Some people like to bust my balls for being overly conservative and even a bit anal retentive about prioritizing proper equipment in good working order over go fast goodies.
I was driving this truck down 512 into Puyallup when the FACTORY hitch failed, causing the trailer to sway out of control and jackknife the truck at 60mph:
WADOT investigation pictures of the truck being recovered:
The Waggy hulk that was being towed home (the 401, T18, and Dana 20 all lived):
No pictures of the trailer, just imagine a tandem axle trailer with a tweaked frame, bent hitch, and mangled fender.
This was not my truck. I had asked a friend to borrow his trailer to tow with the Suburban I owned at the time and he insisted/talked me into taking his truck as well.
As I was descending 512 into Puyallup, the trailer began to sway. My first action was to get on the trailer brakes and straighten it out, but the swaying just kept getting worse. As a last resort I then stomped on the gas to try and pull out of it, but that didn't work, either. The truck and trailer quickly jackknifed at what I figure to be about 60mph, pushing me into the guard rail, at which point the truck did an immediate 180 degree spin, flipped upside down on top of the gaurd rail, slid for a bit, then barrel rolled down the hill. The trailer seperated from the truck, flipped upside down, the tie down chains broke, and the Waggy and trailer skidded down the shoulder upside down. After they X-rayed me about a million different ways at Good Samaritan hospital in Puyallup, I left with 3 stitches in one of my fingers, scratches on my left arm and shoulder, and a lot of pain. I consider myself lucky to just be alive.
Some jacks, tools, wood blocks, a pair of cylinder heads, etc that were in the bed of truck were ejected into the path of traffic that was following me down the hill. Unfortunately, it was a group of motorcyclists, 5 of whom crashed and 4 of which suffered injuries. 2 had abrasions and soreness, 1 broke his arm and 1 broke his ankle.
A subsequent investigation focused on why the hitch receiver had seperated from the vehicle. It was revealed that the factory hitch was missing a couple of bolts from when it was originally installed and several others had loosened up in the time since. The investigator said that there was basically nothing anybody could have done once it began to shift around and push the back of the truck around. The fact that a 2 foot long draw bar had been used to compensate for an extended length camper probably did not help matters, either.
Between personal injuries, medical costs, the vehicle losses, gaurdrail, and a settlement paid to me by my friend's insurance to not sue him or them for the faulty equipment, the total damages were probably near the $200,000 range.
You're Goddamn right I'll be overly conservative and even anal retentive about towing from now on and I don't give 2 sh!ts what anyone else thinks about it.