The Vanishing Hitch Pin – Adventures in Towing

Public service announcement and advice needed

Few days ago, I drove down to Durham, NC from Richmond, VA to pick up an enclosed trailer (empty). Before I left home, I changed the hitch for another with a different ball size. In the process, the old hitch pin lock had frozen, necessitating removal by destructive means. I purchased a brand new one, this one. Installed the hitch pin, installed the lock and gave it a firm tug. All seemed normal.

Drove down, picked up the trailer. About 45 minutes from home with the trailer, I went over a set of “whoops” on I-95 in Petersburg. It was then I felt a significant downward tug on the back of the truck. In the rear view mirror I could see the front of the trailer was riding much lower. My first thought was a flat tire, but as I started slowing down I could see and feel the front of the trailer moving around quite a bit. My next thought was the trailer tongue had popped off the hitch ball. Luckily, there wasn’t much traffic at the time and I was able to pull off onto a large paved ‘no-man’s-land’ area between the interstate and an on-ramp.

When I got out, was surprised when I saw the hitch had completely pulled out from the receiver and the hitch ball was still fully seated in the trailer tongue. The hitch pin was gone, no evidence of it or the end lock to be found. The chains had done their job and prevented the trailer tongue from hitting the pavement or allowing the trailer to choose its own lane of travel. No damage to the trailer or truck was realized. I feel very, very fortunate. A reminder for the importance of properly installed and adjusted safety chains.  Called my son and he brought me another hitch pin and I made it home without any further issues.

The root cause of this mishap certainly could be a result of me installing or setting the lock incorrectly. I have spent a few restless nights replaying that task in my mind over and over. I have decades of experience with towing. Regardless, did I not fully seat the lock on the pin or was this a case of infant mortality - a defective lock out of the package?

Prior to this, I have always had a certain level of towing anxieties. This event has ratcheted those much higher now. Those anxieties are telling me to fully weld the hitch into the receiver. But this isn’t practical. I prefer a locked hitch pin. Does anyone have a recommendation or experiences to suggest a certain hitch pin lock design or brand?

First off, this is what safety chains are for kids :) Glad the backup safety equipment did exactly what it was supposed to do. You can't prevent every random failure, but you can make sure it ends well. You obviously were properly prepared.

It wasn't locked, the lock fell off and the pin was able to work out. That's my take. So maybe you swap out the pin for a locking one when you're parked, and use a classic pin with clip when you're on the road?

I have this style, with the keyed end threaded into the pin.  I only use it for the snowmobile trailer with no issues, but I can't say how it would be with heavier loads.

The key is inserted to allow the bolt to spin separate from the cap which has flats to keep it from rotating loose. 
 

Locking pin

I've never ever taken the hitch off of my truck.  Changed the ball once or twice, but never taken the hitch off.  Might as well weld the pin on.

Years ago I was towing with a truck borrowed from a friend and a trailer borrowed from another friend. Going to pick up a car with an empty trailer the hitch pin failed and the trailer came off with the receiver still on the trailer. It was this type of pin. 

The swivel on the end must have sheared off or pivoted just right or something because it was gone. The safety chain hooks bent and came off the hitch. The trailer passed me in the median while I was slowing down (the emergency breakaway switch on the trailer was broken). Thankfully it stopped and didn't continue into oncoming traffic across the median. 

I can relate to the anxiety towing now. I never tow with borrowed equipment since that and always check all the connections anytime I am stopped. 

Keith Tanner said:

It wasn't locked, the lock fell off and the pin was able to work out. That's my take. 

Thanks.  That is the conclusion I am starting to reach as well.  Candidly, having difficulty resolving what is needed, or at least in the case of this lock, to ensure it is/was locked.  If a firm tug on the lock is not adequate to confirm it is properly installed, what else is needed?  Trying to prevent a recurrence.    

