Trailer came off the ball

[dpickett]

I was towing my 2000 21V today, leaving a gas station, and when the trailer went through the driveway to street transition, the trailer came off the ball. The trailer smacked into the back of my SUV, damaging the bumper and rear door. Someone from the gas station brought out a jack, and we lifted it back up and hooked it back up to my vehicle. No problems driving it back home (very slowly).

I have an Extreme trailer with a Trailer Buddy brake actuator (model A-60). When I hooked up the trailer, the coupler was seated correctly on the ball, the coupler was closed, and I put the pin in. After the trailer came off, I checked and the coupler was still secured in the closed position, and then pin was still in. I checked the manual, and it requires a 2" ball, and I confirmed that's the size I have. None of the coupler pieces appeared to be bent or damaged. The one thing that got damaged was the breakaway cable. It broke, so I'll need to get that fixed.

I am towing it with my Subaru Outback. I know it's not rated for that much weight, but I've been doing it because I'm only towing it about a mile on residential streets to the gas station and boat launch in my neighborhood. Not sure if this would have any affect on why it came off the ball. I've had the boat for 4 years and never had this happen before.

Any ideas how this would happen? Or what to check on the trailer?

[h2o-ski]

A friend just had this happen with an enclosed trailer. From what they described, it was a combination of angles that popped the trailer off the hitch, much like what you went through. Just curious how high is the hitch off the ground when the trailer is on the your car? I could see that if your car squats a bit and then your car is going up an incline and the trailer is going down that it could be a severe enough angle to pop the trailer off.

[dpickett]

Yeah, my car does lower when I add the trailer to it, so it's sitting low. Not sure the exact height. I wondered about the angle too, but I've definitely gone over driveways and bumps before and not had the issue. One other factor...I realized when inspecting everything that my ball mount was a bit bent (pic attached). I was rear ended a year ago, and I think that did it. I'm wondering if that angle contributed.