Safety Cables vs. Chains

[Craig D. Thompson]

My Happier Camper Traveler (17') was delivered with safety cables, not chains. I have been towing various trailers for a long time but never used cables.

They do not look strong enough and it seems like they are much longer than needed. They want to curl up into a spiral which is annoying.

Are there any advantages or disadvantages to cables vs. chains?

[floyd]

The "spiral" is supposed to be an advantage, to keep the cables from dragging or getting in the way.
They are rated for the job just like chains.

[AlanKilian]

Originally Posted by Craig D. Thompson

it seems like they are much longer than needed.

If you hook them up and then unhitch the coupler and lower it do they prevent the coupler from dragging on the road?

If not, they are indeed too long and should be modified so that they can form a hammock and support the tongue of your trailer without it hitting the road.

https://nationaltrailerparts.com/202...safety-chains/

[John in Santa Cruz]

primary advantage of cables is they are cheaper for the manufacturer.

[Darrell in Al]

Considering the OEM safety chains that came on my Scamp are barely up to the task of catching it. "IMHO" Cable's are normally stronger than most think depending on attaching system and points, look at winch cable. A 5/16 winch cable is normal for a 8k winch, 3/8 on 10k in the past now most have went with synthetic line. No stretch with synthetic and not good for shock loading same with chains. Steel cable can endure a few shock loads with a slight stretching. Not a recommended but better than chains.
I'll second that many have to long or short cables or safety chains too, and poorly placed on trailer hitch to far back. I've seen some interesting ones installed in tubes with a retaining springs to keep from hanging down but with enough slack for connecting, that should even help with shockload if stuff happens. I might need to think about that some.

[Craig D. Thompson]

Thanks for the input.

I will measure the cables. If shortening is needed will cable clamps (u-bolt with inserts from hardware store) work sufficiently?

[Raspy]

Two points about the chains/cables that I really don't know the answer to:

My friend had her ball coupling disconnect and the trailer tongue was caught in the basket created by crossing the chains. Problem was the jack foot landed in the "basket", which meant she could not use the tongue jack to lift the tongue back up and re-connect. I think, in her case, it would have been better to not cross the chains such that the jack could be used to lift the tongue back up. She got out of the situation by using the truck jack.

The second thing is the length of the breakaway cable. Is it only designed to engage the brakes if the safety chains also fail, in addition to the ball coupling? If so, it has to be long enough to not activate if the safety chains are towing the trailer.

It seems like the best situation would be, in the case of a disconnect, to have the seven pin stay connected, the breakaway not deploy, and the chains remain connected. Then you could apply the brakes and navigate to a stop without the trailer flailing around at the end of the chains, but pulling back to help stop and not beating itself up in the rear of the tow vehicle.

[AlanKilian]

Originally Posted by Raspy

It seems like the best situation would be, in the case of a disconnect, to have the seven pin stay connected, the breakaway not deploy, and the chains remain connected. Then you could apply the brakes and navigate to a stop without the trailer flailing around at the end of the chains, but pulling back to help stop and not beating itself up in the rear of the tow vehicle.

That's the setup I have and hope to never use!

[skipperclyde]

I have used safety cables for years on several non-camping trailers. In time they always have a corrosion issues.

The plastic coated style holds in moisture and the cable rust.

On the non-plastic and plastic coated style they also rust typically where they are swaged together, again a point that holds moisture.

If you use cables please inspect them for corrosion regularly.

[Cottonwood]

I'm set up like Raspy and Allen but I can imagine many road situations where the setup would likely fail. The engineering is pretty crude. The attachment of the chains to the trailer is often suspect and the weak-link in the system. You have to do the best you can, of course, but energy is better spent on making sure your trailer never lets go in the first place.

Documentation of hitch ball-coupling failure is low to none. Operator error is often a documented cause of trailer release. Letting the nut wander off the bottom of the hitch ball is one example. Not noticing the associated increase in noise and wobble is another. An all too common classic is to lower the coupling down onto the ball, but landing the coupling jaw on top of the ball. This of course prevents the coupling from dropping over the ball. Often times you can close the coupling lever and put on the lock. Later, sometime down the road, you hit a bump and the coupling bounces off the ball and you have a runaway.

Biggest bang for your buck/time/energy comes from doing what you can easily do to keep the trailer from getting away in the first place. Nice ball, stout receiver pin, lubrication, feeling under the coupler to check that the jaw is under the ball where it should be, and locking the coupler lever. Investigating new sounds and sensations while moving down the road can be critical.

You can put your full faith and trust into connecting your trailer to stay put. Do your best with the safety connections, but don't count on those save you from significant damage in the event of a runaway.

[John in Santa Cruz]

I'm actually fairly impressed by how the chains are attached to my Escape 21, each chain is welded to a steel rod that in turn is welded to the underside of the "A" frame behind the hitch. They certainly held things together when I had an unexpected incident due to the nut backing off the tow ball and letting the ball bounce out of the ball carrier. the crossed chains easily supported the front of he trailer, keeping it from dragging on the ground while I brought things to a controlled stop. The chains have nice 5/16" clevis slip hooks with safety latches so they can't bounce off the hook tabs on the tow vehicle's receiver frame.

