Towing Accident - Report - Pirate4x4.Com : 4x4 and Off-Road Forum

Benny · 09-13-2002, 05:37 AM

This happened to my Brother, not me. I am smarter than to do something like this.

My brothers friend drove into Portland to make a delivery. He drives (just bought) a '77 Chevy 3/4 ton 4x4 longbed truck. The truck died and he doesnt know much about cars so he called my brother. My brother knows a little about cars. Enough to check for gas, spark, ect...

Well, my brother doesnt exactly know what the problem is (still at his house) so he goes and gets a trailer. The trailer belongs to a friend of ours. He doesnt tell him he is borrowing it, but its an emergency, and has been done before.

FIRST MISTAKE...

My brother drives a '81 2wd 1/2 chevy with NO TRAILER BRAKE CONTROLER. (obviously, if he had woken me up to help, I would have warned him against it)

So he get out there to get the truck. He cant fix it there, so they load it up on the trailer. They get going out of town and start a minor decline.

I am not sure exactly what his story was, but basically he said that the tire on the towed truck broke through the board on the trailer and jolted the trailer pretty good. Then a tire blew out on teh trailer and the trailer started swinging around and he attempted to slow down. Remember, No trailer brakes. The trailer and load probably weigh close to double of the towing truck. The trailer starts pushing the tow rig and swinging around all 3 lanes on the road. The trailer ended up scraping the cement devider and damaging the PERFECT '77 chevy that was on the trailer. He said he was only going 40 mph at the time.

The trailer was not built for this heavy of load. the tongue was 1 2x4 tubing coming straight out and 2 other 2x4 tubing angling back to the deck, but only half way to the end of the tongue.

The deck is only 14" long making the back of the truck stick out further. And the tires on the trailer are centered. Meaning he had no toungue weight.

I thought he had ripped the bumper of his 2wd chevy (no receiver hitch) but that wasnt the case. I had 3rd hand info until I got to the scene.

I will try to get pics of everything later. Its not that bad but it could easily have been WAY worse.

RECOVERY...

To get this twisted mess home, My dad called my cousin that owns a tow truck. He was busy, but let my dad borrow the tow truck anyhow. The trailer was to damaged to tow home, so we loaded the trailer and truck (still setup) onto the tow truck. We had to remove the side rails on the rollback to get it to work. The tires only had half the tread sitting on the deck. It was kinda scary, but it worked. We were sure to chain it down well too...

Norm · 09-13-2002, 01:14 PM

This should be titled " Why my brothers a dumbass" . Glad he didn't anyone.

jp junkie · 09-14-2002, 09:56 AM

A prime example of how natural selection works.

StinkBug · 09-18-2002, 05:33 PM

09-13-2002, 05:37 AM	#1 (permalink)
Benny Zeus of the Sluice Join Date: Jun 2000 Member # 1129 Location: North Idaho Posts: 4,667	Towing Accident - Report This happened to my Brother, not me. I am smarter than to do something like this. My brothers friend drove into Portland to make a delivery. He drives (just bought) a '77 Chevy 3/4 ton 4x4 longbed truck. The truck died and he doesnt know much about cars so he called my brother. My brother knows a little about cars. Enough to check for gas, spark, ect... Well, my brother doesnt exactly know what the problem is (still at his house) so he goes and gets a trailer. The trailer belongs to a friend of ours. He doesnt tell him he is borrowing it, but its an emergency, and has been done before. FIRST MISTAKE... My brother drives a '81 2wd 1/2 chevy with NO TRAILER BRAKE CONTROLER. (obviously, if he had woken me up to help, I would have warned him against it) So he get out there to get the truck. He cant fix it there, so they load it up on the trailer. They get going out of town and start a minor decline. I am not sure exactly what his story was, but basically he said that the tire on the towed truck broke through the board on the trailer and jolted the trailer pretty good. Then a tire blew out on teh trailer and the trailer started swinging around and he attempted to slow down. Remember, No trailer brakes. The trailer and load probably weigh close to double of the towing truck. The trailer starts pushing the tow rig and swinging around all 3 lanes on the road. The trailer ended up scraping the cement devider and damaging the PERFECT '77 chevy that was on the trailer. He said he was only going 40 mph at the time. The trailer was not built for this heavy of load. the tongue was 1 2x4 tubing coming straight out and 2 other 2x4 tubing angling back to the deck, but only half way to the end of the tongue. The deck is only 14" long making the back of the truck stick out further. And the tires on the trailer are centered. Meaning he had no toungue weight. I thought he had ripped the bumper of his 2wd chevy (no receiver hitch) but that wasnt the case. I had 3rd hand info until I got to the scene. I will try to get pics of everything later. Its not that bad but it could easily have been WAY worse. RECOVERY... To get this twisted mess home, My dad called my cousin that owns a tow truck. He was busy, but let my dad borrow the tow truck anyhow. The trailer was to damaged to tow home, so we loaded the trailer and truck (still setup) onto the tow truck. We had to remove the side rails on the rollback to get it to work. The tires only had half the tread sitting on the deck. It was kinda scary, but it worked. We were sure to chain it down well too... __________________ '87 Toyota 4Runner Turbo, '85 Toyota XtraCab, '83 Toyota Landcruiser, '67 Chevy, 46 CJ2a New Project.

09-14-2002, 09:56 AM	#3 (permalink)
jp junkie Rock God Join Date: Nov 2001 Member # 7921 Location: Real close to the Hammers. Posts: 1,134	A prime example of how natural selection works. __________________ http://trailsport4x4.com

09-18-2002, 05:33 PM	#4 (permalink)
StinkBug StinkyFab Racing Join Date: May 2001 Member # 4946 Location: San Diego Posts: 6,146	__________________ Dallas Ashley StinkyFab Racing (SFR) - Custom Fabrication Your Source for: CNC Cutting & Engraving, Cages, Custom Suspension, Complete Vehicle Builds, and more! Overall Winner, 2012 KOH EMC. Gettin it done in a stocker! Co-Dog #4432-KOH 2011 #88-KOH 2010, Crew Chief - KOH 2009, 2008

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09-13-2002, 01:14 PM	#2 (permalink)
Norm Poor White Trash Join Date: Apr 2001 Member # 4387 Location: Kalispell, MT Posts: 1,869	This should be titled " Why my brothers a dumbass" . Glad he didn't anyone.