Chains or cables

[BigRedHiker]

Any opinion on the self recoiling safety cables versus using chains. Seems they would be quieter and I could run my power cable thru the cables for support.
Are chains better?
I know your suppose to cross chains them and so I assume you would do same with the steel cables.
Next question is length...are these safety cables or chains actually suppose to cradle the coupling if it detaches so it cant contact the ground or can they be longer?
Just need to know I'm doing it right.

[bobhenry]

I tow with more than one tow vehicle. One has the safety ears for the chains way up under the vehicle while my pick ups hitch has them right out in front of God and everybody. One length of chain just hooked on these two vehicles would either prove too short for the other of if long enough may drag on the other. I don't know a lot about safety "cables" but I do assume they must be sized for the slack so this wouldn't work for me.

Back to the chains there are two very curious things that can be done to customize their length. By twisting one chain it will knot up and shorten.
(Don't believe me try it) The two twisted lengths can now be crossed under the coupler and tongue and will catch the tongue if disconnected in transit.
The other trick is to simply wind the chains around each other and this will shorten them as well. It will not form a cradle per say to catch the disconnected trailer but if short enough it may keep it off the ground.

So why are we so worried about "catching" the trailer tongue. Lets play imagine. Imagine you are in traffic at speed, the traffic is slowing and you brake. Someone earlier got in a hurry and forgot to close the coupler, now the tongue rides up and escapes the ball at this same moment you understand the reason for the slowing, a huge crater of a pot hole is dead ahead and it is about to swallow the tongue of your trailer that is now dragging on the ground at 50 mph and looking like a forth of July sparkler. You will, in a millisecond ,be plowing concrete or coming to a very abrupt halt doing severe damage to the hitch the tow vehicle and most assuredly the trailer.
Had the chains caught the trailer tongue it is still scarey but with a controlled slow down you can keep the wagging trailer behind you until you can make a safe exit to reattach the coupler. I personally have lost two in tow and it will step up your pulse a bit but with proper application of the safety chains the risk is minimized.

[rowerwet]

The correct way to adjust chain length is to run it through the TV attach point and hook the end of the crossed chain back into the chain at the right length.

[Dale M.]

The correct way to adjust chain length is to run it through the TV attach point and hook the end of the crossed chain back into the chain at the right length.

This may be correct , but new hitches usually do not have a hole or loop big enough to run chains through... You might want to inform car/truck and after market hitch manufacturers of this....

Dale

[ae6black]

Bob, I'd love to hear the details of your misshaps. I've only known of one separated trailer. Granted there was heavy machinery on the trailer at the time but the chains substantial and legal as they were sheared like butter leaving the trailer and contents flipped over on the road. Bottom line boss man was in a hurry to get his crew out of the shop so he partially hooked up the trailer and then sent them off without ever putting a pin in the hitch. When it came open he fired the guy driving and then hired him back when he realized that he had skills that would be hard to replace on a minutes notice.

Art

[bobhenry]

DETAILS ~

Not much to tell. It was very early in my towing career and I made just about every stupid mistake that could have been made. The trailer was an old salvaged 65 ford pickup truck cut down to a trailer. I welded a 2 " coupler on the abbreviated frame. I hooked it to my matching 65 ford pickup on the 1 7/8 ball ( 1st mistake ) didn't know to pin the coupler shut with a bolt a clip or a padlock ( 2nd mistake ) 1st incident it un coupled and left the road and mowed down 9 rows of mature standing corn because I had no safety chains ( 3rd mistake) Luckily it was empty and veered right into the field instead of left into the oncoming lane to possibly meet a fellow motorist head on. The second time I was just a little smarter. After the first incident I added safety chains. Still blissfully ignorant to the ball diameter difference and uninformed about coupler quite literally unlocking themselves due to up lift. I was towing a large garden tractor in the same trailer. The continued up lift resulting from the tractor loaded in such way as to cause negative coupler weight. This up lift worked on the coupler until we experienced separation. The tongue launched upward but limited by the chains left a nice dent in the towing pickups tailgate. The forward momentum straightened out the trailer and as I slowed the tongue luckily slid under the truck bed. Lessons learned ~~~ match the ball diameter to the coupler ~~~ and lock bolt or clip the coupler shut with some form of a safety catch. Lessons learned thru experience. I am just grateful they were a minimal cost for things could have gone really wrong really fast.

[George Taylor]

I like the chains, personally. I have used them on all of my trailers. What I use to attach and shorten the chains are the threaded links. They work great and make it easy to adjust the length when changing vehicles, just remember to tighten them up..

[mrsteve]

Many states if not all require safety chains. If your not sure check with your state highway patrol.Aan easy way to determine the proper length of your chains is to hitch up your trailer then put it as close to a jack-knife as you can without hitting the tongue with the towing vehicle. Now hook up a chain with just a little slack in it and you will be set. Straighten the rig out and make the other chain the same length as the first. If you twist the chains to get the correct length count the twists and do that amount next time. If you use mechanical devices to shorten them paint the link that you use to shorten it to.