Breakaway cable

[mike.t]

Like i said geo just with out so much ink. The breakaway is there if the TT is no longer connected to the TV

[BGKirkham]

What geotex1 wrote makes a lot of sense to me. But I'm a newbie, what do I know?

[mike.t]

Originally Posted by BGKirkham

What geotex1 wrote makes a lot of sense to me. But I'm a newbie, what do I know?

And how are thing's at NASA?

[BGKirkham]

Originally Posted by mike.t

And how are thing's at NASA?

Huh?

[mike.t]

And a happy camping to you also BG

[BGKirkham]

Originally Posted by mike.t

And a happy camping to you as well BG

Happy camping, Mike! Maybe one day you'll let me in on the joke. . But, FWIW, I worked for NASA for 6 years.

[geotex1]

Originally Posted by BGKirkham

Happy camping, Mike! Maybe one day you'll let me in on the joke. . But, FWIW, I worked for NASA for 6 years.

I think Mike is drawing reference to Gib Kirkham who, if you follow the Mars mission, have seen him discussing it.

[frozen]

One of my camper memories: years ago I had a little 17' hybrid behind a small pickup. I had shortened the break-away cable a little too much. Made a sharp left turn into a gas station, pulled the break-away, the trailer stopped me dead blocking two lanes of traffic. Couldn't move without re-inserting the break-away. Embarrassing events are good teachers.

[BGKirkham]

Originally Posted by geotex1

I think Mike is drawing reference to Gib Kirkham who, if you follow the Mars mission, have seen him discussing it.

Ah

[mike.t]

Not being one with a full bag of marbles i figured you must work for NASA to understand what he was talking about.
Cheers
Mike

[BGKirkham]

Originally Posted by mike.t

Not being one with a full bag of marbles i figured you must work for NASA to understand what he was talking about.
Cheers
Mike

Engineers are a peculiar lot.

[geotex1]

Originally Posted by mike.t

Not being one with a full bag of marbles i figured you must work for NASA to understand what he was talking about.
Cheers
Mike

C'mon now... Biggest word I used in that was umbilical!

[KyDan]

I definitely want my trailer to try and stop itself if it's off the ball. Period!!
I want it pulling on the chains and not ramming into the rear of my truck.

I thread my emergency brake cable thru the WD hitch head which keeps
it off the ground AND keeps it centered near the ball. This means it does
not get "shorter" in sharp turns and is not in danger of pulling out when
I'm just turning sharply.
It's shorter than the chains so if the trailer manages to get off the ball it
will pull out even though I'm still tied to the trailer via the chains.
Damage will be done but hopefully the trailer will stay behind me and
we'll all get stopped more or less in a straight line

IF you don't have a WD hitch you could easily make a loop to thread
the cable thru by putting a piece of heavy wire around the neck of the ball
or even a heavy zip tie loose loop would work.

Happy Trails!

[dsjohns71]

Originally Posted by Yarome

Amen, brother! "contained catastrophe"!! You certainly want a break-a-way situation under chains at the least. It certainly rarely happens, but I really hate to think of folks undermining their fail safes with those plastic jobs.

How do you figure these are plastic jobs? They are plastic covered cable that happen to be colored red so automatically they are plastic? They work very well and are as strong as the factory one that came on my new TT. I just liked the concept of them NOT dragging on the ground and they are not supposed to be weaved through the safety chains or anything else or then they are pretty much useless.. If you'd like to research these look them up,,, "FASTWAYTRAILERPRODUCTS.COM." Thanks and didn't mean to sound like I was attacking you..

[mike.t]

Originally Posted by dsjohns71

How do you figure these are plastic jobs? They are plastic covered cable that happen to be colored red so automatically they are plastic? They work very well and are as strong as the factory one that came on my new TT. I just liked the concept of them NOT dragging on the ground and they are not supposed to be weaved through the safety chains or anything else or then they are pretty much useless.. If you'd like to research these look them up,,, "FASTWAYTRAILERPRODUCTS.COM." Thanks and didn't mean to sound like I was attacking you..

Plus 1

[OldCoot]

Originally Posted by KyDan

I definitely want my trailer to try and stop itself if it's off the ball. Period!!
I want it pulling on the chains and not ramming into the rear of my truck.

I thread my emergency brake cable thru the WD hitch head which keeps
it off the ground AND keeps it centered near the ball. This means it does
not get "shorter" in sharp turns and is not in danger of pulling out when
I'm just turning sharply.
It's shorter than the chains so if the trailer manages to get off the ball it
will pull out even though I'm still tied to the trailer via the chains.
Damage will be done but hopefully the trailer will stay behind me and
we'll all get stopped more or less in a straight line

IF you don't have a WD hitch you could easily make a loop to thread
the cable thru by putting a piece of heavy wire around the neck of the ball
or even a heavy zip tie loose loop would work.

Happy Trails!

I agree with you and that is exactly how I did my break away cable on all the tongue trailers I towed. The coil cable guys say it is wrong and it is for when the trailer comes completely disconnected from the tv, ball, chains everything. I am like you, I want the brakes applied the minute the trailer leaves the hitch, whether the ball breaks or whatever.

[thebrakeman]

Those that want the pin pulled while the chains are still intact are seriously underestimating the braking involved from the 4 drum brakes (for the most of us). 12volts will instantly lock the wheels (unless you have not maintained the brakes), sending a violent shock though the chains and receiver, to the truck frame. Even thought the braking wire is still connected thru the 7-way, you will lose all control of the brakes.

if this ever happens, I hope you are running in the right-most lane. Because the violence of the impact will make it hard for you to remember that you will actually have to get on the gas in order to continue any hope of changing multiple lanes to the shoulder. If you have more than 1 lane to change, I suspect most would end up stopping very quickly in the middle of the expressway, causing a pileup.

I would prefer to remain in full control of the rig. I remember as a kid how it felt when our large boat came off the hitch onto the chains. It was enough of a jolt without full brakes being applied, and Dad was able to pull over safely without it being a panic, full-on braking event.

[thebrakeman]

And yes, I have the Fastway breakaway cable.
No, it's not plastic. It's the same steel cable as any other, but is coated. You have only to pull on the end manually to see it's just as capable of pulling the pin as any other.

[OldCoot]

Originally Posted by thebrakeman

Those that want the pin pulled while the chains are still intact are seriously underestimating the braking involved from the 4 drum brakes (for the most of us). 12volts will instantly lock the wheels (unless you have not maintained the brakes), sending a violent shock though the chains and receiver, to the truck frame. Even thought the braking wire is still connected thru the 7-way, you will lose all control of the brakes...

Very doubtful if not impossible for the magnets to "LOCK" the brakes. I want the trailer to stay connected to the truck and not go off possibly hurting some innocent vehicle that had nothing to do with it. I would be the one causing the problem and will suffer the consequences and not some other person(s

Besides, when the trailer is totally disconnected, it is just an unguided hazard that is no doubt going to crash into something or somebody causing a much bigger pileup.

[Lefty59]

I agree with thebrakeman. As long as the 7-pin connector is still attached I'd prefer to control the braking myself...rather than having them put full on by the break-away pin being pulled out. Of course, in our case it's most likely a moot point because if the king pin comes loose from the jaws of the hitch the fiver will be separated from the TV soon enough...along with our tailgate I'm sure.

I considered adding a bed saver device but upon checking with B&W I learned that any holes drilled in the companion hitch will void the lifetime hitch warranty.