Do you cross your safety cables?

What a silly discussion that has no reality value at all
And ever since I found out that no safety cable is required between the base plates and the toad frame, (by far the most likely parts to fail) I couldn't care less about crossing cables.

mpierce wrote:
Actually, crossing the chains/cables PREVENTS the far side from getting too tight. It allows you to have SHORTER cables, and still not get tight in a tight turn, than if you did NOT cross them.

I'm sure you have something in mind that escapes my own tired brain. Perhaps you can help me out.

Other than Gary Larson cartoons that I like, I don't know what "the far side" refers to.

I don't understand how crossing cables allows for shorter cables. My hitch has two connect points, My base plate has two connect points. So I picture my situation to be like these two diagrams.



I know the line segments in figure 2 are longer than the line segments in figure 1, so you must have something else in mind.

Tom

I cross my cables but more importantly check the bolts attaching the base plate to the car and the MH I know 3 people and have read on here more that had failures where the base plate comes loose or the MH hitch comes loose. One of these folks now puts a safty chain around both the base plate and the hitch.

Hikerdogs wrote:

pulsar wrote:

Hikerdogs wrote:
I 'll be the first one to say No we don't cross the safety cables. The original intent of crossing safety chains was to capture the tongue of a 2 wheel trailer should it pop off the ball hitch. In the case of a trailer the coming loose the tongue would drop to the pavement. It could either gouge into the pavement and flip the trailer or cause it to swerve into oncoming traffic.

This practice may apply if you use a ball mount tow bar. However most stinger mounted tow bars don't have that problem. There would have to be a catastrophic joint failure before the tow bar became disconnected. Even then bars like the Roadmaster Sterling All Terrain have the cables contained inside built in channels.

http://roadmasterinc.com/products/towbars/sterling.html

The tow bar is contained regardless of whether or not the cables are crossed.

RoadMaster recommends that the cables be crossed under the hitch for the Sterling All Terrain tow bar.

This helps prevent the tow bar from hitting the road and "pole vaulting" if the tow bar separates from the hitch receiver.

Admittedly, the tow bar separating from the receiver is much less likely than with a ball hitch. But if it did, the stinger is going to pivot down, unless the cables are crossed under it.

Tom

I guess I'll have to revise my practice of not crossing the cables if it's possible. We had to add a 6" drop hitch to get the towbar connections into the recommended range. The drop hitch extended the distance between the motorhome and the toad so we also had to purchase a longer set of safety cables. Hopefully the new cables are long enough to allow them to be crossed without binding on tight turns.

Actually, crossing the chains/cables PREVENTS the far side from getting too tight. It allows you to have SHORTER cables, and still not get tight in a tight turn, than if you did NOT cross them.

pulsar wrote:

Hikerdogs wrote:
I 'll be the first one to say No we don't cross the safety cables. The original intent of crossing safety chains was to capture the tongue of a 2 wheel trailer should it pop off the ball hitch. In the case of a trailer the coming loose the tongue would drop to the pavement. It could either gouge into the pavement and flip the trailer or cause it to swerve into oncoming traffic.

This practice may apply if you use a ball mount tow bar. However most stinger mounted tow bars don't have that problem. There would have to be a catastrophic joint failure before the tow bar became disconnected. Even then bars like the Roadmaster Sterling All Terrain have the cables contained inside built in channels.

http://roadmasterinc.com/products/towbars/sterling.html

The tow bar is contained regardless of whether or not the cables are crossed.

RoadMaster recommends that the cables be crossed under the hitch for the Sterling All Terrain tow bar.

This helps prevent the tow bar from hitting the road and "pole vaulting" if the tow bar separates from the hitch receiver.

Admittedly, the tow bar separating from the receiver is much less likely than with a ball hitch. But if it did, the stinger is going to pivot down, unless the cables are crossed under it.

Tom

I guess I'll have to revise my practice of not crossing the cables if it's possible. We had to add a 6" drop hitch to get the towbar connections into the recommended range. The drop hitch extended the distance between the motorhome and the toad so we also had to purchase a longer set of safety cables. Hopefully the new cables are long enough to allow them to be crossed without binding on tight turns.

I can't see any good reason NOT to cross them. There is no downside to doing it, and it could keep the broken parts off the ground in the event of an equipment failure or breakage.

One reason to cross the safety cables/chains, aside from the basket making stuff, is it lessens the chance, in a turn, of the outside cable being yanked out or strained. It also means you can have less cable/chain dangling below the hitch. Admittedly, less of a problem with today's coiled cables.

Norm

Hikerdogs wrote:
I 'll be the first one to say No we don't cross the safety cables. The original intent of crossing safety chains was to capture the tongue of a 2 wheel trailer should it pop off the ball hitch. In the case of a trailer the coming loose the tongue would drop to the pavement. It could either gouge into the pavement and flip the trailer or cause it to swerve into oncoming traffic.

This practice may apply if you use a ball mount tow bar. However most stinger mounted tow bars don't have that problem. There would have to be a catastrophic joint failure before the tow bar became disconnected. Even then bars like the Roadmaster Sterling All Terrain have the cables contained inside built in channels.

http://roadmasterinc.com/products/towbars/sterling.html

The tow bar is contained regardless of whether or not the cables are crossed.

RoadMaster recommends that the cables be crossed under the hitch for the Sterling All Terrain tow bar.

This helps prevent the tow bar from hitting the road and "pole vaulting" if the tow bar separates from the hitch receiver.

Admittedly, the tow bar separating from the receiver is much less likely than with a ball hitch. But if it did, the stinger is going to pivot down, unless the cables are crossed under it.

Tom

I 'll be the first one to say No we don't cross the safety cables. The original intent of crossing safety chains was to capture the tongue of a 2 wheel trailer should it pop off the ball hitch. In the case of a trailer the coming loose the tongue would drop to the pavement. It could either gouge into the pavement and flip the trailer or cause it to swerve into oncoming traffic.

This practice may apply if you use a ball mount tow bar. However most stinger mounted tow bars don't have that problem. There would have to be a catastrophic joint failure before the tow bar became disconnected. Even then bars like the Roadmaster Sterling All Terrain have the cables contained inside built in channels.

http://roadmasterinc.com/products/towbars/sterling.html

The tow bar is contained regardless of whether or not the cables are crossed.

pulsar wrote:

Dutch_12078 wrote:
There's a listing of the individual state requirements at this link:

State Safety Chain Laws

I can't speak to the accuracy of the entire list, but the few states I checked appeared to agree with it.

Thank you for posting the link. It contains useful information.

That said, it does not directly address the issue of crossing safety chains. Instead, it has a column labeled Prevent Tow Bar From Dropping to Ground if Disengaged

When using a ball hitch, crossing the chains may be the most efficient way to meet that requirement. But, for tow bars that are attached to brackets, there are more efficient ways. Our cables are coiled around the arms of the tow bar.

Tom

Also thanks for the list. Per this list only 2 states require crossing the chains; New York and Pennsylvania (in the comments). Even still I cross them on TT as best practice.