[Eggcentric]

Originally Posted by Raspy

Two points about the chains/cables that I really don't know the answer to:

My friend had her ball coupling disconnect and the trailer tongue was caught in the basket created by crossing the chains. Problem was the jack foot landed in the "basket", which meant she could not use the tongue jack to lift the tongue back up and re-connect. I think, in her case, it would have been better to not cross the chains such that the jack could be used to lift the tongue back up. She got out of the situation by using the truck jack.

It seems like the best situation would be, in the case of a disconnect, to have the seven pin stay connected, the breakaway not deploy, and the chains remain connected. Then you could apply the brakes and navigate to a stop without the trailer flailing around at the end of the chains, but pulling back to help stop and not beating itself up in the rear of the tow vehicle.

WRONG.
If the trailer breaks the hitch or jumps off the ball, the trailer brakes must apply, if they do not the trailer can start swinging and even flip the tow vehicle. The trailer brakes will help to keep the trailer behind the tow vehicle while you ease off the throttle and ease the rig onto the shoulder.

If you do not cross the chains, the hitch and other parts (jacks etc) will drag on the ground and may make it so that you cannot hitch up without putting a new hitch on the trailer.

A tip for shortening the chains so that they do not drag on the ground is what sailors refer to as hockling, simply twist the chain so that it shortens to the right height off the ground when you hook it on the tow vehicle.

Have had two break away trailers, once on a logging truck, we had to unload the truck to get the trailer reconnected.......... operator error (moi)
And once on the LA freeway with a 20 ft enclosed trailer, broke the stinger and came loose, shoulda seen the cars trying to get away rom it, but the "basket" held the hitch which did get a little bent because it happened at 60 MPH. the trailer held a car and the tools of our jewelry trade,
Both cases the chains held and nobody got hurt.

[John in Santa Cruz]

ideally, the chains cross in front of the jack, right under the hitch ball, and high enough that they can't go under the jack.

if your chain hooks are like these...


you can adjust the chain length by where you attach them to the chains, mine are two links in from the end

[David B.]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

primary advantage of cables is they are cheaper for the manufacturer.

But they will prevent wildfires here in the dry southwest caused by sparks generated when chains contact the roadway.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Chains should never be loose enough to touch the road.

[Jon in AZ]

Chain-dragging is a non-issue for folks that know about the danger, but there are still too many people towing trailers that don't (in spite of warning signs throughout fire-prone areas of the West).

However, I don't think it's about that or about cost in this case: the HC Traveler is a $70K trailer. My guess is aesthetics: neatly coiled cables look better than loose chains. EDIT- the website appears to show chains. Don't know if that's a prototype, of if they made a change in the specifications, or...? From the website:


If you shorten them, I'd be concerned whether the hardware store cable clamp is rated for the shock loads of a disconnect event. Agee with Darrell that the strength of the cable is not the issue; it's the attachments.

[floyd]

$70K! WOW!!... That's a new 16D front bath and a new truck to pull it with along with enough gas to cross the country 10 times!

[Bing M.]

Remember if you use cable clamps:
1- Use more than one clamp, 2 at least, 3 if you're the nervous type.
2- Never saddle a dead horse rule of clamps.
3- ALWAYS cross your cables or chains to "catch" your tongue.

[Radar1]

Originally Posted by Eggcentric

WRONG.

If the trailer breaks the hitch or jumps off the ball, the trailer brakes must apply, if they do not the trailer can start swinging and even flip the tow vehicle. The trailer brakes will help to keep the trailer behind the tow vehicle while you ease off the throttle and ease the rig onto the shoulder.

If you do not cross the chains, the hitch and other parts (jacks etc) will drag on the ground and may make it so that you cannot hitch up without putting a new hitch on the trailer.

A tip for shortening the chains so that they do not drag on the ground is what sailors refer to as hockling, simply twist the chain so that it shortens to the right height off the ground when you hook it on the tow vehicle.

This appears to be another area where people have different thoughts about a subject.

I would rather my trailer brakes only apply themselves if the trailer actually breaks away from my tow vehicle, and not if it is still attached. This is the way the popular coiled breakaway chain is designed to work.

If the ball breaks or comes off, the crossed chains will cradle the hitch so it doesn't hit the ground, and as long as the breakaway pin didn't pull out, I will still be able to apply the brakes on the trailer with my brake controller as needed, as I slow down and safely get off the road.

As for shortening the chains by twisting, I used to do that until I realize the chain manufacturers say not to do that. A little bit of twisting is supposed to be OK but if the links curl up on each other it puts too much stress on the chains. This note on safety chains is from a chain manufacturers website.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by floyd

$70K! WOW!!... That's a new 16D front bath and a new truck to pull it with along with enough gas to cross the country 10 times!

have you priced new trucks recently?

That is why mine is 20 years old