Trailer Hitch Damper

[Justme]

With brakes correctly adjusted the tow tube should not hit the end stop!

pulling forward it will.

 

[Justme]

When the damper is totally buggered the force of the slowing trailer can overwhelm the damper to the point when it allows the tube to fully retract, this is when the coupling head bangs against the body. You've also to remember that when the tube is fully retracted you have no brakes on the trailer at that point as its now in what would be the position for when your reversing ie no breaks applied so you can reverse up hills ect.

Not true.

Auto reverse is done in the hubs not at the hitch.
It happens when the drums rotate in reverse moving the shoes away from the drum beyond the ability of the hitch to pull them in.

 

[Justme]

On the old damper, when I pushed in the hitch with my thigh it would slam back out.

The newly fitted one smoothly returns out.

As I said gas ram working but oil damper not.

 

[Justme]

think Mick meant the coupling'd not strike the body with the brakes correctly adjusted - i.e. limited rearward travel .... as you rightly say, with the coupling against the delta body, you have no brakes operating

Not true.
Full braking will still happen with the hitch fully compressed.

Auto reverse happens in the hub and not affected by the hitch travel.

 

[Justme]

The hand brake can travel further than the inertia travel of the hitch so over powering the auto reverse system to some extent.

But on an up hill (facing up the hill) the hand brake has less contact surface area so does not work as well to resist the roll down the hill.

 

[V8Druid]

Not true.
Full braking will still happen with the hitch fully compressed.

Auto reverse happens in the hub and not affected by the hitch travel.

so with the coupling hard against the delta body, what is doing the pushing on the brake rod/cables/linkages ?????

 

[Canal Navvy]

so with the coupling hard against the delta body, what is doing the pushing on the brake rod/cables/linkages ?????

I suspect that Justme is assuming that the brakes are properly adjusted........ which we all know is quite unlikely

If light trailer users didn't take the piss on maintenance then we wouldn't be facing the inevitable MOT

 

[Justme]

so with the coupling hard against the delta body, what is doing the pushing on the brake rod/cables/linkages ?????

If its at full travel the brakes are fully applied.

The brakes dont go 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 8 90 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 as the travel increases.

Even if not correctly adjusted at full travel you have the most they can be applied in their current state.

Going to full travel does not release the brakes.

Think about it, if it did then applying the hand brake would release the brakes as it can travel further than the tube can.

The auto reverse happens in the hubs not the hitch.
Handbrakes try to stop auto reverse working by applying more travel than the hitch can to the rod.

 

[Justme]

I suspect that Justme is assuming that the brakes are properly adjusted........ which we all know is quite unlikely

If light trailer users didn't take the piss on maintenance then we wouldn't be facing the inevitable MOT

Even if badly adjusted full travel on the hitch does not release the brakes.

Auto reverse happens in the hubs not the hitch.

PS they binned the trailer MOT after the last trailer safety report in 2018 that said yes there are issues but the bigger issue is the driver that needs more training & a harder test.

Then they binned the test a few years later.

 

[Bri963]

if the damper is burgered (and the brakes are way out of adjustment) the hitch bangs against the front of delta mount under braking and the rear when taking off again ... if the brakes are adjusted well, the brakes come on with a bang, trailer stops abruptly and then it bangs against the rear of the delta mount and usually kangaroos to a halt

Our fourteen foot Ifor had the damper fail and it behaved exactly as you say Gra, kangaroo-ing to a stop. When we fitted the new damper it behaved perfectly, even before we adjusted the brakes, which weren’t far off right anyway.

 

[Mick-the-fitter]

Well that got us through the week

 

[Bri963]

Well that got us through the week

Not true. It’s only Friday.

 

[Mick-the-fitter]

Feels like 8 days this week!