Why don't you just go ahead and tell us how you really feel about it.....LOL

 

Speaking of dorks… how about those dorky engineers over at Ford that came up with a hitch that wouldn’t work with so many different hooks! I mean, did they even try it out, or did they just draw a picture and say: “Wow, that looks awesome! Plus it’s different from anything else out there! Send it!”

 

So for my stuff, I just put heavy hooks that work with my hitch on the chains. However, the problem still arises if you have a need to hook up to another trailer for some reason. Not always convenient to go get appropriate new hooks every time you have a need to tow something else. The design is a fail for that reason.

 

3/8" G70 hooks are wimpy?

And my two shackles cost less than ONE hook.

Yup, I'm a dork!

 

Those are the same hooks that I have on my trailer...........never had an issue hooking to the bumper of my 2022 SD..................come in from the back, laying the hook horizontal with the back of the bumper below the hole........rotate the tip of the hook thru the hole and out the other side.........EZ-PZ..........2.5" hitch.......

 

Sounds like they aren’t the same hooks as mine were then………….. cause mine didn’t fit…………….. neither in the 2020 with a 2.5” hitch…………… or on my 22 with a 3” hitch.

 

those look rugged...where did you get them?

 

Looking at that pic, is that truck really hanging by the safety chains? How long were those chains? Or is some of the trailer tongue/ frame over the rail and not visible?

 

I’ve got a Gatormade 6x12 trailer with same hooks and they won’t connect to my 2.5” hitch either. Tried every angle and they won’t hook. Maybe Ford gets the hitch from a couple suppliers and one is a tad different from the other??

 

When that picture was taken it was after the rescue services had added additional chains to ensure they didn't lose the truck before getting everyone out. Here is a quote from one of the members of the rescue team that indicates the state of the truck/trailer when they arrived on scene:

"The trailer ball was pulled out of the hitch and the truck was dangling dangerously by only one remaining safety chain until emergency crews arrived and secured it with 3 heavy chains to a semi truck who happened to be right behind the accident. The bridge crosses a deep, narrow gorge (approximately 150 feet deep), which had the single remaining chain failed, the truck would have plummeted to the bottom."

 

If any link, clasp, or "carabiner" in that one remaining trailer safety chain had failed upon the shock load of the truck hurtling over the side of the bridge, then the truck wouldn't have remained dangling there until truckers and rescue crews could add more chains.

So it appears that the trailer chain and hook saved them, even if for only for a few seconds.

It can reasonably be assumed that it took longer than merely a few seconds for rescue crews to arrive.

It would take longer than 60 seconds for any fellow motorist or trucker following them to stop, get out of the truck, run to the side of the bridge, and assess the need for additional chains. Then they would have to go back to their truck to marshal some chains, which would take a few more minutes, plus the time it would take to figure out how to attach the chains to the dangling truck, and figure out what to anchor the chains to.

Without considering how fast the truck flew over the side of the bridge, and simply pretending that the truck was already fully "at rest" before that one trailer chain let go... within the first second, the truck would have free fallen 32 feet below the bridge, out of reach of any good Samaritans, and by the end of the third second, the truck, and it's occupants, would have been crushed at the bottom of the 150' ravine.

 

It is amazing. I wonder how many days the occupants remained pale as a ghost? I also would love to see a pic of precisely what chains and hooks were used.

 

And at least two dorks that can't understand the very simple fact that people tow more than one trailer or tow friend's trailers or tow rentals and they don't want to buy and carry a whole inventory of hooks to replace on every single trailer they ever tow behind their truck.

 

I would love to have seen a video of how fast the driver was driving and how much the trailer was swaying at that speed before he went over.

Many people pull trailers far too fast, as determined by their own admission, and by personal observation.

While the catastrophic consequences for speeding with a trailer are not frequent, they happen just as fast.

 

Yep, I've seen tons of folks going down the highway too fast 'managing the sway'. I always make sure to stay well clear of them. I always wonder if they know how close to losing control they are, and just think they won't, or are oblivious to the situation. It's unfortunate that many people who don't tow, don't know how dangerous it is to be near them.