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Old 10-15-2014, 02:59 PM   #1
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Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Ontario
Posts: 360
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recent trip to Algonquin Park

We made our final trip for camping this year. Soon the frost will be here and we'll need to winterize. It was our Canadian Thanks Giving as well, so the whole family went north. Only one night was frosty (um, maybe even cold) but the furnace dialed in nicely.

My son and I went into the main gate office to buy some campfire wood. On the way in we noticed a mini van and trailer parked kind of weird in the entrance. When we came out of the office the guy had managed to pull into the parking lot at the office. The long and short of this story was we notice he was starring over his trailer hitch setup. Turns out that when he pulled into the entrance his tent trailer coupler COMPLETELY dislodged from the draw bar ball. He said he had camped for years but never tower a trailer before and this trailer was loaned to him from a friend. He admitted that he knew nothing about trailers and towing.
I think what happened was when he lowered the coupler onto the ball that the coupler latch was tight in and not open to accept the ball. Hence he had a false sense of the coupler being right over the ball and THEN tighten up the coupler.
He felt bad enough so I didn't read the riot act, but sometimes some soft education weighs more.

I noticed his electric safety brake was not even hooked up. he didn't know what it was. Again I explained the importance of each component and how they all work together for highway safety.

He just bought his hitch setup (not sure who installed it), but his dropdown draw bar was install upside down. Meaning his towing was excessively nose down and that his trailer should be level (first indication). I explained that the draw bar was upside down his safety brake was not hooked and his coupler was not fully inserted. At least his safety chains were attached. If they weren't he could have been on the evening news

I explained how lucky he was and he must have had a horseshoe in his nether region.

I think it's all of our responsibility to check with our towing friends and neighbors to make sure their set up is safe.

We've all seen the know-it-alls, that really don't know
We've all seen those that don't realize (unaware) what's taking place and just guess their way through and
Those that are afraid to ask

During our spring months when people have the urge to travel we have highway blitzes done by our provincial (same as your state) police. Typically anyone towing a trailer, regardless of type, are pulled over for inspection. Our local news station is always good enough to report their findings. It's shocking how many people fail due to insecure or unsafe loads. Many tow vehicles don't even pass muster either.
I'm guilty of going overboard as I think most of us HERE are

I'm sure there are many seasoned tow-ers here and I know for a fact that every once in a while we might get distracted or preoccupied when hooking things up. I try to make a point of going from a point A to a point Z inspection on my setup 2 or 3 times before I start driving. And again during breaks and pee stops.
Sorry for the long post but I think it's worth it. Remind our friends too.
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Jerry & Debbie
Ford Explorer 4.6 Triton V8, AWD, 4x4
1985 Sunline Saturn T-1350
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