Safety Tow Chain Question

Lynnmor wrote:

westend wrote:

Lynnmor wrote:
The idea of the chains forming a cradle, for the most part, is nonsense. Connect the chains leaving enough slack for turns and then uncouple the ball and let the tongue down and you will see that the coupler will hit the ground as the trailer moves forward. The lower the connection point is, the more likely that cradle effect won't happen. The real reason for crossing chains is so they don't pull tight when turning.

What will happen after the bottom of the tongue hits the pavement with the truck still attached with the safety chains?The crossed chains will lift the tongue. If they're not crossed the tongue will still be on the pavement pulled by the chains, or, in the worst case, the coupler will imbed in the roadway, flipping the trailer. The crossed chains also tend to keep the trailer tongue pulled towards the truck's attachment point, should one chain break, not pulling from just one side.
The fact that they are crossed has no bearing on the slack in the chains when turning. That is defined by the length of the chains.

Just what are you trying to say? Tongues may hit the pavement regardless how they are attached. Crossing the chains does indeed prevent them from drawing tight in turns. Yes, I cross the chains, but I don't much believe in the idea that somehow the crossed chains will keep the tongue off the road in most cases. If the trailer has the most braking power, the chains will be pulled tight. If the tow vehicle is stopping faster than the trailer, the coupler will probably go under the tow vehicle as far as the chains allow.

I've been present in a couple of mishaps where the trailer coupler detaches from the towing vehicle's ball. When the coupler detaches and the truck is maintaining speed, the trailer loses speed and the tongue starts to drop. As the crossed safety chains tighten they hold the tongue off the road surface. If the chains aren't crossed, they tighten and pull the tongue forward but not necessarily up off the pavement. In one instance of the latter case, one safety chain broke and the remaining chain pulled the tongue of the trailer radically to the side. Thankfully, it was toward the shoulder because the remaining chain snapped and the trailer continued for some distance until stopped by a roadside sign.

Hey, if you don't want to cross your chains, hook 'em up any way you want.