2 in Bulldog coupler FAILED

[rideadeuce]

Coming back from a beautiful trip to West Key, FL. pulled into camp outside of Tampa and found this...

Hopefully we can limp into town and get it replaced with a 2-5/16 in coupler rated for 12,500lbs. Saw a members post a while back and almost upgraded then but decided to wait. Luckily, the family is okay. Best to everyone, safe travels. Mike

Edited March 14 by rideadeuce

[CRM]

6 minutes ago, rideadeuce said:

Hopefully we can limp into town and get it replaced with a 2-5/16 in coupler rated for 12,500lbs.

 

I wouldn't move another inch If I were you. Pick one up and install it right there.

[DavePhelps]

Whoa! I would not try and drive that anywhere. At the least, get a mobile welder to come out to weld it back together so you can safely and carefully get to a shop where a new hitch can be installed. Unless you are able to install the new hitch where you are. It looks like there's rust where the hitch broke apart? Could have been cracked for a while. Never thought this could happen to a Bulldog Hitch. Thank heavens you weren't cruising down the freeway when that happened, that would have been pretty ugly. Glad you are all safe and sound. 🙏

Dave

[jd1923]

OMG, I've seen a lot of automotive failures, but NEVER one of this kind!
The Bulldog ("think Bulldog" means strength) should be an extremely strong hardened steel connection. I've towed 30 some trailers in my lifetime and NEVER would I contemplate this kind if occurrence! 🤕

Trailer hitches have issues, but NEVER of this kind! I'm a Mechanical Engineer with over 45 years of automotive restoration experience. This of course, is NOT, not right. This pisses me off! 

It appears that somehow you came out of this OK...
Thank God, and God bless you and yours!
You purchased a relatively new OTT, and tG your OTT did not break away and end up upside down in a ditch!
You have a strong liability claims again OTT, Bulldog, and perhaps other parties.

Not only should you not move, for a replacement, for a welder, or absolutley anything else. You have already good pics here but take another 100 pics at every possible angle.

If your Oliver is insured, file a claim asap. And if so, don't touch ANYTHING.

From our family to yours, God Bless you and yours! You must have good Charma, because without it... you would not be writing about this but instead living the reality of this disaster.

[Patriot]

Mike,

Wow. First and foremost glad you and your family are ok. Seeing the failure of your BD hitch is scary and deeply concerning to say the least. Oliver Service and the manufacturer of the Bulldog hitch should be made aware of this failure as soon as possible. This failure could have resulted in a really bad accident in so many ways. As others have mentioned take lots of photos, as every picture tells a story. 

As time allows, please keep us posted on any further details if and when you learn the possible cause of this failure. 

Again, most importantly, so glad you and your family are safe.

Patriot🇺🇸

 

 

Edited March 14 by Patriot

[Minnesota Oli]

Looking at the second picture the tear in the side of the hitch shows a rusty fracture except for the last half inch. This tells me it was disaster in the making for awhile and it's another area to pay attention to in our walk around inspection. Will be interesting to hear the official analysis of the cause of the  failure. I believe you have guardian angels looking out for you and your family for it could have been a much worse outcome then just a breakdown in the middle of a camping trip.     

[Steph and Dud B]

Glad you are safe. That could have been catastrophic. Many, many questions here. I agree, the rust seems to indicate there has been damage in that area for some time.  Any unusual history to that hitch? Involved in any previous accident/impact? Used in severe conditions, off-road, etc.? Exposed to salt water/road deicers? Modified in any way?

Also agree you should not move or alter the hitch in any way until you've contacted your insurance company, Oliver, Bulldog, and possibly the NHTSA: https://www.nhtsa.gov/report-a-safety-problem#index

Good luck!

Edited March 14 by Steph and Dud B
Typo

[rideadeuce]

"On the road again!". Ramblers, I do feel fortunate that nothing serious happened to my family or anyone else on the road. When saner minds prevailed and after a few hours of sleep. I got out the tools and took off the broken coupler and headed to a Bulldog dealer (A and A Hitch) in Bradenton, FL. Mechanic/welder since 1985, said he had never seen one do that. 

Upgraded to the 2- 5/16 in coupler. 12,500 lb pull capacity and 1875 lb tongue load.  A and A Hitch drilled the holes for me. 

Weight distribution device was never used (not needed?) pulls like and sits like an arrow, tongue weight always within spec (Yamaha 2200 gen since day 1 in basket), maybe 20K on frame, 2018 Tundra pulled without incident since day 1, mostly beach, MI and CO trips. 

