RE: Breakswitch Connection

[whitestar505]

 
I have been trying to figure out where the best place to connect this switch to when traveling. Has anyone been using the sway bar ball to connect too for the breakswitch ?

[tlhdoc]

 whitestar505
My brake away switch is mounted on top of the frame, a little ahead of my battery box.  I connect the wire to the same place my safety chains attach to the TV.

[whitestar505]

 tlhdoc

" Sometimes I see me as an old Manatee, heading south as the waters grow colder"

  Sounds like a MOM to me.
 
  I have talked to many dealers and TRAILER travelers about this connection, so please don t think I am dumb about this. Just looking for more feed back. Dealers are stating to connect the cable end SOMEWHERE OTHER THEN ON THE HITCH AREA in case the hitch gives way.
 
 

[wynot]

 whitestar505
I guess dependent on the length of the cable, you could attach it to the holddown hooks on your TV or the step bumper.  I personally am going to continue to attach it to the safety chain mounts, and take my chances that a 7700 lb rated receiver hitch will remain bolted to the frame.

[tlhdoc]

 whitestar505
Mine said to attach it to a non-removable part of the hitch.  I hope my holddown hooks don t come off.  They are not meant to.

[Wayfarer]

 whitestar505
I ve wondered about this.  The cable seems mighty long so it seems the PU would have to be completely unhooked and gone before it would jerk out the plug.  So, I run the end of the cable through the hole in the step bumper, loop it around and through again one time, and then attach the end loop to the safety chain keeper on the TV.  That leaves enough play so that the cable is just a tad shorter than the chains and will let me turn to the max without pulling the switch but would quickly connect if things went to pot real quick on the highway.  At least I think it would work out that way?[&:]

[mike4947]

 whitestar505
Wayfarer, you got it. That s the way it s supposed to work. If the tongue comes off the hitch (most common breakaway problem, second being the ball or drawbar coming loose) the brakes should come on before the chains tighten. One other thing you need to check is if you do have a breakaway happen that the chains are crossed and the length such that the tongue will be captured and not hit the ground.
 That way the brakes come on; the chains tighten and keep the trailer straight; and the tongue falls onto the chains and doesn t dig into the pavement.
 Believe me, from experience I can say it works and outside of a quarter size dent and the shakes for a few minutes no damage.

[Ab Diver]

 whitestar505

Dealers are stating to connect the cable end SOMEWHERE OTHER THEN ON THE HITCH AREA in case the hitch gives way.

 Ummm, whitestar505-- man, I gotta say that any dealer who wouldn t want me hooking the breakaway switch to the (class III minimum) receiver that is " bolted to the frame"  doesn t give me a whole lot of confidence in his work. On many of today s vehicles, your only other option is the bumper, and unlike a  53 Chevy truck, the bumper is NOT a strong component.
 
 If the receiver comes off the tow rig, then " you gots yerself a whole lotta mo  problems den dat breakaway switch gunna cure" . []

[whitestar505]

 Ab Diver
Ummm, Ab Diver, Ok, Guess I will defend my statements list above. The dealer I am sure is not an expert on this matter. He knows what he has been told like most of us.
 
   Anyways let face it the break-away cable is long which should give you some idea it needs to go somewhere other than 2 feet to the hitch up. The hitch area, and we all know about this, could give way at any time. I have very little trust in the materials and design these days. Made here made there why , it is cheaper! And we all know about cheaper is not always better, infact never. If the trailer breaks loose you now know something has given up the ghost. At this time, there are a lot of things that should come to play as the trailer is pulling away from the hitch at 50 MPH. Now I ask you, would you like to have this small cable, in most cases wraped around the hitch area and maybe just maybe breaks off due to the stress of the chains wrapped around it ? Not me.[]
 
   So for this trip today, I will use the break-away cable and place it around  the hitch crossbar under the TV and use a D ring to hold it inplace. Bottom line here, is I do not think the hitch will break away from the frame of the TV. I do beleive there could be a break were the receiver and ball is located.
 
   Will let you knon now things work out, only problem is crawing under the TV to do this.[:@]
 
 
 

[tlhdoc]

 whitestar505
I think we all agree that the draw bar and ball are the components of the hitch that can easily come loose.  For the receiver itself to come loose there has to be a huge problem.
 
 Have a fun and safe trip.

[wynot]

 whitestar505
Regarding the length of the cable...
 
 My dealer simply put two loops in it to take up the slack.  I guess no one knows how long a drawbar, etc. you will have.  Anyhow, it keep it relatively taut, clean, and off the ground.  And yes, I know that it would immediately pull those loops taut before it pulled the pin - oh well.

[AustinBoston]

 whitestar505

ORIGINAL:  whitestar505
 If the trailer breaks loose you now know something has given up the ghost. At this time, there are a lot of things that should come to play as the trailer is pulling away from the hitch at 50 MPH.

 This would only happen if you have a huge amount of slack in the chains.  (50 feet or more?)  Even with the trailer brakes locked up, the trailer would need over 100 feet to come to a stop from 50 miles an hour.  It would need that (or more) to slow from 65 MPH to 15 MPH (a 50 MPH slowdown).
 
 Ideally, the breakawy brakes should activate just as the chain slack is taken up.  Worst case, there would be maybe 12-18 inches (about 1/100 of the 100+ feet needed to slow by 50 MPH) of slack to take up.  It may be pulling away at most by 5-10 MPH (which is still enough to apply considerable force with a 3500 lb. trailer).
 
 My Class IV hitch has 12 bolts connecting it.  I m reasonably sure the hitch would win.
 
 Austin

[whitestar505]

 whitestar505
Well, egg on my face... As were getting ready to roll last thursday, I was connecting the break-away switch. Well, as I slide under the TV there was no crossbar. In fact the cable would not have made it back that far anyways. The cable was about 15"  longer than the chain connections. So this is what I did.
 
  I connected the break-away switch through the chains loops on the TV and brought it back to where the chains are connected to the trailer. Just enough play for turning and  just right for break-away after the chains tighten up. Not sure if this is good or bad.