Towed my toy hauler this weekend with my LML. Tow's GREAT! Problem is that when I got to my camping spot and I was unhitching, I noticed that the cotter pin to the pin which holds my hitch in was bent a little. I didn't think much of it, but when I towed the camper home and unloaded again, the pin was bent 90 degrees (on the straight side). The pin then broke with light finger pressure when I started to straighten it to remove it.

I shudder to think of what might have happened if the cotter pin had broken completely, then the actual pin holding my hitch had come out......

Any reasons why this might be happening? Any idea where to get a better, locking pin (that is long enough to fit)?

edit.....This is the factory hitch using my weight distribution hitch.

Thanks for the help.

Had the hitch pin actually slide left or right bringing the cotter up against the hitch? It would be pretty unusual for the hitch pin to slide as it has a lot of friction from the ball mount when loaded. Is it possible that something in your hitch or wires is snagging the pin when turning and bending it?

I'm just gonna guess here and say that you had your chains on weird(Maybe the hooks on your chain are really big? Maybe the new style hitch is designed with the chain loops really close to the pin location) and every time you turn it grabbed the pin and bent it. It's literally impossible for it to 1. slide because of the friction and 2. get bent from going against the receiver part of the hitch because it is flat.

Is your PIN this style with a drilled hole?

http://www.etrailer.com/merchant2/graphics/00000001/pics/7/4/74149.jpg

If so they can creep over either elongating hole in hitch or deforming the cotter pin. A hitch clip is a better choice for a keeper over a cotter pin.

This style of pin doesn't elongate the hole as badly

http://www.etrailer.com/merchant2/graphics/00000001/pics/5/8/586H.jpg

Not sure why it would be doing that, I agree the most likely reason would be something grabbing it during a turn.

I quick fix would be bolting the receiver in if you leave it in all the time. Or getting one of these.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200365141_200365141

My interpretation is that the pin was rotating in it's bore. Most likely due to the windup within the reciever hole, due to the load compensating hitch being cranked, combined with the use of a 2.5" to 2" adapter.

Slide the 5/8" pin in from the other side. And, the piece that bent is a "hair clip" not a cotter pin. Being spring steel, once bent past a certain degree, they will break when attempting to reshape them back to "normal".