I had a bit of a scare the 2nd time I launched Andeleen last month. At the house, I hitched up, checked the trailer and tie downs and headed for the lake. On the way, my wife mentioned that we were hearing more clunking from the hitch than usual, but I dismissed her observations (big mistake!).
Once at the lake, we got her rigged and as a last step, proceeded to extend the tongue. I lowered the nose gear, unplugged the lights, pulled the 2 retaining pins and disconnected the safety chain (it's attached to the non-extendable portion of the tongue and is too short to reach the truck hitch when extended). I got in the truck and gently pulled forward, waiting to hear the clunk that indicates I've reached the stop at the end of the extension. I kept pulling forward, but never heard the clunk. Sure enough, the boat and trailer were happily sitting all by themselves about 15' behind the truck(safely wheel-chocked on flat ground)! Yikes...my mind flashed with what would have happened if I had dropped backwards onto the long launching ramp in that condition.
I hitched back up and did all I could to check the security of the tongue on the hitch, and concluded that I simply did not have it set properly with the locking fork in place under the hitch ball when I pulled out of the house earlier. I suppose the weight of the boat and trailer had kept it on. Later in the week, I took off the receiver with the ball attached, connected to the trailer and tried every which-way to get it to come off, but could not. I concluded that the hitching mechanism was working properly, but I had goofed up in hitching up the other day.
So, to be able to sleep at night, I figured I needed to modify the safety chain to allow it to be in place when the tongue is extended. I bought a 1/2" eye bolt, a big shackle and 3' of galvanized chain from a local Ace Hardware. I replaced the forward locking pin on the trailer with the eye bolt and fastened it with 2 nuts and a lock washer. I attached the shackle to one end of the chain, then snapped it on the eye bolt. When hitching up, I attach the other end of the safety chain to the truck hitch.
When I want to extend the tongue, I unbolt the eye bolt and the rear pin, extend the tongue, then bolt the eye bolt back onto the forward pin hole. A bit more hassle at the ramp, but I feel much more secure now.
Once at the lake, we got her rigged and as a last step, proceeded to extend the tongue. I lowered the nose gear, unplugged the lights, pulled the 2 retaining pins and disconnected the safety chain (it's attached to the non-extendable portion of the tongue and is too short to reach the truck hitch when extended). I got in the truck and gently pulled forward, waiting to hear the clunk that indicates I've reached the stop at the end of the extension. I kept pulling forward, but never heard the clunk. Sure enough, the boat and trailer were happily sitting all by themselves about 15' behind the truck(safely wheel-chocked on flat ground)! Yikes...my mind flashed with what would have happened if I had dropped backwards onto the long launching ramp in that condition.
I hitched back up and did all I could to check the security of the tongue on the hitch, and concluded that I simply did not have it set properly with the locking fork in place under the hitch ball when I pulled out of the house earlier. I suppose the weight of the boat and trailer had kept it on. Later in the week, I took off the receiver with the ball attached, connected to the trailer and tried every which-way to get it to come off, but could not. I concluded that the hitching mechanism was working properly, but I had goofed up in hitching up the other day.
So, to be able to sleep at night, I figured I needed to modify the safety chain to allow it to be in place when the tongue is extended. I bought a 1/2" eye bolt, a big shackle and 3' of galvanized chain from a local Ace Hardware. I replaced the forward locking pin on the trailer with the eye bolt and fastened it with 2 nuts and a lock washer. I attached the shackle to one end of the chain, then snapped it on the eye bolt. When hitching up, I attach the other end of the safety chain to the truck hitch.
When I want to extend the tongue, I unbolt the eye bolt and the rear pin, extend the tongue, then bolt the eye bolt back onto the forward pin hole. A bit more hassle at the ramp, but I feel much more secure now.
