POP, SLAM, WHAM, BLAM...

My 15K Pullrite Slider ate itself. This is the second time it's broke and this time it really did a number. I was making a very gentle turn, virtually no transition in pavement level, and man, this thing let me know it was broken. The capture plate broke loose and everything spun around 90° to 180° depending on how I stopped. It also immediately slid fully back and hit my tailgate, denting it. When that happened, my first instinct was to STOP. When I put on the brakes, the Cat slammed all the way forward on the slider and we were in for another heavy jolt. When I looked back and saw what had happened, I was still a bit out in the road, so I eeeeaaaaased forward to let the hitch slide back easily and pull out of the road. Apparantly, a broken hitch does not like to be eased forward and as I gently added more power, it slammed all the way back again, creating another bone jarring episode.

We were fortunate enough to be 3 blocks from home and about 2 miles from the dealer. We took the Cat to the dealer where they had to unpin the hitch to get it all off my truck.

When I went inside the dealership, the receptionist, face all smiles, said "Good Morning, what can we do for you today?"

When I asked who I needed to talk to for a full refund on the hitch, a new tailgate, and whatever repairs would be needed to the pinbox/kingpin/whatever, the smile faded rather fast. To be honest, I almost laughed because it was really one heck of a transition of facial expression. She directed me to the service dept.

When the service rep went through the same as the recptionist, we went outside to take a look. By this time, word had reached the service manager and the general manager. First, the service rep looked and said "Ummm I've never seen anything like this before." Then the other people showed up and said the same thing. One of them said to another "Get a camera, we need pictures of this." I assured him that I had PLENTY of pictures if he wanted copies.

Now, to say I was a teeny bit miffed would be the understatement of the year. Remember, this is the second time this hitch has broken, but the first time wasn't this bad.

I was loaded for bear and waiting. The general manager turned to me and said "Mr. Cuthbert, we are going to do whatever it takes to make this right." Now, that just took the wind out of my sails. Here I was, all ready for a fight and I am not going to get it. The manager also told his service rep to call the body shop they use and tell them I was coming over and have them write up the tailgate and get it ordered.

I'll have to say, they put my mind at ease about making it right. I have ordered a 16K Reese (no more sliders for me and certainly no more Pullrite) that will be in before they have all the repair work done. There was some damage to the kingpin/something something and they are going to replace that as well.

I'll refrain from mentioning the dealer until this is completely settled and I am satisfied. At that time, they will either get glowing reviews from me or wish they had never heard of me.

As a footnote, we took last Monday and Tuesday off and had a 4 day weekend. It was and excellent trip and the weather was perfect. Saw some great foliage just barely past it's prime, but still nice (for SE Oklahoma). Also, saw herds of deer that would come within a few feet of our truck. Great steaks one night, cooked by me, great ribs the next evening, also cooked by me. A couple of drinks and all the trimmings to go with the meat and the best company I could wish for, the DW. Trip was great until the last few minutes of travel.

I've got the reese 16K, but its a slider that slides one notch forward or one notch to the rear. I've never had to use the slide and I have a short bed.
I could imagine your heart sank when all that happened.
Sounds like their gonna take care of you though.

Thank God that didn't happen to you while on the interstate.

Thats the first time I've ever heard of a hitch breaking and your's has done it twice!

Glad no one was hurt/injured most of all and hope everything gets replaced better than original.

Sounds like a very nice weekend until...

Sorry to hear of all this, but glad no one got hurt and they WILL fix it.

Thats the first time I've ever heard of a hitch breaking and your's has done it twice!

I've heard nothing but good things about Pullrite. However, having one that broke twice leads me to believe that the one I got was somehow defective. I'm just not comfortable with the idea of another one.

Wow, sorry to hear about the bad luck. If it was going to happen, at least it occured at the end of the trip and close to home.

Have you tried contacting PullRite?

1-574-259-1520, Option 1, option 4( tech support)

I've been talking to Nick and Linda, give them a call....

BobnPi after reading your post is it the capture plate that broke or the hitch itself? If it was the hitch what broke? I too have a Pullrite and so far no problems, but if there is something to keep an eye on or check more often it could maybe help prevent another failure.

Thanks
Rich

The best thing is, thank God, no one got hurt!

Really sorry to hear of your problem but relieved that no one was hurt. I have a pullrite and have had no problems, can you please let us know what part let loose, as it might help us check for danger areas.
Sean

Good luck. Good thing you were not too far from home.

All that extra metal you see is so-called "reinforcement" after the hitch failed the first time. It didn't help. The capture plate broke loose and let the entire 5th wheel spin and slid back. The pin box has dented the tailgate.

I'm not saying that all Pullrite hitches are junk. Indeed, some people think very well of them. I'm saying that the particular hitch I got is defective. Consider two cars that rolled off the assembly line one behind the other. One may run for 400,000 miles and the other may be a lemon with multiple problems from the first day. Sometimes errors are made and no matter how slight, they can be catastrophic.

Now, having said that, I still have not heard how Pullrite is reacting to all this. Their attitude and co-operation with my dealer may change my view of them considerably. We'll see how it all works out.

Thanks to all for the concern about injury. Yes, we were indeed fortunate that no one was injured and have sent along our thanks to the Man about that.

Glad to see you all are ok. Anytime you can walk away from any type of mishap unhurt is a good thing. All the material things can be replaced.

Something made that head bind with the tubes to twist the capture plate wedge off....

What are you lubing the tubes with?

Hopefully Pullrite has the answers for you.....the guys I've dealt with are very good.

Had the same problem a few years ago. Half way down to the beach and the slip plate broke loose and twisted sideways. Had to pull into a convenence store and get someone with a portable wielder to wield it into place. New camper I still have the Pullrite hitch, and don't think twice about it.
Glad everyone is a-okay. It's a scary feeling when something like that happens.

This was the first trip after the last repair. It was lubed with whatever my dealers hitch repair guy used. He's installed plenty of them and everyone there says this is the first one to break.