Don't let this happen to you...

[jss06]

I really like the hitch I have. It is really easy to see if it is locked correctly.

NIce off road hitch... What is it and where did you get it, if I may ask...

Dale

It is a lock-n-roll. It is from a forge in Minnesota. A google search for them will give you the web site.

[jstrubberg]

Also a note in California, its illegal to weld chains to trailer chassis, they must be bolted on or loop connectors in tabs with holes in them..... Calif feels the welding the chain causes (or may cause) a weak point in chain where weld is done....

Dale

That is ignorance on an epic scale...

[KCStudly]

That is ignorance on an epic scale...

Maybe you could elaborate on this statement.

The way I see it, it is a very valid concern with plenty of good reason to regulate.

Not intending to get into a pissing contest, but what if the chain is plated? That can affect a weld.

What if it is high carbon steel in order to meet the proof rating required? Welding can affect the strength, or even make the material brittle.

What if the link has been welded on at a strange angle? Load ratings are based on tension thru the links, not sideways bending of a single link.

There are lots of good reasons not to weld safety chains and I'm sure that the authorities have seen hundreds, if not thousands of ways that things can go wrong while towing. For them to regulate something generally means that someone has already done something ignorant and they are trying to protect us from ourselves and others who aren't smart enough to figure it out for themselves.

CA is not the only state like this.

My state requires me to put tail lights on my trailer, is that ignorance, too? Just saying.

[darrellbeck]

One point that has not been discussed here yet is the fact that the hitch should be lubricated properly. You should have a teflon based paste for use on the ball itself. Just a thin film is all you need on the contact areas of the ball. You should do this every time, or even every other time you hitch up. The second part of this is to keep the mechanism inside the coupler (the part on the trailer) lubricated so that it moves freely. It's best to use a dry type lubricant (Spray graphite or teflon work well, with teflon being cleaner) since if you use an oil or grease, dirt will adhere to the oily base and sometimes make it stick worse.
As far as adjusting this type of ball hitch, the way I do it is to tighten it until there is NO movement when I jiggle it up and down, then loosen it a quarter turn at a time until I can feel just a very small amount of movement up and down. If the tongue weight of your trailer is such that you can't do this by hand, use your tongue jack and observe carefully.
This brings up another point (which has been covered elsewhere, but is important enough to cover again) and that is proper tongue weight. Be careful as you load your trailer since putting your cooler, your water, and every thing else that you put in the galley area of your TD can change the tongue weight appreciably. Remember, 10% of your loaded trailer weight should be on the tongue. If you have less than that, you increase the potential for the trailer to start controlling the car instead of the opposite

[darrellbeck]

That is ignorance on an epic scale...

Maybe you could elaborate on this statement.

The way I see it, it is a very valid concern with plenty of good reason to regulate.

Not intending to get into a pissing contest, but what if the chain is plated? That can affect a weld.

What if it is high carbon steel in order to meet the proof rating required? Welding can affect the strength, or even make the material brittle.

What if the link has been welded on at a strange angle? Load ratings are based on tension thru the links, not sideways bending of a single link.

There are lots of good reasons not to weld safety chains and I'm sure that the authorities have seen hundreds, if not thousands of ways that things can go wrong while towing. For them to regulate something generally means that someone has already done something ignorant and they are trying to protect us from ourselves and others who aren't smart enough to figure it out for themselves.


CA is not the only state like this.

My state requires me to put tail lights on my trailer, is that ignorance, too? Just saying.

I could not agree more, or say it better.

[Dale M.]

Also a note in California, its illegal to weld chains to trailer chassis, they must be bolted on or loop connectors in tabs with holes in them..... Calif feels the welding the chain causes (or may cause) a weak point in chain where weld is done....

Dale

That is ignorance on an epic scale...

Only in your mind......... 10,000 trailers in California can't be wrong...... Usually there is very good reason for these laws, mainly because if chain is improperly welded it (one) may not have good fusion bond to frame, (two) if there is to much burn through on weld, the link no longer is at rated strength of chain..... Laws are usually created by results of investigative process... Got to be a reason.... They are not just arbitrary because somebody dreams up "I think I will create a law to require safety chains to be bolted, so be it"........

Dale

[jstrubberg]

Working in a heavily regulated industry, I will tell you that you are dreaming. Most regulation is a result of "it seems like it ought to be safer that way".


Any halfway competent welder can create a bond that's stronger than CUTTING A HOLE through a frame member in order to bolt through. Can you screw it up? Sure you can. Just like you can cut too large a bolt hole, use the wrong grade bolt, use an improperly forged bolt, etc.

Bolting is no safer than welding. There's a reason 99% of vehicle frames aren't bolted at structural points.

[KCStudly]

No bolting. I don't like that method either. Welded, lots of weld in fact, just not to the chain.

Here's how I do it.


Note that the loops are welded to the corners of the box tube where they are less likely to rip out, and the inside corners are wrapped so as to help avoid the start of a tear.

[Wanna Be]

No bolting. I don't like that method either. Welded, lots of weld in fact, just not to the chain.

Here's how I do it.


Note that the loops are welded to the corners of the box tube where they are less likely to rip out, and the inside corners are wrapped so as to help avoid the start of a tear.

That is the way I used to do it too!!!!!!!!!




Wanna Be

[Wolffarmer]

No bolting. I don't like that method either. Welded, lots of weld in fact, just not to the chain.

Here's how I do it.


Note that the loops are welded to the corners of the box tube where they are less likely to rip out, and the inside corners are wrapped so as to help avoid the start of a tear.

You sure got pretty welds.