I'm with Keith on this one.  Both on the likely failure mode and the need for consistently hooking up all the safety stuff.  I've been using a locking hitch pin since I happened to notice that someone swiped the clip out of my conventional in the parking lot at Carlisle sometime around 1995.  I had one no-name lock fail the tug test after I thought I had locked it but I haven't had any other issues in the over 100k miles I've towed in the years since.  Actually, that's not true.  I once had to cut a lock off after it had rusted in place.

I'd buy another brand name lock and add the tug test to my trailer hookup routine.

I'm going to take this opportunity to remind everyone that the cable on the pull switch for the brakes should be just the right length that it activates the brakes just as the safety chains pull tight but not so short that it pulls out on corners.  I frequently see them clipped on as an afterthought.  I've never had to use mine and I hope I never do but I want it to work if the need arises.  It's not like you can hook it up in the moment.

I've had the trailer pop off the ball and yes........................chains are you're friend.

Is it possible and or safe to drill a hole in the locking hitch pin so that you put a locating clip in it? That way if the lock failed there would still be something holding it in place.

I use a classic pin with clip and a lock on the latch. I know it's not 100000% secure, but I have an open trailer. 

Tom1200 said:

I've had the trailer pop off the ball and yes........................chains are you're friend.

Is it possible and or safe to drill a hole in the locking hitch pin so that you put a locating clip in it? That way if the lock failed there would still be something holding it in place.

I'm also going to suggest this. Why not a lock and a clip? If nothing else it will greatly increase your peace of mind and reduce towing anxiety. 

Nothing bad ever happened but I never liked how my lockable pin was, I would check it 3-4x and always was nervous it wasn't totally locked. I drilled a 2nd larger hole in the end of a std pin and use a padlock. Not quite as secure, but better than nothing.

I have this locking pin: Trimax 5/8" Locking Hitch Pin

This is the second one I have bought. The first one I had for 6 years and towed frequently, including dragging a trailer 2900 miles when I moved. I like it because you cannot remove the key unless it is locked. It has a rubber cap and o-ring to keep crap out of the locking mechanism. The only reason I bought a second one is that the first one is 2900 miles away from me now. It got a little rusty after 4 years in Florida and 2 years in Idaho but the lock had zero corrosion in it and functioned just like the day I took it out of the package.

The only vanishing hitch pin story I have is when my folks and I were going on a camping trip and loaded up my dad's side by side on his trailer the day before we left. I know I put the R clip on the pin because I checked it before we went to bed. The next morning before leaving, I did a walk around to make sure the chains were clipped on and everything was good to go. I found the R clip was missing. The only thing I can think of is the neighbor's teenager took it because he was over there the day before when we were loading and was asking if we had a spare clip because he lost his. I gave my dad my spare clip and then bought him a locking hitch pin like I had when we got back.

Mr_Asa said:

I've never ever taken the hitch off of my truck.  Changed the ball once or twice, but never taken the hitch off.  Might as well weld the pin on.

That can get you a ticket in some states. I doubt it has ever been used on its own, though. 

mtn (Forum Supporter) said:

Mr_Asa said:

I've never ever taken the hitch off of my truck.  Changed the ball once or twice, but never taken the hitch off.  Might as well weld the pin on.

That can get you a ticket in some states. I doubt it has ever been used on its own, though. 

I'm coming up on 1 million miles of leaving the hitch in various trucks and I've never gotten a ticket for it. Heck, on one truck in NY it was rusted in and there was no way to remove it. To be fair one reason I've never gotten a ticket may be that if I'm out of state there's a better than average chance that there's a trailer hooked to the truck.

There's one big downside to leaving a hitch in: if you get rear ended, you're more likely to end up with frame damage or whiplash type injuries.  The impact hitting the hitch ball keeps the bumper from doing its job and absorbing the impact, so more of it goes directly into the frame via the hitch. 

Paul_VR6 (Forum Supporter) said:

Nothing bad ever happened but I never liked how my lockable pin was, I would check it 3-4x and always was nervous it wasn't totally locked. I drilled a 2nd larger hole in the end of a std pin and use a padlock. Not quite as secure, but better than nothing.

