Pullrite Superglide Hitch Failure!!!

[HBarlow]

I was flipping pages in the latest issue of Trailer Life magazine, the November 2008 issue, this morning and read an article describing and discussing a major safety issue that might be of interest to a TDR member.

Beginning on page 18 in the "RV Action Line" column, a reader's letter described a situation in which his Pullrite SuperGlide adjustable hitch failed while towing and dropped his fifth wheel travel trailer on the street. The reader reported it this way:

"......... while making a sharp right turn at an intersection, my trailer unceremoniously detached itself from the hitch and fell into the street."

The hapless RV owner reported that the damage to his truck and trailer cost $8,000 to repair. He was fortunate that the accident occured at low speed while making a turn and his trailer apparently didn't hit another car.

The letter writer requested assistance from the magazine in obtaining compensation from Pullrite, the hitch manufacturer whom he blamed for the accident.

The magazine article included a reply from a Pullrite VP advising that Pullrite engineers studied photos of the hitch and concluded the hitch failure was not due to a design flaw or mechanical failure but was caused by the hitch owner's failure to lubricate the hitch as prescribed by the manufacturer. The failure and cause was described in detail and placed the blame on dry, unlubricated metal hitch parts which galled under normal usage due to lack of proper lubrication.

I advise anyone who owns one of these hitches to read a copy of this letter to the editor in Trailer Life.

I do not own a Pullrite hitch, know essentially nothing about them, and neither criticize nor endorse them.