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I'd like to see some pictures of the rest of the hitch but d@mn that sure doesn't look like a hitch built to take 8k lbs!
First observations... It was cracked for a LONG TIME. Look at the rust in the end of the break vs. the fresh metal at the other end. Meaning if anyone did routine hitch inspections, or at least glanced under once in awhile, they would have seen that cracking long before it let go.
Rust was a minor factor, but it still shouldn't have failed with that amount of rust. It looks like the hitch simply wasn't triangulated properly and the tongue weight just kept working on those connections, ripping the frame like paper. That frame is extremely weak at that bend, and it's really too thin to take those stresses also. All it needed to help reduce that chance of ripping would have been to weld a plate across the end of the frame angle. Just like a piece of paper, it's easy to rip if it's not supported on the end. Crease a piece of paper and then fold over the end and it's a lot harder to rip the crease.
What we don't know... Tongue weight? Jeep weight? Hitch/dolly arrangement? What does the rest of the hitch look like?
This actually ties in with my comment in another thread about towing extra vehicles. It's not something that should be taken lightly. (ugh. sorry!) I've seen SO MANY trucks come through our dealership with loose hitches, loose hitch ball nuts, scary looking setups, etc. I happened to be walking by a truck towing a boat in a store parking lot and me being me, I glanced at the hitch. I thought I saw threads between the hitch ball nut and hitch. I actually went over and tried to turn the nut. IT WAS ABOUT TO FALL OFF!!! (I tried to find the owner and left a note on his window so maybe he wouldn't kill somebody out on the road.)
Here's a question for ALL of you towing something behind your RV... When was the last time you even LOOKED at your hitch much less put a breaker bar on something as basic but vital as the ball of your hitch? Yeah, that's what I thought.
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