Bret1972
Registered Member
- State
- CA
For the past two months I’ve just left my boat and trailer connected to my truck because I’ve been going out salmon fishing so much. I just pull it straight into my driveway and when I want to go out fishing I back it out and go. However, last night when returning home my truck broke down and I had to have my wife come in our other vehicle so that I could get my boat home and have my truck towed to a shop. When I began to jack up the trailer and remove it from my trucks trailer hitch a bolt gently just fell off onto the ground. I’ve never used the swinging function of the trailer hitch to save space because I’ve never had a need for it. So it’s never been used by me. Does the weight of the boat on the trailer put a lot of tension on this bolt? When I pull my truck into the driveway with the trailer attached should I be swinging down the trailer Jack to take some of the pressure off of the trailers tongue?
I’m going to go to the hardware store today to get a new bolt and nut, but it doesn’t appear like the one that was on there is a self locking nut or has any washers. I’m a little bit concerned that over time it may vibrate loose even though the original one never had that. What are peoples suggestions? And lastly, aside from checking every single bolt on my trailer on a periodic basis what can I do to maybe prevent this from happening again in the future?
I’m going to go to the hardware store today to get a new bolt and nut, but it doesn’t appear like the one that was on there is a self locking nut or has any washers. I’m a little bit concerned that over time it may vibrate loose even though the original one never had that. What are peoples suggestions? And lastly, aside from checking every single bolt on my trailer on a periodic basis what can I do to maybe prevent this from happening again in the future?