[RC] Trailer Safety Chains...A MUST 3X I've lost one & *Safety suggestion - CS
Just a FYI comment: I have had a 2 horse in line trailer come off the
ball three times in 30 some years.
Also, always check your hitch after bathroom/rest area stops; eating out;
shopping; ie when you've left your rig unattended...
Friend happened to do a walk around, after eating on his way to Tevis one
year, and someone had UN latched his hitch.. He was 99.9 % possitive
as there was two caravaning and they both did a walk around to check each
other's riggs before they forgot something.
1st one came off a 1 7/8" ball (husband had used the 2" & not put back
on) when I took a short cut through construction & hit a pot hole. It
sailed off the edge of the embankment; did a 360 & ended right side up at
the bottom of a 50' drop. Luckily a tree broke it's fall and only dented
the corner above one horses head. no horses luckily...and do chains or brakes to
stop it. (70's old trailer)
2nd time a friend directed me in backing up & when I went back to hook
up; the ball latch was already closed so I put the chains on (X'd); loaded 2
horses & made it about 2 miles down the road when luckily it came off the
ball (at 35 miles per hour instead of 50+.). The nose fell on the crossed
chains...which were the RIGHT LENGTH where they weren't so long the hitch
grounded and flipped and not so short the trailer hitch came into the vehicle
while stopping. It did whip a few times on deceleration which was
pretty hairy in the rear view mirror and I'm sure for the horses as
well. Borrowed a jack to raise the nose. Put a concrete block
under the rear of the trailer so I could stabilize it and unload the
horses. No damage, no injuries. (Friend had not latched the hitch
onto the ball..It was already closed when she rolled it down on the
ball thinking I would know to release the latch/open it and relatch it after
dropping it on the ball when I hook up the chains).
3rd time happened to be the same trailer and we're not sure if it was
the same scenario as above or if the pot hole I hit literally created enough
torque to pop it off the ball without the weight of the horses on the
tongue.. We drove 50 miles & it might be possible wiith the weight of
the horses in the trailer to go that far wiith it not latched but
I doubt it. Luckily we were riding pt to pt & we were
dropping the trailer off at the end pt and so no horses were
I regularly pulled a gooseneck and only knew one person who hooked up in
the dark; drove 50 miles, mostly down hill before having his gooseneck come
loose as he pulled up his hill in his driveway. We assume it was sitting
on a closed latch...? luckily his tailgate held the trailer till he got
stopped.
In a message dated 8/22/2004 7:02:05 PM Mountain Daylight Time, dotwgns@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
writes:
Still
curious. Do most folks use them? Do most
states require them? I know of at least one case where the hitch came off
the ball, but they were able to stop before the trailer went rocketing
off the road. Chains kept it sort of under
control. Still not fun.
I always hook my chains on to the hitch. I also hook the hooks so that
the open side of the "C" side of the hook is toward the outside of the truck,
if that makes sense. The owner of a trailer manufacturing company told me that
it is the safest, strongest way to hook up the chains. These chains came on my
3-horse slant and are very large. Hopefully the size means they are strong
too. Beccy in Ut.
(All I have to do now is get hubby to hook up my battery on the inside of the
tack compartment so that "If" the trailer were to come loose, the trailer
brakes would engage)
