"Safety" cables - replace them with chains!

[Rick Westlake]

If you have safety cables on your trailer, REPLACE THEM WITH CHAINS.

My new trailer came with safety cables instead of chains. These are coiled, plastic-covered steel cables that are several feet long.

I brought Bossa Nova back from my marina to a storage-yard close to home last night. By the time I was ready to go, it was dark. I didn't connect-up the hitch properly, but I did secure the safety cables and the breakaway brake cable. Two hundred yards out of the marina gate, the boat fell off the hitch. I braked to a stop - and - CRUNCH!


The cables, as you can see, were long enough to let the winch-post smash into the back hatch of my tow-beast. The breakaway brake cable was the same length, so it didn't activate the trailer's brakes. Now the hatch is jammed shut. The tongue may have done more damage underneath; my speedometer doesn't work, several warning lights stay on, and it takes a lot of force to shift the transmission out of "park".

A good samaritan who lives down the road from the marina brought a floor jack to the crash scene, and he jacked up the trailer high enough to fold down the dolly-wheel. I was able to hitch it up, and we each of us checked it carefully to make sure it was on properly this time. The car was still drivable, and I got the boat to its new home (and then got myself home) without further incident.

Safety chains of the proper length would not have enough "slack" to cause this damage. I'm sure the winch-post would have been snubbed short of the hatch. The hitch would have had nothing to hit but the spare tire, which is mounted just forward of the hitch-receiver.

Please learn from my sad experience!

[kmclemore]

Ouch.

Sorry, Rick. Hope it can be fixed without too much pain.

[c130king]

I don't quite understand what happened and how the length of the safety cables impacted this incident. Did the hitch go under the van and then the post where you crank up the trailer wheel hit the back of your van? I can't quite picture what happened or how chains might have prevented this.

I always envisioned the chains (and the emergency brake cable) to be there to keep the trailer from getting away from the tow vehicle...not to keep the trailer from hitting the tow vehicle in the event the hitch comes undone.

Sorry to see what happened though...



Thanks,
Jim

[Bill Reichert]

I did the same thing with the Boy Scout trailer many years ago except it rolled backwards and hit an Arrow storage building. Welcome to the club!
A friend put the wheels on his boat trailer on backwards. He thought the lugs were "kind of cheap" since he only got one turn of the lug nut before they tightened up. He figured out the mistake when the left wheel passed him going down a hill.

We both chalked it up to having teenagers at the time. IE "temporary insanity"

[Rick Westlake]

I don't quite understand what happened and how the length of the safety cables impacted this incident. Did the hitch go under the van and then the post where you crank up the trailer wheel hit the back of your van?

Correct. I felt the something go wrong back there, looked and saw the boat was too-far-back and too-low ... and used my brakes. I should have coasted to a stop (sez my 20-20 hindsight).

I can't quite picture what happened or how chains might have prevented this.

The "curly" cables stretch out to, maybe, four feet long or longer. I had the chains on my old trailer just long enough to allow slack for cornering, and I believe they would have snubbed the tongue short of my back-hatch in this circumstance.

I always envisioned the chains (and the emergency brake cable) to be there to keep the trailer from getting away from the tow vehicle...not to keep the trailer from hitting the tow vehicle in the event the hitch comes undone.

Ditto here; that's why I didn't replace those cables immediately, when I bought the trailer.

[c130king]

Rick,

Got it. Thanks for explaining that for me. I have the chains...I just assume they are "standard" length. I loop them through and then hook them on to themselves to hang low enough to allow for cornering as you described. I do not have the fully closed carabiners that was discussed in the other thread on trailer chains.

I tell you what...with all the horror stories I have been reading on this site lately regarding trailers/wheels/axles/tongues breaking/bending/rusting, and now this new issue...I am starting to get pretty nervous about trailering my boat from Jacksonville, FL to Gulfport, MS this Christmas. Especially since my trailer has not been used much in the past 2.5 years.

I did put fresh grease in my bearing buddies in September, checked all the lights (replaced one tail light), and checked air pressure in the tires (which I will do again right before I hit the road on 20 Dec). And I have always given my trailer a good rinse every time it has been dunked in the St. John's River...so hopefully I won't have any problems...but...

I will keep my fingers crossed, hang a rabbits foot from my rear view mirror, wear my lucky underwear, and wear my St. Christopher's Medal (Patron Saint of Travellers) and a St. Nicholas Medal (Patron Saint of Sailors)...I may consider a ritualistic sacrifice of a chicken or something, and maybe burn some incense, and do anything else I can think of to please any diety's that may be out there that can look after me. (* My apologies to the moderators if this last statement crosses the "no religion" except in the Back Room line... *)

Good luck getting your vehicle fixed...can your car insurance file a claim against your boat insurance...

Cheers,
Jim

[ROAD Soldier]

We all do stupid things even if no one saw me do it cant prove anything. That’s why we have insurance and main thing don’t make the same mistake twice. If you do then it goes from being a stupid accident to you being stupid. As long as no one gets hurt consider it a learning experience. Now about chains over cables I think that is a lot of bull either will work fine. As far as length of cable or chains, there is some serious bad advice going on here. If your trailer has surge brakes it has a little cable that gets pulled if trailer disconnects from vehicle that applies the brakes to the trailer. However if your cables or chains are shorter then this cable that brake will never be applied. You just have to have situation awareness and keep emergency procedures in mind at all times while towing, what would I do if something happened on the bridge? Going down this mountain pass? Just like in flying were a good pilot always has an emergency landing area picked out at all times during his route before he has an emergency. You were right in saying you should have just slowly slowed down instead of braking hard. However you would be right in the course of action if say there was a pedestrian crossing the street or stop traffic in front of you and you had to sacrifice your vehicle. Its just one of those lives lessens that you got to suck up and drive on.

