electric brake "breakaway" cable

[Fishermark]

I installed the fifth wheel hitch in my truck the other day and finally had a chance to pull our new (new to us ;)) fifth wheel. I put a new 7 blade connector in the bed of the truck:




I like being able to easily access the trailer wiring plug. But I have a question. Where is best to hook up the breakaway cable for the electric brakes?

[MarkTwain]

Is that supposed to be connected to a battery?

Yes, but only on the NEG side:):):)

[noteven]

Is that supposed to be connected to a battery?

[deleted-2]

mr. ed wrote:

I never thought someone would steal a break-away cable! Gives you something to think about. My concern would be having the brakes energized for a long period of time if the cable gets pulled. Wouldn't some braking component (magnet) overheat and perhaps burn out?

Yes.
It will melt the receptacle and run down the battery.
At least that's what happened to us when someone pulled the cable out on a trailer we used to have.

[mark5w]

What will happen if a giant Pterodactyl swoops down from the sky and grabs your RV and flies off with it? It could happen!

[Uppercrust]

interesting topic. We are still figuring out were to hook ours cause tight tunrs it pulls out & the trailer locks up.

[noteven]

silvercorvette wrote:

F105 wrote:

Traveler II wrote:
I was wondering if it wouldn’t be better to secure the cable to the truck bed and not the hitch. I’ve never heard of this happening, but what if the hitch came out of the bed rails and the cable is hooked to the hitch?

And what if the truck bed separated from the chassis? It could happen, but I think you are over thinking this - just get a secure hitch point on your TV , hook the cable and be on your way.

What will happen if a giant Pterodactyl swoops down from the sky and grabs your RV and flies off with it? It could happen!

If a Pterodactyl leaves Philadelphia travelling 65 miles per hour...um...carrying a RV...then... if the brakes were not on... which way is New York?

[mr__ed]

djgarcia wrote:
I lasso the loop on my cable onto the handle for the hitch release.

X2. After I unhook the truck from the 5th. wheel, I lock the break away cable to hitch with a regular lock. Believe it or not, I had a break away cable stolen from my 5th. wheel while parked in a RV park:( Now I carry an extra one just in case!

I never thought someone would steal a break-away cable! Gives you something to think about. My concern would be having the brakes energized for a long period of time if the cable gets pulled. Wouldn't some braking component (magnet) overheat and perhaps burn out?

[F105]

silvercorvette wrote:

F105 wrote:

Traveler II wrote:
I was wondering if it wouldn’t be better to secure the cable to the truck bed and not the hitch. I’ve never heard of this happening, but what if the hitch came out of the bed rails and the cable is hooked to the hitch?

And what if the truck bed separated from the chassis? It could happen, but I think you are over thinking this - just get a secure hitch point on your TV , hook the cable and be on your way.

What will happen if a giant Pterodactyl swoops down from the sky and grabs your RV and flies off with it? It could happen!

Exactly - I'm done with this one.

[ependydad]

joebedford wrote:

Traveler II wrote:
I was wondering if it wouldn’t be better to secure the cable to the truck bed and not the hitch. I’ve never heard of this happening, but what if the hitch came out of the bed rails and the cable is hooked to the hitch?

Exactly what I do.

I hook mine to one of the corner tie-down points. I originally started to hook it to my handle pin but the dealer's tech recommended it be attached directly to the truck.

No big deal either way. Do what works for you.

[silvercorvette]

F105 wrote:

Traveler II wrote:
I was wondering if it wouldn’t be better to secure the cable to the truck bed and not the hitch. I’ve never heard of this happening, but what if the hitch came out of the bed rails and the cable is hooked to the hitch?

And what if the truck bed separated from the chassis? It could happen, but I think you are over thinking this - just get a secure hitch point on your TV , hook the cable and be on your way.

What will happen if a giant Pterodactyl swoops down from the sky and grabs your RV and flies off with it? It could happen!

[Flattop]

Had mine pull out while making a sharp turn out of the gas station. Stopped me in my tracks. Reconnected and pull off to the side of the road. Went back inside the gas station to unload my pants before continuing downt the road.

[SanMarMor]

My Chevy has the OEM under rail cargo management system, and I hook it to one of those tie downs. Works great for me, but if you don't have a Chevy with the system, it doesn't help you.

Mark

[jmconneely]

I know when pulling a regular landscape,cargo type trailer you have to have it secured to the vehicle and not through the hitch. DOT pulled over a contractor I know and gave him a $500 fine. He had to secure it to the bumper and not the receiver hitch. I'm sure it is the same way on a 5th wheel.

Best option is to call the truck police and get there ruling on it.

[Oakman]

WyoTraveler wrote:
Interesting. If you are on windy mountain roads could it get tangled & unhitch the 5ver? Don't know, just asking. I always hooked mine to the base plate.

No it can't unhitch the 5ver. While a severe turn might pull the breakaway cable out and activate the trailer brakes, there is no way it can unhitch the 5ver. It takes a lot more pressure to pull out the hitch handle that that cable can apply. Also, if you look at the second photo you will see that the hitch handle latch is down over the hitch handle. To unhitch a 5ver the hitch handle must be pulled out. The hitch handle latch in the down position prevents the handle from being pulled out.