slack in safety chains
How much slack???
Forum Discussion
Never quite understood the crossed chain idea, since all my trailers have always had both chains attached to the frame from the exact same point. Crossing? Cross what? So, I do the best I can. I give them an extra "one over the other" a couple times. It shortens the chain a little, but still, in all reality, won't form a cradle. Now if the chains were attached to the A-frame of the trailer a few inches apart from each other (two points) then crossing would definitely form a cradle. But when they are both attached at the same point, the best I can do is simply twist them one over the other.
Slack? yea, just enough you can make the sharpest turn (actually a jack-knife) and the farthest chain does not have any tension on it. That will automatically create the distance to "cradle" in the event of a disconnect.
Edit:
But you know, sometimes even with the best set-up, safety chains and break-away cable, it won't matter anyway! This actually happened to us several years ago:
FYI, we survived, had new A frame attached, and the world was wonderful after that! Thank goodness we did not have actual separation on the road.
Slack? yea, just enough you can make the sharpest turn (actually a jack-knife) and the farthest chain does not have any tension on it. That will automatically create the distance to "cradle" in the event of a disconnect.
Edit:
But you know, sometimes even with the best set-up, safety chains and break-away cable, it won't matter anyway! This actually happened to us several years ago:
FYI, we survived, had new A frame attached, and the world was wonderful after that! Thank goodness we did not have actual separation on the road.
