What a moron...

#1

Anybody else ever forget to latch the trailer tongue? :huh:

WTB: Lower portion of E53 rear tailgate. Kalahari beige. :frowning:

Steve D.

#2

I have a ding in the tailgate of my my F150. The hitch was locked down, but I failed to put in the combo lock. Got a bit exciting as I drove the car onto the trailer.

#3

Steve D wrote:

[quote]Anybody else ever forget to latch the trailer tongue? :huh:

[/quote]

Yep. Didnā€™t damage my truck tho, just looked like a rook in front of the peanut gallery. Bummer bout your car.

#4

Try hooking up your 2-1/8" ball to your 2-5/8" hitch(or whatever size that is). And then try loading your car on the trailer. And then watch the trailer go smashing into your tailgate.

Been there and done that. $550 lesson hopefully only learned once.

#5

Of course.

Not only was I a rookie race car driver 2 years ago, I was also a towing virgin. I have a plethora of degrees from the School of Hard Knocks. One of them was loading the car onto the trailer without locking down the tongue. Fortunately, it was when I was using my Dodge Ram pickup (murican truck) and dented the sh!t out of the chrome bumper, but that thing is a workhorse, not like your dainty X5 (or my Touareg).

Robinson got his trailer grid locked at a gas station. About 35 minutes later (of listening to every redneck between Atlanta and Savannah tell us it was easy to get it ā€˜unstuckā€™ ), we unhitched it, busted out a hydraulic jack, and manually wheeled the trailer into a position where he could get it out. I think Jim has a picture of it.

#6

Iā€™ve also towed with about 1 strap out of 4 tight, and (although this was just a mechanical type failure) done the same thing as you. The trailer hitch wasnā€™t locking on the ball for some reason, I ā€˜suspectedā€™ the issue but confirmed it as I drove the car onto the trailer. Thankfully I was smart enough to have the tongue jack down, but it still lifted about 2 or 3 feet off where it should be and then slammed back down, almost right back onto the ball oddly enough.

After a solid greasing it works like a champ, but I still try to ā€˜unseat itā€™ using the tongue jack everytime now. Iā€™m a moron but usually only in fresh and exciting ways never a repeat customer.

#7

Jimmy, ā€œfresh and exciting waysā€ā€¦please you are killing me. Stop it.

#8

Of course the only time I neglected to lock the hitch the truck/trailer was parked on a hill (facing down the hill). Not only did the trailer come off the hitch it became a 2000lb battering ram aimed at my tailgate! Needless to say the results were not too pretty. My F150 still has the scars!

Thereā€™s some stupid tax for you!

#9

Apparently this AM ,My Farther in law came with in inches of KILLING my Mother inlaw while loading my brother in laws car on to the trailer with out locking the hitch, I think she is glad to see the car go! Heā€™s goona need some extra stuff on Valentineā€™s day and a new lisence plate where the tounge speared it

#10

Normally Iā€™m quick to tell a ā€œScott the dumbassā€ story, because the best stories are self-deprecating. But I was so damn embarrassed about this trailer incident at RA last Aug that I kept my mouth shut about it. Skeen, Dave White and a few others helped me unscrew it. I was lucky I didnā€™t destroy someone elseā€™s car.

Runaway trailer, look out!!!

http://www.gress.org/Home/Cars/TrackTales/RA_Race8Aug08TheDeathofFredsCar/GressTale8Aug08%20The%20Death%20of%20Fredā€™s%20Car.mht

#11

2 years ago at RA, we had an injured car, but still drivable. We decided to load it on the trailer as itā€™s weekend was done. As I swung around to load the car I noticed my Dad and his neighbor standing on the tongue side of the trailer. I stopped just short of the ramps and stuck my head out the window to ask what they were doing, and why they didnā€™t hook up the trailer like they said they would. The response was that they chalked the tires, and their weight would be sufficient. Being the good son that I am I started to drive on the trailer. Luckily I went really slow because I was not quite convinced. Both my Dad and neighbor shot up into the air luckily landing on their feet. I still remember the I told you so moment I gave my Dad!!!

#12

Last spring when I was unloading at Infineon, a stranger wanted to chat about my E30. I carefully stepped through my practiced procedure but the chat apparently distracted my always marginal early morning focus.

I decided I needed to move the rig forward a few feet before putting the ramps down. Unfortunately I had already unstrapped the car and it was not in gear so when I pulled the rig forward the car stayed where it was and I pulled the trailer out from under it.

As it dropped off of the trailer, the impressed stranger shouted at me and I slammed on the brakes and jumped out of the truck intending to run back and stop the car before it backed into the guyā€™s 911. As I ran back to the car, the truck was idling forward towards some other very nice cars.

So, the 911 guy stopped my car as I sprinted to stop the truck. Now everything was stopped but the trailer had punctured the bottom of the E30 gas tank during the dismount. Of course the tank was full so 12 gallons of fuel was trying to get out and dissolve the pavement.

I dug out my two part epoxy putty, quickly kneaded a ball of it and jammed it into the spewing orifice. After holding my finger in the dike for 20 minutes the epoxy held and I raced the entire weekend without even a leak. There is a god.

#13

Good one Ron. In just this weekend I have added to my supplies list a spare distributor cap and rotor and now 2-part epoxy putty. By the way, glad you were there to help out Glen this weekend - nice save!

#14

i think highflyer ā€œwinsā€ - wish you had video of that one, lol

Ranger wrote:

[quote]Normally Iā€™m quick to tell a ā€œScott the dumbassā€ story, because the best stories are self-deprecating. But I was so damn embarrassed about this trailer incident at RA last Aug that I kept my mouth shut about it. Skeen, Dave White and a few others helped me unscrew it. I was lucky I didnā€™t destroy someone elseā€™s car.
[/quote]

good times :wink:

#15

Age wrote:

Ronā€¦that was the best trailer storyā€¦

AJā€¦hereā€™s your puttyā€¦!

#16

Having the safety chains hooked up have saved me some damage while loading as sometimes the the thing will come off the ball with it latchedā€¦which is a sign you need a new latchā€¦I replace my latch at least every 2 years.

My loose trailer story, I was towing a single axel trailer (ex Carter Hunt!) with an e12 BMW 528i (Think Brandonā€™s Race car without the HP) I was up in the mountains of Virginia to pick up a 2002Tii. The car did not run and instead of using my trusty straps and come-along the owner thought I should pull to the bottom of a big hill and then pilot the car onto the trailer using gravity. As soon as I hit the ramps the trailer popped off and even with chains it managed to destroy the trunk lid while pushing it thru the rear window.

Untangling that mess took the rest of the day.

Al

#17

FARTBREF wrote:

When I first read that, I thought you were saying the E12 was ON the trailer. I was trying to figure out how you were also going to get a 2002 on it.:blink:

You were towing WITH the E12? :woohoo: Youā€™re my hero. Is there anything low-buck that you wonā€™t try?

Steve D.

#18

Donā€™t have a good story, just a big dent in my tailgate where the tongue hit it (forgot to lock it). Oh, and my 13-year old was watching so now heā€™s sure his dad is an moron.

#19

Fred42 wrote:

I expect that all 13yr olds think that their dadā€™s are morons. Dadā€™s arenā€™t perceived as smarter until the kid is in their mid 20ā€™s.

#20

Yep, kids find it amazing how much smarter their parents became in the last few years when they turn 25!