Safety chain that loops on ball?

[ruffdog]

Besides being able to "catch" the trailer, crossing the chains will counteract the loosen/tighten affect during tight turns.

I have the coiled cables on the PWC trailer and had been told to NOT cross cables like we do chains. After reading on the subject, many people still cross them and many have been told not to. Just like some people, the cables installed are way longer than chains should be. I have to question the "catching" ability of these long coiled cables, that, and when crossing them, they get tangled.

 

[RandyT]

SO MANY times I see safety chains that are NOT crossed.
Many just do not know!

the safety chains on my trailer are welded at a single point under the tongue by the factory. No way to cross them.

 

[Jstpssng]

Besides being able to "catch" the trailer, crossing the chains will counteract the loosen/tighten affect during tight turns.

I have the coiled cables on the PWC trailer and had been told to NOT cross cables like we do chains. After reading on the subject, many people still cross them and many have been told not to. Just like some people, the cables installed are way longer than chains should be. I have to question the "catching" ability of these long coiled cables, that, and when crossing them, they get tangled.

What's ironic is that I learned to cross them from the instructions which came with the coiled cables that I bought to go on a trailer. There's a huge gap between the training/competence requirements to get a class C license and what a commercial operator needs to go through.

 

[4570Man]

I had the coiled cable safety “chains” on a trailer and there was a big sticker that said “Do not cross”.

 

[Redlands Okie]

the safety chains on my trailer are welded at a single point under the tongue by the factory. No way to cross them.

If they are welded and both together at the same point you have some issues that probably need fixed.

 

[RandyT]

If they are welded and both together at the same point you have some issues that probably need fixed.

Let me rephrase. Without looking they appear to be welded since they are so close together. The are connected to a rod about 6 inches long that is welded between the two sides of the channel tongue about 6 inches behind the ball hitch but in front of the jack. So might as well be a single chain connection point.

 

[schmism]

I had my 20' equipment trailer loaded with gear and pulled out of a driveway up a hill onto the road, and the pin had been removed from the hitch. The receiver pulled out of the hitch and snapped the chains off the trailer like wet noodles, still had them attached to the back of the truck.

 

[oosik]

schmism - so the way the chains were attached to the trailer was not adequate - right? OR the chains were not heavy enough??

 

[Redlands Okie]

Keep in mind that if a trailor comes loose for whatever reason that all of that force is very likely to impact on ONE chain. Not evenly on both chains at the same time.

 

[KennyG]

Does anyone know why cables should not be crossed? I have a set of coiled cables on my trailer and I've always crossed them. There were no instructions indicating they should not be crossed.

I'm probably going to change mine back to chains this winter. The coiling is so stiff it would be very difficult to hitch them short enough to keep the hitch off the ground. When I bought them I thought it was a cool idea but I've come to realize chains are much easier to use. People like them because the coiling keeps them from dragging, but that just means they are way to long.