Should have listened to Porthole! Pics of Carnage!

rustyshakelford

Well-known member
Well Duane gets to tell me "I told you so"!

I weighed the trailer and truck twice and the weights were spot on. I was less than 16k gross trailer and ~2600-2700 on pin weight. Total was right at 25k, but with the new truck, ill be a little heavier since i have more fuel.

I ordered the Reese Goosebox to get more bed space and to keep from having to take the companion out all the time when i need the GN. I ordered it thru reese hitches to go for 1k shipped. I called and inquired thru heartland to comfirm the pinbox and even pulled the old one off to double check. lippert 1621HD.

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The hitch arrived in about a week and a half. I sold my companion in 2 days for $50 less than i paid for it so i was know committed. The day it was due to arrive i got word that my wifes grandpa had a stroke and was in a coma so we would need to leave in the morning to get over there. The hitch arrived while i was at work at the part-time job so we all loaded up and drove the 2 miles to the house to install this thing! We put the hitch up and could only get 6 of the 8 bolts to line up. There was no way for it to work. I called reese's tech support team and asked for guidance. they wanted pics so i sent them some. their response was for me to drill new holes in the goosebox itself. I confirmed thats what the engineers said to do and they it would not impact my warranty. they gave the green light. i went to home depot for some new drill bits and we got to work.

finally got it mounted and torqued down. While i had the help, i hooked up to it to check the range i had since i have the large toolbox in the back. It didnt work. I couldnt turn without hitting it. So we pulled out the tool box and tried it again. When air bag is full, i can almost go 90 degrees. the only thing that is close to hitting something is the J-box for all the trailer wiring. I was good to go!

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next day, hitched up and had to add air to the bag. Thought that was odd. We hit the road and recieved word that here G-pa had passed. pulling the trailer was like being hooked to a cloud! I couldnt beleive the difference the hitch made. all was good for about 30 mins of the 11 hr trip. the trailer started to ride very rough.

long story short i had to add air every 5 miles. the bag would bleed off everything until it was empty. stopping so frequently was not an option and it was now late at night. back and kidneys were begging for a break.

get to our destination that we have been to before and get backed in about 0230 and catch some sleep. I go to unhook and see this!

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here are some shots with the bag deflated, then inflated

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the loss of clearance was just enough to let the bed get into the trailer and put a nice hole in the trailer and crunch the bed up. the caps cover alot of the damage but it is pressed down a bit.

reese has no idea why its not holding air. i think the pin weight coming down is causing the pressure relief valve to open and purge all the air. trailer is at the shop getting warranty work done and then ill tackle the hitch. supposedly reese has opened up a claim and will pay for the damage since their product failed but we will see.

here is the new truck and trailer. new truck pulls great and get 2 mpgs better than the 2011. im thinking the 4.10s are the reason for the better mileage and power! also, the brake controller is a huge improvement

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brett
 

porthole

Retired
Well Duane gets to tell me "I told you so"!

Nope - not gonna do it. Sorry to see that. Looks like it was just enough of catch of that screw that you couldn't feel it. Must have been on the turns that are not flat.
At least the plastic trim will hide most of the damage. The short piece on my tailgate step was $40. I 'll take a guess that you got about $120 there without the paint.

On the bright side - now any future dents on the truck and trailer will not be so painful!

Our condolences on your grand father.
 

rustyshakelford

Well-known member
Nope - not gonna do it. Sorry to see that. Looks like it was just enough of catch of that screw that you couldn't feel it. Must have been on the turns that are not flat.
At least the plastic trim will hide most of the damage. The short piece on my tailgate step was $40. I 'll take a guess that you got about $120 there without the paint.

On the bright side - now any future dents on the truck and trailer will not be so painful!

Our condolences on your grand father.

i think with some touch up paint and maybe a new bed cap cover id be good to go. at a minimum a little paint so it wont rust. i had to get the nose in the ditch a little and with the companion it was never a problem but since the trailer wasnt riding at the right height, it made a little contact. lindsays grandfather was the one who passed. he full-timed for several years after retiring and ended up staying in tennesse and were park hosts at Dollywood. He was a great man and its a shame. his death was full of irony though. he was in columbus MS for his friends funeral. He was a pallbearer one day, the next he was in the hospital. They think he had a blood clot break loose from carrying the casket and that was what caused a massive stroke. He never had a chance but was hanging on for a day or two.

thanks for the kind words.

brett
 
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