Chains - Hi-Lo camper travel trailer forum

zookeeper · 06-27-2013, 05:53 AM

Saw a piece on the news the other day about trailers that came loose and killed people. Granted it was utility type trailers but it was enough to scare the heck out of somebody! Decided not to show my dh or we might never go camping again! One piece of advice tho was to cross your safety chains underneath your hitch before hooking them up. I was wondering what people here thought of this?

Kathy

Jeff H · 06-27-2013, 06:38 AM

I do this all the time for any trailer I tow. If for some reason the hitch came undone, the crossed over chains would "catch" the tongue of the trailer before it hit the ground.

Jeff

RichR · 06-27-2013, 08:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zookeeper

Saw a piece on the news the other day about trailers that came loose and killed people. Granted it was utility type trailers but it was enough to scare the heck out of somebody! Decided not to show my dh or we might never go camping again! One piece of advice tho was to cross your safety chains underneath your hitch before hooking them up. I was wondering what people here thought of this?

Kathy

In PA you can be cited for not having the safety chains crossed. It has been that way for a long time.

zookeeper · 06-27-2013, 09:42 AM

Good to know. Thanks. I've been checking it out here in MI and I've seen people doing it both ways.

Kathy

JackandJanet · 06-27-2013, 11:14 AM

I don't know about everyone else, but I cannot really cross my safety chains. Mine attach to the trailer hitch on a single loop that is just behind the ball socket. So, they sit side by side at a common point. Crossing them doesn't really do anything - I do it, but I doubt it's particularly effective.

The nice thing about my Equal-I-Zer hitch though, is that it forces the ball and receiver together when it's hooked up. I really don't see how they'd ever come apart.

- Jack

RichR · 06-27-2013, 11:21 AM

In that case you have make it look like you crossed them.

The shank could come away from the receiver with the hitch still all connected. That would be if someone forgot to put the clip on the pin.

69hilo2 · 06-27-2013, 11:29 AM

Well many years ago I was taught to cross the hook up chains and now I have another reason or two to do it.

Later Tim

Norton Rider · 06-27-2013, 11:58 AM

Many moons ago, when I was a teen, my friend borrowed his dad's boat. He hitched the trailer up to his truck and picked me up at home. Right before the boat launch ramp the road had a couple of large dips, a right sweeping turn, and a stop sign. He negotiated the turn and came to a stop. As he slowed down we noticed the boat/trailer passing us on the left. The front was riding on the retracted tongue jack wheel. It continued past us, missed all the trailers parked at the launch area, and went down the ramp, all on it's own.

The boat ended up floating with the trailer attached to it. With some help we managed to recover the boat and turn it around. We tied a rope to the trailer, launched the boat off it, and pulled the trailer to shore.

It turns out that he had not lowered the hitch ball latch or attached the safety chains.

JackandJanet · 06-27-2013, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RichR

In that case you have make it look like you crossed them.

The shank could come away from the receiver with the hitch still all connected. That would be if someone forgot to put the clip on the pin.

I suppose I could twist the chains around each other a couple times.

Honestly, I know the chains should be crossed to "catch" the trailer tongue, but this design doesn't really permit that.

Maybe I could have two new attachment points welded on to the sides of tongue, and I could attach the chains to these.

My drawbar is locked into the receiver and I check the lock frequently when towing. I also lock down the trailer ball latch.
- Jack

RichR · 06-27-2013, 06:32 PM

I think adding new chain attachment points would be an excellent idea. In addition to being able to cross the chains it would also give a safety factor in case one chain attachment point failed leaving the other to still hopefully stay attached to the TV.

PappaP · 06-28-2013, 11:06 AM

Crossing the chains is purely intended as a safety measure in case the trailer hitch was to fail and the trailer became disconnected it would allow the trailer hitch to land on the chains and keep it from hitting the ground. This would allow the driver to come to a stop (hopefully) in the safest condition if your trailer were to come disconnected.