Safety chain length

[Eric_Phillips]

I know you are supposed to have the safety chains such that they can support the tongue should the trailer come unhitched. This works fine especially if you have some drop on the hitch so the chains are going up to the vehicle from the trailer. With my new camper I have to use about 6" of rise on the hitch. The ground clearance where the chains attach to the vehicle is only about 6". So even if I have no slack to turn corners the chains will be too long to support the tongue. Also crossing them on this trailer is a farce. There is a single attachment point about 6-8" back. The only separation between the two chains is the width of a chain link. This is on a minivan pulling a ~3200lb camper so I don't have much in alternative attachment points. Is there anything that can be done to make this safer?

 

[Redlands Okie]

Rubber bungee cord to hold up the chains.

 

[Eric_Phillips]

They don't drag on the ground when towing.

 

[bcp]

Use higher grade or over-strength materials, checked often.

For example, don't use a 3500lb ball for your 3200lb trailer.

Use a padlock in the coupler latch, so someone can't open it in a parking lot while you are eating.

Upgrade the safety chain and hooks.

I've seen a crossbar welded on a tongue to separate the chain attachment, and an additional chain loop under the ball, that the chain passed through.

Bruce

 

[davrow]

Single attachment point of safety chains on trailer is illegal in Washington state, possibly other places too. Even though this how they are sold, it is a requirement to use two chains with separate attachment points.

Even you agree your current configuration is a joke. Your safety and the safety of others is no joke. Fix your safety chains so they work properly. Please.

 

[flyerdan]

So you have a rise hitch where your chains go down from the trailer tongue to the hitch? Sounds like there's nothing to be done unless you can raise the attach points to a level near the ball, by welding some loops on top of the bumper or something similar.

 

[4570Man]

My personal opinion is leave them alone and hope they break if it comes loose. There’s no way you’re keeping the flailing camper in the road and then you’ve got 2 out of control instead of one.

 

[Redlands Okie]

Hmm, wow

 

[Btown]

Safety chains are supposed to keep the trailer attached to the vehicle so it can bring the trailer to a semi controlled stop, if the tongue is dragging on the ground or in the air. It’s all good. People get killed by trailers that disconnect and go down the road by themselves, if it stays connected to the vehicle you should be able to stop it.

 

[Snaker]

I've got a story about these chains and trailer connections and I hope to explain clearly.

I bought a used enclosed trailer in 2017. I had several trailers through the years but only this and one other were tandem axle with electric brakes.

So I need to use it, I hitch it up, connect the wire harness and the breakaway cable and off I go. I believe what happened was that I lowered the trailer hitch onto the ball but the hitch didn't set down fully on the ball. That hitch is some weird design/brand that I've never seen before and there is no extra space for the ball to pass the latch piece, no wiggle room at all. The other problem is that the hitch latch can be closed and locked even though its not actually latched. Regardless, my fault for not checking closely.
I go a few miles and get on the Interstate. I just get settled in and I feel a big tug. Look in the mirror and see the trailer smacking into the rear bumper. I get on the brakes and the trailer starts flopping around and tossing the ol Yukon around pretty violently. I was able to keep it in the right lane (mostly) and when the trailer hitch jammed up against the bumper I got on the brakes as hard as I could and got onto the shoulder and stopped with out hitting anyone.

I look things over and I see this:
The safety chain still connected
The breakaway cable was still connected but hadn't disconnected the switch
The wire cable had completely ripped out of the connector with the connector still plugged in

So after the hitch unhooked I had no trailer brakes.

That got me looking at that and pondering. On this system A person would almost need to somehow measure these three things and adjust accordingly. The wire cable should be long enough to have slack when the chain is stretched and the breakaway cable should be short enough to disconnect before the chain is stretched but long enough to not disconnect inadvertently .

Anyone else ever ponder this?