Re: [VAL] Hitch problems

["Tom" <thomm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Jack,

What I was referring to when I mentioned liability was this -- any
instructions not followed correctly as per the manufacturer by consumers
will void any implied or stated warranty by the manufacturer most likely.
That is, if someone were to use anything on the threaded portion of these
parts and there was a failure of these parts due to a manufacturing
defect -- the consumer would not be covered because the manufacturer would
most likely say that whatever the consumer did was what led to the failure
of the parts.  The manufacturer would be home free and clear if they can
ever point there finger and blame someone else even if it really was their
parts that failed and might have even caused an accident.

I was trying to say before that if you follow the manufacturers directions
to the 'nth degree you will be OK should the parts ever fail from a
liability standpoint.  My point being -- why give the manufacturer any
excuse to deny liability on *their* part?  When it comes to having to do
warranty work or pay for damages you know "no one" really wants to pay out
of  *their* pocket -- including the manufacturer.  Why open ourselves up to
any liability for failure of the parts as has been discussed here like the
failure of welds, etc.?

As far as the importance of torquing parts to specs -- that's really
important even if you are not hanging an engine on an airplane.  The values
they give you as a consumer are there for a reason -- it covers the maker's
butt. ;)  And, if everyone follows the safety directions it also makes for a
better experience on the highway for all of us.  Granted, there will always
be someone who won't follow the specs and then go looking for someone to
blame other than himself -- I'm not speaking of you here -- we see it every
day, don't we.

Tom