Re: Trailer to Truck Safety Chains
Well, if we don't count towing around a hay wagon on the farm, I've been pulling, horse trailers, boat trailers, heavy equipment trailers, campers, air compressors and welders around for about as long as you’ve been alive.
Well for one, that makes you very old,lol jkg ;
Not that I have anything to prove but I was pulling trailers my first year of driving. I use trailers every week for my business and am proud to say that I can thread a needle with one. My heaviest loads are only about 16000 pounds, but to me thats heavy enough to worry or be concerned with safety and what DOT wants. And that is crossed chains and properly sized chains for your load!
I need you to help me out here. I've read my post 3 times now. I still can't figure out where it said that the chains should break away. Once you point that out I'd be glad to explain the intent of the sentence.
I wasn't quoting what you said, I was responding to what you said, there is a difference! You said you rather the brakes lockup and the chains wouldn't help basically.
For one, the last thing you want is your brakes on your trailer to lock up, this can cause the trailer and the tow vehicle to loose control. The idea behind a safety emergency brake on the trailer is it is a "LAST" resort. There is proper ways to control a trailer that has unattached from the ball. The chains being crossed and the right length is really important. The chains being crossed acts "COMPLETLY" different that chains that are not crossed.
It doesn't matter if the chains catch the trailer tongue directly on the chains or not, the chains crossed are still going to do what they are designed to do.
You guys need to think about the way chains work when crossed. here is an example that is very simple, cross your arms/wrists out in front of your body, now while pushing compressing your wrists together, move one away and one towards you back and forth. Now picture the tongue on top of your arms.
Now after doing that, put your arma out in front of you with out your wrists crossed. Now move your arms back and forth. Now think about where the trailer tongue would be with this set-up. Big difference!!!! Its the same with chains, when they are attached to the vehicle and the trailer, crossing them gives it less play left to right and forward to back in less violent motion. The chains by being crossed always will cradle atleast the part where the chains connect to the trailer, or cradle it if thats the word you rather use. this helps control the trailer in disconnect from ball.
Anyway, you guys do what you like, but I unfortunately have had the opputunity to have to control a trailer that did indeed come off the ball. reason, because I relied on my helper to hook in up properly. Never again! Luckily, he did hook the chains up right because I was towing a dump trailer with 8000 pounds in it and the trailer weighed 4200 by itsself.
Yes the trailer slapped up against the truck a few times when I was slowing her down, but by slowing down slowly and not slamming the brakes I was able to control it fine. If the chains were not crossed, the trailer could have swung left or right and pulled the rear of my truck where ever it wanted to go. Plus it could have dug into the pavement which is not a good thing.
Now on another subject, the brakeaway on most trailers is set-up to break away if the chains snap or break, thats why most have longer leads to the breakaway actuator than the chains are.
Again, if you set your breakaway cable to be shorter than the chains, its not set-up properly and could cause you ill will if you ever do have a trailer detach from the ball.
Again, you don't want brakes on a trailer locking up, because you have no control over it if it does lock up. This is a last resort.
That is my opinion and if you or others choose to do it a different way, so be it. But its your life, your DOT ticket and your risk of causing bodily harm to others if you don't set-up your trailer properly or don't cross the chains.
By the way, you can buy stainless chain, galvanized chain, etc. Buy quality chain and it won't rust, coating it with a protectant never hurts either. I will take chain over cables any day. I have also had a rusted ball forever, doesn't seem to hurt anything. Also have salvage/recovery chain that has been rusted for 20 years and it still works fine, I don't remember it ever making a mess of anything.
Cables are usually put together by couplers of some kind, and I just don't like that.
