In 2000, the DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION , National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, ruled, in response to hitch failure complaints, that the consumers needed to be better informed as follows:
"RV owners should be educated as to the seriousness of
overloading their RVs and tow vehicles. This could be accomplished
by initiating an extensive campaign by vehicle, RV manufacturers, RV
club safety committees, and national RV associations to further
define loading limits and industry-wide terminologies, to advise
owners to avoid conditions leading to overloading of both the towing
vehicle and trailer, to inspect their towing equipment periodically,
and to install weight distributing hitch systems correctly."
It seems that the NHTSA felt like consumers were overloading their hitches but that the RV industry had a responsibility to properly educate the consumer. It does not look like THOR has made much progress with this.
If you want to read about the investigation, here is a link:
https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-200...l/00-24584.htm
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