Break Away Switch Cable

[travelnman]

Anyone have an opinion on where you should connect the break away
switch cable? Most instructions say "hook it up" to what? Should
it be connected to the hitch like the chains or the frame of the
tow vehicle? If you ask RV dealers they usually can not give you
a straight answer just reply anywhere works. What if the hitch
breaks loose from the frame of the vehicle and your cable is attached
to it, obviously the brake away switch will not be activated. I see
most attaching it to a link in the safety chains, what if they come
off which I had happen? Anyone have a opinion here? What concerns me
as I have asked some folks what they do and they didn't even know
what the break away cable was for.

[JIMNLIN]

Bobbo wrote:
I just love the "that never happened to anybody I know" crowd. A simple, free, easy solution, and they can't be bothered. I agree that hitch failure is unlikely, but it does happen.

A simple you tube shows tow vehicle hitch failures/trailer hitch failures...bumper failures/wheels falling of vehicles.
Wonder why we even hook up a trailer to a hitch or a bumper or drive a vehicle ...:R.

[Bobbo]

I just love the "that never happened to anybody I know" crowd. A simple, free, easy solution, and they can't be bothered. I agree that hitch failure is unlikely, but it does happen.

[BarneyS]

Jim, I was replying to aguablanco above you on that one. 🙂 We have had a few posts about the bumper of a trailer being torn off by carrying bikes but I don't recall there ever being one about the bumper of a truck and was not looking for that. Actually, when using a WD hitch, there is no contact with the bumper normally so using that as a source to hitch the breakaway cable to would probably be fine.
Barney

[JIMNLIN]

BarneyS wrote:

JIMNLIN wrote:

aguablanco wrote:
Can anyone point me to any story about a hitch falling off of a truck, other than in a collision? I hook my brake cable in the same eye as the safety chain.
RichH

LOL...or the bumper falling off.
Some folks can think up the silliest things to convince others their method or a product is right and others are somehow wrong.

Here is one.

Here is another. Scroll down to the post by Jacdanboy about 2/3 of the way down.

And here is another.
The member that made this post is still active in the forums and perhaps he will post some of the photos he had of his hitch when it failed.

There are numerous others but I lack the time to search for them all.
Bottom line - hitch failures do happen and breakaways and chains need to be properly fastened.
Barney

Good find. But non said anything about the bumper coming off.
I've had a pintle hitch failure (faulty eye) and a GN trailer jumped the ball. Chains on both kept the trailer to the truck so no run away trailer.
Jim

[BarneyS]

JIMNLIN wrote:

aguablanco wrote:
Can anyone point me to any story about a hitch falling off of a truck, other than in a collision? I hook my brake cable in the same eye as the safety chain.
RichH

LOL...or the bumper falling off.
Some folks can think up the silliest things to convince others their method or a product is right and others are somehow wrong.

Here is one.

Here is another. Scroll down to the post by Jacdanboy about 2/3 of the way down.

And here is another.
The member that made this post is still active in the forums and perhaps he will post some of the photos he had of his hitch when it failed.

There are numerous others but I lack the time to search for them all.
Bottom line - hitch failures do happen and breakaways and chains need to be properly fastened.
Barney

[JIMNLIN]

aguablanco wrote:
Can anyone point me to any story about a hitch falling off of a truck, other than in a collision? I hook my brake cable in the same eye as the safety chain.
RichH

LOL...or the bumper falling off.
Some folks can think up the silliest things to convince others their method or a product is right and others are somehow wrong.

[JBarca]

Since this simple cable my just save you some day, think through the worst case situation on what fails when. As the others have said, it should attach to the truck separate from the hitch, receiver, safety chains, the 7 wire cord etc. Ideal is to the truck bumper or frame.

Each TV has a different setup on how to do this. It may take a little thinking on how to create the attach point and sometimes a small chain and carbiner can help. These may help spark some ideas for you to build on. Simple, easy to connect to and effective.

Here is my current Ford setup




Here was my prior GM setup.




And while you are sorting out where to attach the cable, sort out the cable length on when should the switch activate? There is much debate on this.

See here with several links on why from years back
When to have the breakaway switch activate

Hope this helps

John

[3oaks]

ScottG wrote:
Attach it to the same point as the safety chains, or any other solid point on the TV.

That's what I do.

I don't worry about the hitch separating from my truck. The odds are far greater to be involved in a collision than simply loosing the hitch while traveling on the road. :R

[aguablanco]

Can anyone point me to any story about a hitch falling off of a truck, other than in a collision? I hook my brake cable in the same eye as the safety chain.
RichH

[Bobbo]

The frame of the truck, not the hitch. In the (unlikely) event that the hitch fails, you still want to pull the pin.

[hornet28]

I have an eye bolt welded to the bumper reinforcement for my break away.

[mkirsch]

Think about it: The breakaway switch does absolutely no good if you hook it to the receiver, and the receiver happens to come off the truck.

While it's not likely that the receiver would fail, it is so simple and easy to attach the cable to something that is not the receiver, that it makes perfect sense to attach it anywhere but the receiver.

It does not take much force to pull the breakaway pin, so whatever you connect to does not have to be particularly strong, just solid and not likely to fall off the truck any time soon.

I attach my breakaway cable to the truck's bumper. I use a 300lb rated carabiner and clip it through a slot on the underside of the bumper.

[Hank85713]

some hitches have a small hookup for the cable that is away from the chainup. But the one on my aspect does not so itis hooked up to the chain up with the chains. My F350 has the separate point up on the receiver itself.

[ScottG]

Attach it to the same point as the safety chains, or any other solid point on the TV.