they used long bolts that went all they way through it may have been ok but I would still not have been happy with it, it's amazing some of the dodgy crap some people do

[RebsWA]

Makes one wonder how many more engineering marvels are out there waiting to happen.

[Ynot]

Well that worked out much better than it possibly could have. Top job in getting it fixed for them too.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Dion]

I wonder if a RWC had been done on the trailer as part of the sale? 

[ozstickman]

Top catch! Scary to see this, imagine what else is out there on the road!

Good to see a few of you help them out.

[Black Diamond]

How lucky was that!  That must have been seconds from letting go.  Good work 

[Dingo0163]

It looks like the spacer was bolted to the draw bar and then the hitch was bolted on top. Did the holes for the hitch and draw bar lined up after the spacer was removed. Was there any weld at all on it? 

[sup8pdct]

With something like that, Long bolts and crush tubes welded top and bottom and ends capped would have been better, but by no means the right solution.

James

[JohngQld447]

Hi Guys,
            Yes the holes all lined up with no problems as this is where the hitch was originally bolted. I can't say enough about the guys who did the spanner work, they deserve all the credit here.
On a further note, the people who owned the van (12 to 14 foot StarCraft) had their 17 ft. Jayco stolen from their backyard and after a lengthy battle with their insurance company decided to downsize to the smaller van. 2 months later the police advised them they had found their van when they went to house to arrest a guy for ARMED ROBBERY. They found the van in the backyard, though completely trashed. They now hope after the events of Friday that things will improve for the better.
Cheers,
John

[achjimmy]

Great result John, well done.

[achjimmy]

With something like that, Long bolts and crush tubes welded top and bottom and ends capped would have been better, but by no means the right solution.

James

That is exactly how they are made and sold (or were) by dealers. What I never liked is that are not milled flat. Still they won't collapse like above.

[LuckyDog]

Wtf? That's shocking

[ako]

I can't see anything wrong with that design.
























*if you want to test your safety chains at 100kph 

[Ratbag]

Gidday John

Hi Guys,
            Yes the holes all lined up with no problems as this is where the hitch was originally bolted. I can't say enough about the guys who did the spanner work, they deserve all the credit here.
On a further note, the people who owned the van (12 to 14 foot StarCraft) had their 17 ft. Jayco stolen from their backyard and after a lengthy battle with their insurance company decided to downsize to the smaller van. 2 months later the police advised them they had found their van when they went to house to arrest a guy for ARMED ROBBERY. They found the van in the backyard, though completely trashed. They now hope after the events of Friday that things will improve for the better.
Cheers,
John

That's why we have all the legislation, regulations, ADRs, etc ...

BTW, they already have taken a turn for the better for them, mate - they bumped into you!

[Darcy7]

John

Well done to you and all the others who helped out. 

We can debate the merits of how the situation occurred all day, but in the end we may never know the full story and you just don't know what the current owners were told.  Fact is they ended up in this predicament and you were Johnny-on-the-spot (pun intended).  You probably saved them a whole heap of heartache....!