Trailer Safety Chains - Good or Bad?

[mobro]

At a recent ride I asked a buddy who was pulling camper if he thought it was a good idea to connect the "safety" chains. He responded that it was required by state law. Being a safety professional, I wondered what would happen if he actually needed them. That is, if the trailer became separated from the bike. I think the last thing I would want is a two wheeled object jerking the back of my bike back and forth while traveling at highway speed.

And how would you slow the trailer down? By allowing the tongue to poke into the back wheel? The discussion spooked him enough that he disconnected the chains for the return trip. But I now I wonder if I gave him the correct advice.

It seems to me that the chain laws are designed for cars, where the hazard of a loose trailer to the other vehicles on the road is greater than any possible effect on the towing vehicle. With motorcycles the converse might be true. What do you think?

[Jerry]

I have first hand experince with this....

First of all, many people use safety chains incorrectly. They should cross under the tongue of the hitch, making an "X". This forms a pocket that, if the hitch should break, the tongue does not hit the ground and dig into the road surface. Along with that, chains should be kept as short as possible without interfering with the trailer's ability to turn left or right. Most chains are to long.

I had a hitch break. Chains kept the tongue up and the trailer from flying off the road or into another line of traffic. (80MPH on a freeway, 180 pounds of trailer and gear.) There was some jerking of the back end, nothing serious, never a question of loosing control or even coming close. I was able to slow down and make it to the right-hand shoulder of the interstate. (Broken weld on the hitch led to the failure.) Again, tongue never hit my rear tire; hitch extends back far enough that the safety chains probably kept it from coming that far forward.

I, for one, would not pull a trailer without safety chains. If the hitch is designed correctly, and the chains are the right length and hooked up in the "X" pattern, you should not loose control or have tire interference if the hitch breaks.

Had I not been using safety chains, in all likelyhood my trailer would have smaked into another vehicle (or more) causing me liability problems, (lawsuits) plus the loss of the trailer and all my gear. With the chains I was able to keep everthing together, stop safely, work around the break and continue on my way. I wouldn't risk running without chains.

(Actually I didn't repair the broken piece; my hitch was designed with an alternate spot to use for the hitch. Kind of a built-in backup. I moved the hitch to this backup location. For more details, contact me off-line.)

[Stray Bullet]

i gotta agree wholeheartedly with jerry. yer first responsibility is the safety of others who could be affected if yer rig was to fail. i see MC's pulling trailers alla time, theres gotta be a right way to do it. thats the way i'd go.

[mobro]

Great points Jerry, Dan. I never even considered if there was a "right" way to hook the chains up. I'm going to tell my Guzzi riding buddy the next time we meet. Maybe he hasn't sold his camper yet!

You should see his 69 goose Ambassador, sweet...

Ed

[rlindsay]

I testified in a civil trail a few years ago as an expert on the use of chains for towing. Although it was not a MC involved, the reason for safety chains became abundantly clear through the proceedings. A trailer containing some construction equipment came off the ball in a busy downtown Houston street, since it had no safety chains to hold it, it went careening where ever it could and ran over a citizen killing her instantly. I was able to demonstrate that even hooked up incorrectly that construction trailer would have stayed with the tow vehicle and prevented this horrible accident. The crossover method described by Jerry is the correct manner. The chains when so attached will not allow the tongue to drop an gouge out the ground creating more unsafe situations and will not allow the tongue to extend far enough to slap the tow vehicle causing yet another situation. If you don't use tow chains, you are running the risk of hurting someone else or even having your trailer pass you only for you to hit it when it crosses wildly again in your line of travel.

For my safety, if for nothing else, please learn how to use safety chains. Your local U-Haul dealer will be more than happy to take a few minutes and teach you (that's all it takes).

Thanx for listening.