Actually, using a padlock is a pretty good solution. Even if it's not locked it's not liable to fall out.

Mr_Asa said:

I've never ever taken the hitch off of my truck.  Changed the ball once or twice, but never taken the hitch off.  Might as well weld the pin on.

Different trailers have different hitch heights, so if you tow more than one trailer and want them both to be level, you'll want to swap out draw bars.

I am glad your safety chains worked. Thanks for sharing the story, if nothing else it's a good reminder for everyone to check their equipment. I usually use a non locking style pin with a spring pin through it. Those spring pins always felt secure to me. I don't generally leave a trailer connected where I am worried about it getting stolen. I used to use a tiny padlock through the pin when I had a metal rack that I would leave on my car. 
 

I've had one of these Master locking hitch pins since 2014, and it has been pretty reliable. 

https://www.amazon.com/Master-Lock-2866DAT-Receivers-Trailer/dp/B0009V1WS4/ref=sr_1_10?dchild=1&keywords=locking+5%2F8+hitch+pin&qid=1613770131&sr=8-10

Unfortunately I lost the key and had to cut it off with the angle grinder last week.  Now I need to replace it, and after hearing this story I'm thoroughly terrified.  All of the locking hitch pins on Amazon have reviews where either a) the lock corrodes and can't be opened or b) it comes loose like in the OP.  The Master pin that I had has reviews citing both of those problems.

Anyone have a battle-tested locking hitch pin that they really love?  I could use a recommendation.  Right now I'm tempted to stick with the old school non-locking cotter pin type.

In reply to rslifkin :

It's also makes it more likely to get your truck totaled in a rear ended. It's a big lever, and it does not take much of an impact to bend the end of the frame. New trucks use high strength steel that is not supposed to be bent back- they have to replace the whole frame or total the truck, for what looks like minor damage. You are also more likely to get your truck vandalized when someone walking through a parking lot finds your tow bar with their shin. 

In reply to ShinnyGroove (Forum Supporter) :

I like the one I posted the link to above. The key mechanism prevents it from unthreading so you can use anti seize on the mechanism to avoid corrosion. The rubber cap on the lock side keeps water out of the key mechanism. 
 

I can't say how it would hold up to a potential thief, but it seems to do fine with winter salt and slush. 

WillG80 said:

Tom1200 said:

I've had the trailer pop off the ball and yes........................chains are you're friend.

Is it possible and or safe to drill a hole in the locking hitch pin so that you put a locating clip in it? That way if the lock failed there would still be something holding it in place.

I'm also going to suggest this. Why not a lock and a clip? If nothing else it will greatly increase your peace of mind and reduce towing anxiety. 

I thought about this as well in one of my recent, middle of the night, anxiety induced, brainstorming sessions.  I have seen some locking pins that are long enough to make this easily accomplished.  

I've used the OPs style pin and lock for 15 years and had no problems.  I have noticed though you do need to make sure it locks in... but you need to do that with any lock.

Mr_Asa said:

I've never ever taken the hitch off of my truck.  Changed the ball once or twice, but never taken the hitch off.  Might as well weld the pin on.

This makes you about 1000% more likely to smash your shin into the berkeleying hitch and turn the air blue cursing from the pain.

My hitches come out as soon as I am done pulling the trailer.

mtn (Forum Supporter) said:

Mr_Asa said:

I've never ever taken the hitch off of my truck.  Changed the ball once or twice, but never taken the hitch off.  Might as well weld the pin on.

That can get you a ticket in some states. I doubt it has ever been used on its own, though. 

If you're walking close enough to my car that you can knock your shin into my hitch, you deserve what you get and more.  Have some respect for other peoples' property.

The hitch in the RX-7 has no pin, because there is no separate tongue, the hitch in the S40 and later the S60R stay permanently on the car.  I figure that it is better to leave the tongue in there to rattle around than it is to remove it, have extra E36 M3 floating around in the trunk, and allow the reciever to develop a thick scale of rust so you can't re-insert the tongue the next time you want to tow something.