[NiceAft]

I still don't understand how chains would have been a difference. You don't want the chains tight, but rather loose.

If the coil was so long, why did the brakes on the trailer not engage when the breakaway break cable stretched tight. ? Also, if the tongue hit your gate, did that mean there was not enough weight in the bow (300 pounds on the tongue)? The crisscrossed chains both prevent the boat from going too far back, and also prevents the trailer tongue from dropping to the ground. When you slammed on the brakes, and the trailer was still electronically hooked up to your van (did that disconnect also?), wouldn't the surge brakes still be working?

I am glad you're OK , I'm just trying to figure this out. Most important is that there were no personal injuries.

Ray

[Hamin' X]

Whether using chains, or cables, you should cross them underneath the tongue. This will form a cradle for the tongue in case of hitch failure. Some states require this by law.

~Rich

[cmeperform]

oh my , I'm sorry to see this.but don't worry,it's a Toyota like mine.Tough.nothing can stop a Toyota
Just think,if it had been a Ford or Chevy,would be ready for the junk pile.Since it's like my Toyota,well,i better stop

[puggsy]

Sorry to hear about your accident...but who suggested to you that safety cables be four foot and coiled....the whole idea is to prevent the tow tongue going anywhere IF IT JUMPS OFF THE BALL....
As suggested, chains...or even cables, should be crossed and only allow enough movement to get around corners...
as per...



Its the length of the cables that caused your grief...

In the pic, the chains are not normally passed through the handle...what shows it a tidy up...but they need not be more than 12 inches or so long...just enough to go from the weld point on the trailer to the loops on either side of the vehicle tow ball...

[delevi]

Painful photo Rick. Sorry to hear of your troubles. I've actually never seen cables. I thought all trailers came with chains. Guess not. Every Mac trailer I ever saw had chains as I recall. I remember when I towed a boat for the first time (my dad's,) he told me to cross the chains. I never knew why but have done this ever since. I guess it was good advice. Good luck with repairs.

Leon

[Nautek]

Sounds like a Macgregor might just have the grunt to stop a Toyota
(Nissan Patrol) owner

Allan

[Rick Westlake]

Let me see if I can start answering questions ...

I still don't understand how chains would have been a difference. You don't want the chains tight, but rather loose.

It's easy to adjust chains to length so they permit a turn but won't drag. Not so with cables; the coil keeps them off the ground, but they make them longer to hook-up easily.

If the coil was so long, why did the brakes on the trailer not engage when the breakaway break cable stretched tight. ?

The breakaway cable is also coiled, and it's as long - maybe longer...

Also, if the tongue hit your gate, did that mean there was not enough weight in the bow (300 pounds on the tongue)?

It wasn't the tongue that hit the lift-gate, it was the winch-post. On this trailer, the winch-post angles forward about 30°. The tongue dropped underneath the chassis, and it took a garage floor-jack to lift it.

The crisscrossed chains both prevent the boat from going too far back, and also prevents the trailer tongue from dropping to the ground. When you slammed on the brakes, and the trailer was still electronically hooked up to your van (did that disconnect also?), wouldn't the surge brakes still be working?

The cables were criss-crossed, and again they were so long the tongue was able not only to drop to the ground but to slide several feet under the car. The lights-cable was shorter and pulled out. The surge brakes were not triggered, because the safety cables were shorter than the breakaway cable.

I am glad you're OK , I'm just trying to figure this out. Most important is that there were no personal injuries.

Thanks, Ray. Hope my explanation helps.

[Rick Westlake]

Sorry to hear about your accident...but who suggested to you that safety cables be four foot and coiled....the whole idea is to prevent the tow tongue going anywhere IF IT JUMPS OFF THE BALL....

Maybe the bean-counters at the manufacturer suggested it. The trailer came with those cables, brand-new from the factory, and I just went ahead with them - D'oh!

As suggested, chains...or even cables, should be crossed and only allow enough movement to get around corners...
as per...



Its the length of the cables that caused your grief...

I believe so, too. Just plain laziness on my part that I didn't replace them with proper-length chains. I'm aware that cables are also vulnerable to rust, and you can't see it under the vinyl jacket - but I didn't see it as a factor after three months. (Again, D'oh!)

In the pic, the chains are not normally passed through the handle...what shows it a tidy up...but they need not be more than 12 inches or so long...just enough to go from the weld point on the trailer to the loops on either side of the vehicle tow ball...

My safety cables are bolted on by a through-bolt aft of the surge-brake actuator, but still works out much the same. Chains of the right length, criss-crossed under the hitch, would have caught the trailer safely. If the tongue had fallen underneath the hitch, it would have hit my spare tire, which is mounted under the car forward of the bumper. At worst, I think, it might have damaged the tire; but that replacement would have been a lot cheaper than the body-work I need to have done.

Live and learn....