Named'em Tamed'em
Well-known member
These u-bolts are spring loaded and tough to get a grip of and pull up so I put zip ties on them, it's so easy now my wife can do it!
Gooseneck safety chains
- Thread starter Named'em Tamed'em
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Dave
Well-known member
I have an old screw driver in the tool box. Slide it under and turn it. The head is wide enough to hold the U bolt up. And my safety chains have a hook with a point so it doesn't take as much as your blunt hook to get it through.
chevytaHOE5674
Well-known member
Safety chains....? Hahaha
GoWyo
Well-known member
Is that what those chains on the hitch and the thingies in the truck bed are for?
wbvs58
Well-known member
Are those hooks rated? They look like they would straighten out pretty easily.
Ken
Ken
Same here, or an old broken rake tooth.
I'm a believer in safety chains. If a trailer comes loose from the ball, breaks the hitch, etc, then I want it tied to my truck to give me the best chance of getting it stopped for a few reasons. #1 - it might be my horses back there in that trailer, and #2 - I'm the one that woke up that morning and decided to hook a trailer to my truck, not some innocent person (possibly someone's wife/child) in the other lane. If anyone gets hurt/killed because of my actions, it should be me.
kenny thomas
Well-known member
Here it doesn't matter if they would hold 10 pound, but they will write a ticket for not having them connected faster than anything else.
Caustic Burno
Well-known member
They will light you up here for sure, especially if your hauling hay.
Travlr
Well-known member
I was towing a rented 40 foot gravel conveyor through downtown Denver on the freeway when the ball came loose. I'd checked that ball forty miles back, but it came off. Had a choice to try to get in front of it and stop it with my bumper or get behind to warn approaching traffic. I opted for getting behind and started weaving back and forth with emergency flashers going. Watch the conveyor go into a guard rail and shorten itself about four feet, and one of the tires launch as the hub broke free from the axle. Never did find it. Nobody hurt, so better that some possible outcomes.
Also had an open top livestock trailer come loose at slow speed. My fault. The trailer went off the road and hit the ditch and the cow inside jumped the front of the trailer as she was thrown forward. A corral right there so I hitched the trailer up properly and reloaded... no harm, no foul.
I use safety chains.
chevytaHOE5674
Well-known member
I use safety chains because you legally have to. I put ZERO faith in them controlling a loaded up gooseneck trailer. Those little 1/2" soft as butter bent up U-bolts ain't going to hold up when a 20k+ lbs trailer slaps against them. Been there and seen them snap off like toothpicks.
One truck I have a homebuilt GN hitch with 2 welded on D-rings. Each one is rated for I think 45klbs. I do put faith in that setup.
One truck I have a homebuilt GN hitch with 2 welded on D-rings. Each one is rated for I think 45klbs. I do put faith in that setup.
Those are not the right hooks for that trailer most likely. They use those on like #7K stuff.
No matter if they work or not, it's the different between being at fault or an accident.
No way I'm getting on the enet and bragging about not using safety chains. It's amazing what comes up in court during a lawsuit.
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chevytaHOE5674
Well-known member
I said I use them because im required to. I also said I wouldn't put any faith in them actually doing something.
The picture above those bent hooks are probably rated for 3k lbs? The 1/2" u bolt its attached to probably not much more. That pictured chain belongs on a trailer you haul your lawn mower on, not a gooseneck of any kind.
The picture above those bent hooks are probably rated for 3k lbs? The 1/2" u bolt its attached to probably not much more. That pictured chain belongs on a trailer you haul your lawn mower on, not a gooseneck of any kind.
Travlr
Well-known member
When a trailer comes off it is following a vehicle going the same speed. The chains are not meant to haul the load. They are meant to control direction as the truck is slowing down. In most cases that doesn't take much effort. In some cases, for instance with a blow out, it can be not enough. But we're talking about averages. In most cases a safety chain is enough to prevent more dire consequences.
To illustrate the point I'll tell you a story. One day I was driving a '68 Buick Wildcat in a snowstorm. My mother-in-law who could barely walk loaded in the back. Ahead there was a mile long traffic jam of vehicles that were spinning their wheels and sliding sideways on a slight hill. I got through the jam by not spinning my wheels and unloaded the MIL. I was going to college and driving a 4WD Subaru with good tires at the time so I loaded up a tow chain and went back to get people up the hill. I towed all kinds of rigs. Big Detroit iron for the most part. Thirty-four cars and trucks that didn't know that spinning their wheels wouldn't get them traction. They didn't need much. The Subie probably gave them, maybe at the most, a hundred pounds or less of extra momentum. The next winter I pulled a Semi out of a ditch with the Subaru. Sometimes all it takes is an extra few pounds of pull.
chevytaHOE5674
Well-known member
When the coupler comes off and the safety chains are holding the trailer the force on those chains as it slaps back and forth is tremendous.
In fact from personal experience a loaded up 14k gooseneck that comes un-attached can shear off 5/16" G70 safety chain and equally rated hook when trying to get undercontrol from 65mph. It also wipes the truck around like a toy.
The chain and hook pictured isn't rated anything close to 5/16 G70.
In fact from personal experience a loaded up 14k gooseneck that comes un-attached can shear off 5/16" G70 safety chain and equally rated hook when trying to get undercontrol from 65mph. It also wipes the truck around like a toy.
The chain and hook pictured isn't rated anything close to 5/16 G70.
No doubt. I'd rather some one try and the safety chain fail then say screw it and there be no chance for the chains at all.
My great uncle died several years ago that lived in Corpus Christi. I was working in Pleasanton and was heading down 37 to make the funeral. I was running pretty hot with a group of vehicles headed south. Across the median I saw a tire blow on a truck and he did a hard 90 coming right across the median headed to us. He hit the wires in in the median and went through them but the changed his trajectory and slowed him down. His original angle was right for us. He ended up going behind us and the next group was able to slow down and avoid him.
I guess it's debatable if the wires worked since he still went across the opposing lanes but I guarantee you I'm a believer.
