Broken Towball

yobarr · Guru

Broken Towball

Mike196 · Senior Member

The tow ball looks pretty old and neglected.

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

The bit that broke is effectively identical on both hitches.
Says nothing about the hitch design as far as I can see. More about metal fatigue, proper installation, metal choice, .....
Cheers,
Peter

TheHeaths · Guru

As I suspect there are significantly more 50mm ball hitches used in Australia for the towing of caravans, as a better measure of what is less prone to failure, I would be interested in a ratio like comparison.

Something along the lines of failures per 1000 units or the like. That would then settle the question. It would be interesting to see if that style of thing is available

It may very well work out in the more unusual hitches favour, but at least it would be accurate. That is especially so as I have obviously lived a sheltered life, as in my total towing and camping experience, I have never seen a person with a hitch failure of any sort.

tea spoon · Senior Member

had the tow ball 12 months on my car the tread is allways kept painted to stop rust and water ingress......maintinence is what protects all things on the cars........i have heard of towballs breaking due to towing with a chain or strap or rope using the ball ........and the photo you have looks like part of the tung is on with the ball as well ...

oldbloke · Guru

yobarr wrote:
Recently there was some discussion about the fragility of the common towball, particularly the pretty chrome examples. A far better, and safer, option is a DO35 or similar, as evidenced by these two photos. There has been some massive force applied to the DO35,but it has not broken. This may be of some assistance to the non-believers? Cheers

These types of posts really do annoy me. This is an excellent example of bad or at best misinformation being up loaded onto the www. People should think carefully before jumping to conclusions and making assumptions. This is a classic case of doing just that. They could convince people to make very bad, even dangerous decisions relating to the towing equipment they purchase. In general I am very careful of what I read on the www and the above post is a good example of why.

Q. What is known?

A. Two types of hitch are pictured, one has snapped one appears to be bent.

A. A conclusion is drawn that one is unsafe.

Q. What is not known?

How old they are?

Where were they made?

What was the tow ball rating?

What is the DO35 rating?

What shock loads have been applied to cause the damage? Was it the same, very unlikely.

Was the load applied in the same direction?

What shock loads have they with stood in the past?

Have they been abused in the past?

What was the standard or type of steel used?

Was the steel tempered/hardened to the correct grade?

Does the maker regularly test their production? (often this is to destruction)

If they do test, is it to the appropriate standard?

Do they have any quality assurance systems in place?

A quick google indicates they MUST comply with AS 4177.2 (Second para of attached.)

Statements like the post above need to be supported with at least some evidence of a fair comparison or science that backs up their statement or conclusions. In this case there is nothing. If I had the inclination I'm sure I could think of a few more, "unknowns" but I think I have made my point.

A very important but little known fact. All of this equipment needs to comply with Australian Std AS 4177.2 in order to be sold. So, when sold if used correctly it was considered safe. Unless who ever sold it was incredibly stupid & did not ensure that it complied. In which case they would be wide open to litigation and perhaps a conviction if people were seriously injured or worse still killed.

The Australian Standards System has been in place for perhaps 30 years and each standard is developed by committee and includes input from industry and various experts. Following them is considered "best practice".

P.S. I added some spaces to the OP to help with reading.

Radar · Guru

Both units are rated at 3.5 tonnes towing capacity.

End of story.

yobarr · Guru

Radar wrote:
Both units are rated at 3.5 tonnes towing capacity.
End of story.

Thanks Ralph,as such information is readily available.Because of the convoluted response in the post previous to yours,I had chosen not to present more facts that would likely have caused confusion.Cheers

Mike Harding · Guru

yobarr wrote:
Thanks Ralph,as such information is readily available.Because of the convoluted response in the post previous to yours,I had chosen not to present more facts that would likely have caused confusion.Cheers

That seems to mean: "I know the real truth but am not going to tell you".

Yobarr: there has been sensible and reasoned criticism in this thread of your original post therefore, if you are not prepared or able to answer in kind, then we may consider your post misleading.

What say you?

PeterD · Guru

yobarr wrote:
Recently there was some discussion about the fragility of the common towball,particularly the pretty chrome examples. A far better,and safer,option is a DO35 or similar,as evidenced by these two photos.There has been some massive force applied to the DO35,but it has not broken.This may be of some assistance to the non-believers?

What is the rating of the 50 mm ball? They are not all 3,500 kg as Radar suggested. 2.0TON 1" HI-RISE 50MM CHROME TOW BALL. Also 2000kg 1 Hi-Rise 50mm Chrome Tow Ball. What is the figure stamped on the top of the ball. How old is the ball? If you go back over 15 years, I do not remember any of them being rated at 3,500 kg.

The failure on the DO35 coupler looks like a lack of regular inspections to me. The nut would not be wound down that far if it was inspected often enough. In saying that, tow balls generally only break like that if they have not been checked for tightness.

Chris, all you have demonstrated to me is a chronic lack of maintenance.

Izabarack · Guru

Clearly massive forces involved to have bent the tongue the DO35 is attached to.

The broken tow all bolt appears to have snapped at the point if a corrosion induced crack that progressed.

Apples and oranges comparison going on here.

Plain Truth · Guru

Comparing apples and oranges. is par or course on forums ,helps to push your own point of view.

oldbloke · Guru

Mike Harding wrote:
yobarr wrote:
Thanks Ralph,as such information is readily available.Because of the convoluted response in the post previous to yours,I had chosen not to present more facts that would likely have caused confusion.Cheers
That seems to mean: "I know the real truth but am not going to tell you".
Yobarr: there has been sensible and reasoned criticism in this thread of your original post therefore, if you are not prepared or able to answer in kind, then we may consider your post misleading.
What say you?

"A man's gotta know his limitations." I never use words unless I understand the meaning. I have attached the definition of both convoluted and reason FYI. It's very clear that my post is far from convoluted but is stepped out, reasoned, logical and for most easy to understand. If unsure always refer to a dictionary. It is also clear that the OP is at least misleading and lacks any valid evidence.

StewG · Senior Member

I thank 'oldbloke' for alerting me to the interesting fact that a 50mm towball has to be de-rated when used with a heavy (>5 Tonne) vehicle. I would love to know the reasoning/physics behind this peculiarity, not that it affects me directly. My vehicle is a shade over 3T fully loaded. As for comparing one type of hitch versus another, as others have alluded, if it complies with applicable standards and is maintained and used correctly, there should be no reason for a fracture as illustrated above. Both illustrated examples seem to indicate poor usage and/or incorrect maintenance.