On the Bulldog couplers. I don't see how a Bulldog could come off if the sleeve is over the latch tang. Unless it was a 2 inch coupler put over a 1 7/8 ball. I would like to use a Bulldog myself but the weight and cost has kept me from it. Mostly the cost. At work I often pull a car hauler with a loaded up Dodge 3500 on it and some rough roads. Would not even think about doing that with out a Bulldog coupler. Also when loading/uloading the pickup on it we often can't use the support jacks on the rear of the trailer so that really puts the tongue in a negative weight situation. Never a problem with a BullDog.

Randy

[GerryS]

I would agree. Welding is better. But if you look at the HF trailers! the safety chains are bolted on.....

I was thinking about that when I was mentioning the bolts....I'm also typing on an iPad. It's not as fast or easy to edit as on a traditional keyboard, so often I think much much faster than I can peck out the correct words. The ideas are there, they just "timed out" on the way to my overworked thumbs.

I accept your admonishment

[Prototear]

I bought my trailer frame from a guy who had to abandon his project and it has the chains welded directly to the coupler. The quality of his welds everywhere on the trailer are great (at least in appearance) but when I look at the inspection requirements when I finish my project, I won't pass. This will fail for 2 separate reasons - they are connected to the coupler and they are welded.



I think welds can be superior when it all goes perfectly but an inspector would have no way to easily tell how strong the welds are by looking at them or if the metals were affected by the heat, but fasteners are more readily inspectable.

I'll need to change this and have been checking the Washington State Patrol's requirements http://www.wsp.wa.gov/traveler/docs/cvd/170_129.pdf which says:
The means of attachment of safety chains shall be located equally distant from and on opposite sides of the longitudinal centerline of the towing vehicle and of the trailer. Each means of attachment shall not be common with or utilize fasteners common with a ball or coupling. No welding operation shall be performed on a safety chain subsequent to its manufacture, including the direct welding of safety chain link to the towed and towing vehicles. Safety chains shall be so connected that the slack for each length of chain between trailer and towing vehicle is the same and is not more than necessary to permit the proper turning of the vehicles. When passing forward to the towing vehicle, safety chains must be crossed in such a manner as to prevent the tongue from dropping to the ground and to maintain connection in the event of failure of the primary connecting system.

The linked definitions also go so far as to say the "chain" includes the attachments at both ends.

I am thinking of a few options to connect new safety chains (or cables) using either:
1. some big strong U-bolts or eye-bolts with holes through the diagonal frame tongue members.
2. same bolts through either side of the T in the center of the frame, or
3. bolting two 1/4" steel plates across the top and bottom of the intersection of the T in the center, then attach to:
a. the front corner bolts holding the 2 plates sandwiched together, or
b. leave 2 holes set back from the front corners of the lower plate.

The "T" in the center of the tongue is 18" behind the coupler so I'd need to be careful to get the chains or cables long enough but not so long that they drag. All tongue members are 2x2 steel box tubes. I have searched for hardware for attaching to the trailer but all I seem to find are eye bolts or U bolts.

[working on it]

On my car hauler trailer, the chains are welded to the frame just below the Bulldog coupler (with a Grade 70 chain I wrapped around the A-frame and bolted to the chains with Grade 8 hardware, as an "extra-insurance" measure, due to the very heavy loads carried on this trailer). On the Puma TT factory-made trailer, they are connected with a single 7/16" (Grade 5) bolt w/washers to the frame, again just below the Fulton coupler. On my 1515lb TTT, I have the chains welded to the frame, also beneath the Attwood coupler. I always cross the chains as well, when towing, and securely pin the coupler latches (and test with the tonguejacks for a solid connection, by lifting the tongue, and thereby also the receiver, before I proceed). Secure connections assured, but I don't trust them 100%. I do trust the additional help of the Weight Distributing hitch, on all my trailers/TV's.

Since the WD spreads the load between TV and trailer, and does so by pulling the coupler down under spring (spring bar) tension, I am assured that the coupler/ball will not easily be parted.

from an earlier post of mine on this thread ...I never tow without one anymore. I toyed with the idea of not using it on my TTT, since the crossed chains should be easily capable of handling the weight if the coupler failed (welded connection or not), but I believe in using what I trust, unless a better way comes along. I'll stick to my current methods for the time being; my next trailer will probably be hitched similarly, unless it is light enough for my little cars to pull. The added weight of the WD hitch may force me to use a Lock & Roll, or a pintle , to achieve the "secure" hook-ups I need.

[campmaster-k]

Many good ideas here.

Last summer I was on the road and stopped at a rest stop. I had already checked the hitch and hubs several times and was confident everything was good. A guy pulled up right next to me and bounced up and down on his hitch, felt his hubs for heat and walked with a smile by my truck. So I got out bounced on my hitch and checked my hubs and smiled when I got back into my car.

Check it. Then check it again. Then check it again. Repeat.

[rand_98201]

I have been towing trailers for almost 20 years now.15 of those years were 10k plus miles a year hauling a race car all around the west coast.I guess Im lucky because I have never once had a trailer come off the ball on me.I cross my chains,and always make sure everything is seated correctly when hitching up and then head out.I dont think I am doing anything better or differently than anyone else.Though I think a huge part of towing is having enough experience on your own or having someone show you that does have it.What exactly you need to do to make sure when you hitch up everything is fully seated.

If I ever got to a point where I was questioning my ability to know when I was hitched up properly,like with a trailer or tow rig with a new set up I did not know how to properly use.I would definitely hunt out someone who did know who could show me.Because lets face it if your towing a vehicle on a camping trip and all your doing is stressing out the whole time worrying if you have everything done correctly.It defeats the purpose of going on the relaxing trip in the first place.

One last thing I will say is this.If anyone here is new to the towing deal in general.Take your trailer on several smaller trips around your local area before you head out on a long trip.You can become familiar with everything and you can also make sure everything is functioning properly.