Special thanks to @Mossemi and others for feedback and willingness to help. It really made me feel better and helped me make a better decision on how to rectify. 

Also, when looking at the broken coupler you can see where there was a seminal break that is rusted and then the subsequent clean fracture. The only thing holding it together was the top plate that was bent up. Check proximal to the neck for cracks. This happed without warning and I did not see the cracks from the outside. 

Side note: I like the gray paint. It may help someone see cracks vs. the standard black.

Best, 

Mike

Edited March 14 by rideadeuce

[rideadeuce]

duplicate

Edited March 14 by rideadeuce

[Rivernerd]

I, too, am stunned to see your photos. 

Kudos to you for thinking to unbolt the original coupler and locate a replacement.

Your report makes me glad we upgraded to the 2-5/16" coupler when we bought Hull #1291!

[Steph and Dud B]

I think I would still file a report with the NHTSA. This is probably just a one-off, but on the odd chance this has happened to other Bulldog hitches, maybe NHTSA will see a pattern and initiate a recall. There was a reasonable chance that failure could have led to injury.

[ChrisMI]

19 minutes ago, rideadeuce said:

Weight distribution device was never used (not needed?) pulls like and sits like an arrow, tongue weight always within spec (Yamaha 2200 gen since day 1 in basket), maybe 20K on frame, 2018 Tundra pulled without incident since day 1, mostly beach, MI and CO trips. 

It had nothing to do with your failure but I’d seriously consider adding a WD hitch to your trailer.  You have a lot of tongue weight with your front storage box loaded, well above what’s recommended for a 1/2 ton. 

[rich.dev]

@rideadeuce Very glad you and your family are ok! If you haven't already, I would strongly suggest you take your fully loaded setup (Tv and trailer) through a CAT scale. I will be surprised if you're not very close to or exceeding the payload/cargo capacity of your 1/2 truck, and possibly your rear gross axle weight rating (GAWR). That will also give you an indication of your tongue weight. I have a very nice excel spread sheet (if you don't have one) that will show you what your loads are in relation to your axles, cargo capacity etc. Let me know if you want me to PM it to you. Anyway, just a suggestion, but again, very glad you and your family are ok! 🙏 

[Geronimo John]

16 hours ago, DavePhelps said:

It looks like there's rust where the hitch broke apart?

 

1 hour ago, Steph and Dud B said:

I think I would still file a report with the NHTSA. This is probably just a one-off, but on the odd chance this has happened to other Bulldog hitches, maybe NHTSA will see a pattern and initiate a recall. There was a reasonable chance that failure could have led to injury.

Is there any evidence of galvanic corrosion from the SS bolts, Bulldog and aluminum frame?

I agree fully on submitting a report to the NHTSA.  Your post has 85% of the info they will need. Process on line is easy.

GJ

[mossemi]

@rideadeuce

Thank you for the follow up and closure on your Bulldog coupler failure.  Safe travels home!

Mossey

[DavePhelps]

Please post any future findings about this break.

Has anyone tried bending the hitch back together to see if the break closes cleanly?
I am seeing some things in the pics that are a little disturbing. Like in the above pics where there is rust in the center of the fracture and clean bright metal at the top and bottom. Maybe someone else can explain how this can happen. The rust edges also appear to be radiused. I'm no metallurgist so can only comment to what I am seeing. Hopefully, there will be a good explanation in the future on how this happened. Again, very glad you are all safe and back on the road with the new and larger Bulldog.

Dave

[mountainoliver]

It’s difficult to tell from the pictures but the hitch doesn’t look like it has a gusset in the broken area. My 2 inch Bulldog hitch has a 3/16 thick gusset welded at an angle just behind the coupler and just in front of the tongue. The gusset is welded from side to side. If the broken hitch doesn’t have the gusset…that could make a difference. Either the hitch didn’t have the gusset and should have or it was older and maybe never had one in the design, which would mean that the design was changed at some point. Maybe because of weakness and some failures. If the broken hitch doesn’t have the gusset I’d start asking a lot of questions to the Bulldog folks to figure out why. Not necessarily pointing fingers but maybe finding out that you got an old design. If that’s the case, everyone should check that the gusset is in place. If not then replace the hitch with the newer upgraded version?

