Is this unsafe to do this?

Having done this as I lost the locking biener I used to hook the loop elsewhere......then got pulled over by one of Washington states finest officers.......I was informed ILLEGAL! Got lucky with just a warning, but will go with the not safe as noted, illegal in many jurisdictions etc.
THIS can also get you red tagged on the side of the road.....now being over a manufactures weight rating will NOT get you red tagged on the side of the road until issue is fixed! Think about that for a moment.......

Marty

Taught all my designers & engineers this:

• Design it for the idiot and gorilla, as if they can misuse it...they will
• Design it for the moment Mr Murphy shows up
• KISS is the main thought process

Of course withing budget and specifications...

Most receivers are bolted to the frame rails...on ladder frame TV's

Most bumpers are bolted to the frame rails...on ladder frame TV's

Most bodies are bolted to the frame rails...on ladder frame TV's

Most things bolted on can have the bolts under torqued, not torqued, vibrate loose, etc on ladder frame TV's

Anyone guess where this goes with where I clip on my safety stuff?...

Lantley wrote:

NJRVer wrote:

Terryallan wrote:
Never Never Never hook the lanyard to the hitch. As mentioned. IF the hitch breaks, the brake pin will not be pulled. Will be useless.

I put a I-bolt thru the step bumper where there is a place for chaines to be hooked if using the bumper to tow. I hook the lanyard to that. So that even if the hitch fall off, the brakes will still be pulled on.

I think I have more faith in the hitch than I do in a bumper.

It's not about faith. The whole premise of the brake and cable is that a failure can occur. If failure occurs it is wise to have cable attached to anything other than the point of failure

If you take it to the nth degree, a failure can occur no matter where you make the connection.

NJRVer wrote:

Terryallan wrote:
Never Never Never hook the lanyard to the hitch. As mentioned. IF the hitch breaks, the brake pin will not be pulled. Will be useless.

I put a I-bolt thru the step bumper where there is a place for chaines to be hooked if using the bumper to tow. I hook the lanyard to that. So that even if the hitch fall off, the brakes will still be pulled on.

I think I have more faith in the hitch than I do in a bumper.

I don't attach mine to either the hitch or the bumper. It is attached to the truck's frame.

Back in the days when I drove a MH and pulled a toad, I had a hitch shop put the baseplate on the car. When I went to pick it up, they had attached the breakaway cable to the hitch. I made them move it to the MH frame before I left the lot.

Lantley wrote:

NJRVer wrote:

Terryallan wrote:
Never Never Never hook the lanyard to the hitch. As mentioned. IF the hitch breaks, the brake pin will not be pulled. Will be useless.

I put a I-bolt thru the step bumper where there is a place for chaines to be hooked if using the bumper to tow. I hook the lanyard to that. So that even if the hitch fall off, the brakes will still be pulled on.

I think I have more faith in the hitch than I do in a bumper.

It's not about faith. The whole premise of the brake and cable is that a failure can occur. If failure occurs it is wise to have cable attached to anything other than the point of failure

Exactly a safety system is always designed around an improbable failure, but it can still be a failure even if its a small chance of failure. There wouldn't even be a breakaway cable if there wasn't a chance of breakaway. plan for the worst, and expect the best!

NJRVer wrote:

Terryallan wrote:
Never Never Never hook the lanyard to the hitch. As mentioned. IF the hitch breaks, the brake pin will not be pulled. Will be useless.

I put a I-bolt thru the step bumper where there is a place for chaines to be hooked if using the bumper to tow. I hook the lanyard to that. So that even if the hitch fall off, the brakes will still be pulled on.

I think I have more faith in the hitch than I do in a bumper.

It's not about faith. The whole premise of the brake and cable is that a failure can occur. If failure occurs it is wise to have cable attached to anything other than the point of failure

Terryallan wrote:
Never Never Never hook the lanyard to the hitch. As mentioned. IF the hitch breaks, the brake pin will not be pulled. Will be useless.

I put a I-bolt thru the step bumper where there is a place for chaines to be hooked if using the bumper to tow. I hook the lanyard to that. So that even if the hitch fall off, the brakes will still be pulled on.

I think I have more faith in the hitch than I do in a bumper.

horton333 wrote:

fj12ryder wrote:
Not the way I would do it, but doesn't look particularly unsafe.

Not legal in these here parts either. The whole purpose of the safety cable is to limit to problems from a catastrophic hitch where the trailer separates, there are several scenarios here where the brake would no be actuated and the trailer would be separate from the TV and..... well pity the other people on that road. The cable needs to be connected to a separate piece of the TV, not the hitch in general and esp not the pin, for safety.

Kind of stunned by everybody who claims that it's just fine. There isn't a set of manufacturer's instructions, or safety regulation out there that would approve of attaching a breakaway to a receiver. I have had a receiver that tried to separate from the frame. At the start of my RVing hobby, I paid a dealer to install a receiver on my truck. The idiot who did the work didn't see the value of actually torquing anything, and all four bolts were working loose as I towed. I noticed it in time to prevent a catastrophic failure, and redid the work properly. With the breakaway attached to the receiver it could of been a disaster.

Bottom line, the breakaway should be attached to the vehicle in such a manner that the complete failure of the receiver, as in it literally falling off the tow vehicle, WILL NOT prevent the safety braking from activating. This can be easily accomplished with a short loop of aircraft cable looped around the frame, and routed in a area where the breakaway lanyard can be easily attached.

dodge guy wrote:

discovery4us wrote:
The often overlooked issue with the break away cable is length. If the cable is longer than the out stretched chains the likely hood of the emergency brake being pulled is slim.

The breakaway cable is meant for a breakaway. Still being attached by the chains isn't broken away, it's still attached. So the proper way to connect is to have the cable longer than than the outstretched chains.

Most of the breakaway manufacturers instructions would disagree. In the event of a complete breakaway the tongue of the trailer in the road surface would be your brakes. Manufacturers will recommend the cable activate before the chains are taut and before the electrical cord is taut in hopes of using the trailer brakes to maintain enough control to prevent a complete breakaway.

discovery4us wrote:
The often overlooked issue with the break away cable is length. If the cable is longer than the out stretched chains the likely hood of the emergency brake being pulled is slim.

The breakaway cable is meant for a breakaway. Still being attached by the chains isn't broken away, it's still attached. So the proper way to connect is to have the cable longer than than the outstretched chains.