Hunter,

Personally I know of only two break aways happening. The first was when I was small and was riding with my dad when an old and rickety utility trailer came lose. It stayed behind the car because of the chains and low speed. The other break away involved a late model 34ft. Airstream. The owners just left their campground from an over night stay. They were going along, came to a R.R.
crossing that had a slight rise ---- then clunk !! The trailer came loose from the tow rig !! And it was sitting right on the tracks !! What happened was that during the night some jerk had removed their hitch pin. When they took off the next morning the weight of the trailer made for enough tension in the hitch to keep the hitch from pulling apart. When they got to the R.R. crossing that had a little grade, the up/down movement released the grip from the tension in the hitch, and away it dropped!!! Yes, they got the Airstream out of harm's way in time, but they had some fast and tense moments!!!!! ( It was at low speed also.)

Two lessons I see here. 1)-- Always check out your hitch before hitting the road. (Even after just a short time I do because of the jerks that are out there and mechanical failures that could happen. 2)-- Always carry an extra hitch pin with you and consider using the locking style of hitch pin to keep vandals at bay.

Certain years of Suburbans hitch platforms tend to work loose. I've checked mine out. On any tow rig and hitch system there should always be periodic checks to make sure that things are in good and safe working order. Land Yacht Harbor in Lacey, WA has had safety checks and talks during some of their rallys that I've attended.

I've personally towed many, many miles with a number of different units and tow rigs and have never had any problems, thankfully. A "break away" isn't something that I worry about, but I do take precautions. My main concern in towing a nice vintage Airstream is in being rear ended by some airhead. I always use defensive drivind techniques, especially when I'm towing.

Pat

HHamp5246@aol.com wrote:

Do "breakaways" happen often? Has it ever happened to anyone on this list?
Anyone you know?

Hunter
94 Sovereign