[mossemi]

11 hours ago, mountainoliver said:

My 2 inch Bulldog hitch has a 3/16 thick gusset welded at an angle just behind the coupler and just in front of the tongue. The gusset is welded from side to side. If the broken hitch doesn’t have the gusset…that could make a difference.

Would you post a picture of the gusset on your coupler.  We should all be on the same page concerning this equipment failure.

Mossey

[MAX Burner]

Our 2017 LEII #226 2" Bulldog has the gusset.  It's interesting that Mike's 2018 OTT was equipped with a non-gusseted BD (?).  We routinely check the torque values of the BD's 2 through-bolts and use the hitch scale to ensure our tongue weight is within limits.  MAX tongue wt measured has been just north of 485lbs, FYI.

This failure may have been a combination of several factors - older design w/o the welded gusset, metallurgical issues starting from manufacturing, excessive tongue wt., non-use of a weight distributing hitch connection between the Tundra and OTT, etc.  Mike, we're looking forward to any additional information you may learn about the BD failure - there's likely to be some of us thinking about going with the 2-5/16" option after reading through this thread.  Thanks for posting!

Bottom line is everyone's safe, many owner's have yet again learned some important attributes of our respective rigs, and @rideadeuce has a clean upgraded 2-5/16" BD!

Cheers, ALL - Stay Safe out there!

[Steph and Dud B]

@mountainoliver, is this the gusset you're referring to? And, should I be concerned about that weld on the left side of this photo?

[mountainoliver]

We’re out of town right now so can’t get a photo of mine but, yes that is the gusset that I was referring to. The 2 5/16 hitch however doesn’t have a gusset but instead has a tube that extends into the formed steel section and is heavily welded around. 

Edited March 15 by mountainoliver
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[rideadeuce]

 

 

 

@mountainoliver @Steph and Dud B That is very interesting. Mine definitely did not have that gusseted welded section where the break occurred. I wonder when they made the change and why they didn't put out a recall if that is the case. Or mine was just defective from the factory. More pics of others pre-2018 might be interesting. 

@Geronimo John I didn't see any signs of galvanic corrosion. Bolts, aluminum and steel around bolt sleeves looked good to me. 

@MAX Burner I am just curious. How can the max tongue wt max be 485 lbs when the TT dry is 4900 lbs. A basic rule of thumb is tongue wt max 10% of total wt. Through various online sources, I have always considered the V-8 Tundra's to be in the 600-700 lb range. I would appreciate any input on this. I mean if you can overload your max tongue wt with a 55lb generator in the front basket I would be shocked again. And correct me if I am wrong, the Tundra pulls the Ollie incredibly well without a sway bar or WDS. SO why not just OEM the 2-5/16th coupler instead of the marginal 2 in. Lots of variables here to think about for me personally and fellow owners as well. 

BTW, we are back home safe and sound in good ol' Tennessee!

Edited March 15 by rideadeuce

[Geronimo John]

5 hours ago, MAX Burner said:

the BD failure - there's likely to be some of us thinking about going with the 2-5/16" option after reading through this thread.

As you know, I had OTT build our Ollie with the 2 5/16 BD.  Glad I did.  But if I had not, I would not toss a perfectly good 2" BD until it wore out.

The corrosion failure for this 2017 BB had to have occurred over a long period of time.  Could have been originated from a single salt exposure (Sea or salted roads)  environment.  Once the corrosion starts, you would not need such an environment for it to continue to propagate down the weld line.  If ignored all the way to failure.  

Either way, CAREFULLY inspecting our BD's (As well as all other rustable running gear) every couple of years and mechanically eliminating any rust and recoating should be added to our long term maintenance inspections. Especially if our rigs are stored in a salt air environment or are ever used on salted roads.  

GJ

[mossemi]

18 hours ago, mountainoliver said:

My 2 inch Bulldog hitch has a 3/16 thick gusset welded at an angle just behind the coupler and just in front of the tongue.

I also have the gusset on my 2" Bulldog coupler, which is OEM installed on a 2017 LE2 hull #193.

Mossey

[CRM]

1 hour ago, rideadeuce said:

 

 

That is very interesting. Mine definitely did not have that gusseted welded section where the break occurred. I wonder when they made the change and why they didn't put out a recall if that is the case. Or mine was just defective from the factory. More pics of others pre-2018 might be interesting.

 

Our 2010 has the gusset and I can take a pic for you, if you would like. I'm guessing yours was a defect right from the factory.