1 year service ; Coupler bent??!!!

[Karin]

RLTLEGG

We love our 2021 Oliie II and are at the Mothership for our first 1 year maintenance appointment.  Got a call from service informing us that our coupler is bent!!!? 
We upgraded to the larger coupler and ball because we like to overdo it with safety and tow with an F-250 .  The coupler was back ordered and we have only had it on the Ollie for about 6 months.   We have ZERO ideas as to why it would be bent.  No impact; no accidents.  Can just a bad highway pothole cause coupler bending???? 

Edited December 14, 2022 by Karin
Grammer

[Mike and Carol]

Your Bulldog hitch is bent?  Are you able to hitch without much effort?  Have you noticed anything odd looking?  We have the standard 2” Bulldog and have been over lots of bumpy roads and way-to-large potholes and everything is fine.  This is the first time I’ve heard of a bent hitch.  What does service think might have happened?  

[Karin]

Yes!  We are shocked.  We have noticed nothing peculiar.  It is a Bulldog hitch and we upgraded to the new larger size for extra peace of mind. They say the coupler is bent.  We are waiting to hear from service again.  Service advisor suspected some sort of impact but we have had zero incidents or problems.  Hooking up has been a breeze as well. 🤷‍♀️

Edited December 14, 2022 by Karin

[Steph and Dud B]

Who installed the larger hitch?

[Karin]

My husband installed the upgraded hitch under Oliver’s instruction.  The new one was installed with new bolts at 80 ft. lbs. Thoughts?

Edited December 15, 2022 by Karin

[John E Davies]

These couplers are heavy duty forged steel and I see no way for one to bend without any other signs of damage. The big coupler is rated for 12’,500 pounds! You need more info from Service. What exactly is damaged? The hinged door or its pin? The only way that could happen is if you towed with the door open (not latched). Maybe the manufacturer should get involved. I am sure they would want to know about any faults.

IMHO you would see the ball snap clean off before the coupler failed.

Good luck.

John Davies

Spokane WA

 

 

[Karin]

Thank you John.  Those are encouraging words to us because we thought the same thing.  Service asked us if anything had happened because we removed our storage basket.  We have removed the storage basket because it interfered with our truck’s backup-assist camera’s functioning.

We are waiting to hear from the Oliver Service Department Manager after he looks more closely into the matter.  

[Steph and Dud B]

Could the coupler have been damaged before you installed it? I've heard of hitches getting damaged in shipment, even big fifth wheel hitches. 

[SeaDawg]

Please do keep us posted.  This is something I've never  heard of, in fifteen years.

[Karin]

Will do!  Thank you!

[Geronimo John]

Please Please provide your tow vehicle and trailer info in your signature block.  Thank you,

PS:  Hope OTT, Bulldog, Anderson can figure this one out.

GJ

[Karin]

John, I can’t figure out how to add the tow vehicle information, hull # and model?!
I don’t see an option in my account settings…

Hull#942;  Last 2021 Legacy Elite II, Ford F-250 6.7 L 

Edited December 15, 2022 by Karin

[topgun2]

2 hours ago, Karin said:

John, I can’t figure out how to add the tow vehicle information, hull # and model?!
I don’t see an option in my account settings…

Left click on your avatar

left click on "account Settings"

find "Signature" on left side of screen

left click on "Signature"

Enter the info and left click on save

Bill

[ScubaRx]

3 hours ago, Karin said:

John, I can’t figure out how to add the tow vehicle information, hull # and model?!
I don’t see an option in my account settings…

Hull#942;  Last 2021 Legacy Elite II, Ford F-250 6.7 L 

I added this info to your Signature. It's under where you Edit your profile. Feel free to change it to whatever you desire.

[Katjo]

That is shocking the coupler is bent with you not knowing/feeling how! Can’t even imagine that bending. 
I agree with John, you need more info from Oliver.

Please keep us updated. 

[Karin]

So we left the Oliver Service Center about two hours ago and Mike in service was puzzled as he has only seen 2 other bent couplers.  (One had been severely torqued/twisted on an uneven surface while parking at a campsite and the other was with a jackknifed/rolled accident).  Our damage remains a mystery (no other signs of stress).  Since the part was only about 6 months old, Oliver did a warranty exchange on the coupler and charged us for the labor to install a new one.  Thanks for the group comments and support!

[SNY SD UP]

When backing up or turning, did you happen to "jack-knife"?  Your situation is different than ours in that we have the storage basket attached.  I do not know what that would look like when just the hitch is involved. 

I did jack-knife on our last outing putting a dimple on one side of the TV rear bumper.  It was followed by "Pounding on the window" and the mouthing of "You hurt my truck".

By the end of the trip, I had a matching one on the other side of the bumper...  

 

Regards, B-out

[Karin]

So we left the Oliver Service Center about two hours ago and Mike in service was puzzled as he has only seen 2 other bent couplers.  (One had been severely torqued/twisted on an uneven surface while parking at a campsite and the other was with a jackknifed/rolled accident).  Our damage remains a mystery (no other signs of stress).  Since the part was only about 6 months old, Oliver did a warranty exchange on the coupler and charged us for the labor to install a new one.  Thanks for the group comments and support!

SNY SD UP,

I’m sorry to hear about your truck bumper!  Our close friends also turned the basket into their new truck bumper with a sharp turn.  We removed ours because it interferes with the camera backup assist feature on the Ford F-250.  This backup assist feature also provides protection to prevent jackknifing by providing a “red zone” on our truck screen and it screams at you, if you dare get too close to jackknifing ….

 

[mossemi]

10 hours ago, Karin said:

This backup assist feature also provides protection to prevent jackknifing by providing a “red zone” on our truck screen and it screams at you, if you dare get too close to jackknifing ….

I certainly don’t like being screamed at, but the backup assist seems like a useful feature.

Mossey

[Rivernerd]

19 hours ago, SNY SD UP said:

I did jack-knife on our last outing putting a dimple on one side of the TV rear bumper.  It was followed by "Pounding on the window" and the mouthing of "You hurt my truck".

By the end of the trip, I had a matching one on the other side of the bumper..

That is precisely why we did not order the front basket with our new Elite II. 

When I had a similar experience with my raft trailer 20+ years ago, I added a 3-foot straight section of steel to extend that trailer's A-frame tongue, then put a different coupler on it.  Now when I have to jack knife that trailer, no bumper damage.

Since I could not realistically add length to the Oliver tongue, we opted to forego the basket--and carry the stuff that could have been in the basket in the back of our Tundra tow vehicle.

[Boudicca908]

On 12/14/2022 at 6:33 PM, Karin said:

They say the coupler is bent.

Any chance a photo could be added to this thread?