What do you guys recommend for towing with an 8" drop hitch. My tent trailer sits level about 15" off the ground so when I use my 8" drop hitch the chains are not long enough to criss cross them under the tongue (which is what I was told is the safest way in case you lose your ball/tongue connection). Sure, longer chains would solve the problem but then if the hitch ball came off the chains would be on the ground. By the way, I had an experience once where I left the hookup in someone elses hands and didn't double check the coupling - it was not 100% seated and lost the trailer a few miles from home - thank goodness I had the chains but the tongue dragged on the ground, leaving a nice shower of sparks. The chains did their job (they were NOT criss crossed) but ended up replacing the S hooks because they were so ground down!. Seem to remember seeing some guys using 4" extension chains hooked to their receiver frame opening............... So I'm not being paranoid, I figure I'm finally trying to get hooked up properly.
When I was towing my 21 foot Shasta. I went to Home Depot and got longer chains. As it turned out I only needed 4 additional links. I should have looked for two of those thing-a-ma-bobbers. I don't know what they are called. They look like huge chain links, with a cut out in one side. It has a treaded cylinder that covers the gap. Someone help me out here. I'm at a loss for the name.
[quote='05 2500HD]What about welding chain loops on the drop bracket closer to the ball?[/quote] Not a good practice and maybe not even legal. Because if any part of the drawbar fails then your chain goes with it, negating the purpose of the safety chains.
what if you had a GOOD welder weld a safety chain to the top of your tounge, then you wouldn't have to worry about them getting tangled up from the bottom...
IIRC here in IL the law requires safety chains to be bolted to the trailer and they must pass under the tongue.
I was thinking if the trailer chains ran to the drawbar, and then a seperate set of chains run from the drawbar to the hitch.
They call them "quicklinks", turnbuckles are used to help support gates and barn doors. At least thats what I have seen them called around here.
tie that chain up with a couple of extra feet of chain and just let it sit wherever. the trailer will mess up your truck worse if it does unhook
Correct. I have 1 really large on added on each side of my hitch. I only use them with my smaller trailer because the chains are too short. I also switched out the S links for hooks with a safety so they don't unhook on bumps. One trailer the chains are too long so I twist the chain till most of the slack is gone and then criscross the chains and hook them. Welding to any part of the drawbar may cause it to fail and is not a good Idea.
Best soltion I've found to take up slack/dangling chains, is to thread a thin bungie cord thru some of the links held in place with a few nylon tie straps.
from personal experience DO NOT WELD CHAIN! TO THE TOUNGE OR ANYTHING ELSE!!!!! most chain is tempered and if you alter this by adding heat to it you weaken it I learned my lesson( a 4000$ one) with a borrowed horse trailer best advice I could give is to add a link if you need length and make sure you have the hitch latched and locked down with a bolt and locking nut ther is nothing worse than having the trailer you WERE pulling behind you take a left and pass you only to hit the ditch and do three cartwheels @ 45 mph thank God no one was near me when it came loose and I was on my way to get my roping poony instead of on my way back from getting him :doah:
