car a tow

  • Thread starter Thread starter Hugh Jardon
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H

Hugh Jardon

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well i am on my way to getting my car a tow and car etc all set up

i picked up my car a tow aframe last night, got it from a chap in trurrororroooouo in cornwall.

it is the 1600kg model which is good

i also have ordered the pullbar kit from these guys

http://www.protowframes.co.uk/

hopefully i pick up the car around the 10/11/12 august so we will be all set then

quite exciting i must say

there is a thick metal cable with a d link on one end.....should this be fitted to the car tow point or to the motorhome?

it is braked so i have a brake cable connection point so that is fine

cheers

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Hi H
if the D link and cable is connected to the H/brake lever it should fixed to the towing vehicle when towing as its the break away cable
Geo
 
Geo said:
Hi H
if the D link and cable is connected to the H/brake lever it should fixed to the towing vehicle when towing as its the break away cable
Geo
Click to expand...
it does have a breakaway cable attached to the handbrake that goes round the tow hitch on the MH, that one i am fine with as is standard

however

this very large cable is attached to the metal bracket on top of the assembly near the handle and has a dlink on the other end. i am sure it would work well for emergencies if connected to the towing vehicle ....but not sure if it is supposed to be attached to the towed vehicle.


my suspicision is that it is for attachement to the motorhome, it is longer than the breakaway cable and is a fail safe cable to ensure the car stays behind the motorhome somewhat

cheers
 
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Ummmmmmmmmm my school of thought is you want the towed vehicle firmly atatched or completely detached in an Emergency, an awfull lot of damage could be caused to the Motorhome with a trailor swaying about out of control at the rear on the end of a strong cable
I personally would refrain from using it, if it were a good idea "breakaway" cables wouldnt be reqd
Geo
 
Geo said:
Ummmmmmmmmm my school of thought is you want the towed vehicle firmly atatched or completely detached in an Emergency, an awfull lot of damage could be caused to the Motorhome with a trailor swaying about out of control at the rear on the end of a strong cable
I personally would refrain from using it, if it were a good idea "breakaway" cables wouldnt be reqd
Geo
Click to expand...

you raise a very good point and i was considering that particular scenario this afternoon when i was giving it an overhaul/grease etc.

after some careful thinking i came up iwth the view.......would it be better for it to detach and lock the brakes on

or detach and lock the brakes on but then stay connected behind the motorhome until i came to a stop

the consideration i have is if it came loose could it in itself veer off and cause injury or accident or even death to someone
or

having it dragged behind the motorhome with brakes locked on till i came to a stop


i think i am more comfortable with the latter

however

i have never had any cables etc like this for any other trailers so is it a bit of overkill

one thing i have noticed is that there is very little noseweight on the coupling whereas with boat trailer and caravan there is always good noseweight if correctly loaded

whats the general view

connect the large steel cable or leave it disconnected or remove it?

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I hope more people have input on this than us two,
The moral dilema is clear, I see you trying to keep any disaster strictly to your self or own vehicles, and that is, to a point to be admired.
However my contension is I asume all the regulatary bodies have or at least should have given all senarios consideration, and carried out many tests and experiments, and the conclusion is,on every caravan and trailor set up I have seen there is NO secondary conection to the towing vehicle, and i suggest the reason for this is that the stopping time for a trailor with breakaway cable applied is far shorter and causes far less problems than a flailing one being dragged god knows how many yards behind the Motorhome
If your breakaway trailor hit another vehicle the chances are that would be its final destination, but if the anchor rope was still atatched it could go on to strike many more,
Geo
Come on folks help us out here:Frown:
 
Would love to hear from others, JohnSandy, Bryan, Olley and many more what are your views?
 
I'm with you, Geo.

The powers that be MUST have done the research and come up with answer that is currently adopted by everyone.

Good point you made about the runaway trailer smashing into one obstacle and stopping -versus- being dragged through the resulting carnage to wreak more mayhem.

I'd leave it off.

B.
 
OK you asked for it so here we go.........
I believe that the unit is supplied with a breakaway cable as per normal, and the second cable is in fact to connect the braking system of the A Frame to the attached towed vehicles brake system. I can see no other interface in the picture that Hugh posted so I am surmising that this is the case, because this is not a trailer, it is an attachment device only.....:BigGrin:

HTH

Keith
 
there is a separate cable for the connection of the brake to the brakes on the car

i believe this one is for connection to the motorhome

i beleive that in the usa they have to have a strong chain to connect the trailer to the towing vehicle so if the hitch comes off the chain keeps the trailer connected even if losely

my concern is that because a car is not a normal trailer it could zigzag behind the motorhome and flip over or something similar

i would far rather have the car smash into the back of the motorhome than cross the road into the path of an oncoming car

difficult choice

i will give the manufacturers a call and ask them what they believe it is for

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Hugh, if there is a cable that connects the retard mechanism of the towing head to the cars brakes then that will surely only actuate when the brakes are applied on the towing vehicle and the towing head compresses, bringing the cars own brakes into play. Now what happens if the towed vehicle detaches from the towing vehicle? In your scenario the breakaway cable pulls derictly onto the bottom of the hand brake lever on the A Frame as it parts company with the towed vehicle and?????????? Then what????? :BigGrin::BigGrin:
This is what I meant when I said I thought it connected to the towed vehicles braking system, because I think it should be connected to the towed vehicles hand brake, as that would seem to be the only way of slowing / stopping the towed vehicle if it became detached from the towing vehicle....:Eek!:

Keith
 
kands said:
Hugh, if there is a cable that connects the retard mechanism of the towing head to the cars brakes then that will surely only actuate when the brakes are applied on the towing vehicle and the towing head compresses, bringing the cars own brakes into play. Now what happens if the towed vehicle detaches from the towing vehicle? In your scenario the breakaway cable pulls derictly onto the bottom of the hand brake lever on the A Frame as it parts company with the towed vehicle and?????????? Then what????? :BigGrin::BigGrin:
This is what I meant when I said I thought it connected to the towed vehicles braking system, because I think it should be connected to the towed vehicles hand brake, as that would seem to be the only way of slowing / stopping the towed vehicle if it became detached from the towing vehicle....:Eek!:

Keith
Click to expand...

the offending cable is so big you could hang an american rv off it !!

it is longer than the break away cable which leads me to think it is for keeping the trailed vehicle attached to the towing vehicle even if unhitched

nothing listed on their site which leads me to think it is some aftermarket item the previous owner came up with.........i cant ask him cos he's brown bread!!
 
.........i cant ask him cos he's brown bread!!
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Click to expand...
Proberbly tripped over that darned cable:Frown:
Geo
 
Hi I reckon its to keep the frame attached to the RV in the event it becomes un-hitched, and would be fitted so that the front of the frame can't reach the ground.

If it did and dug in the car would become airborne. I am sure I have seen something similar using two short lengths of chain.

Olley
 
in the usa they have to use chains or cables and normally two of them, so that in the event of a problem the trailer remains attached to the towing vehicle.

i have asked some usa friends on this cable/chain situation and here is some feedback

trailers in the usa and chains etc

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could you US guys help me out here, what is the regulation around having a safety chain attaching a trailer to your towing vehicle

over in the uk we have to have a small thin cable connecting the tow hitch or similar to the brake on the trailer so that if the trailer becomes unhitched the trailer brakes go on and the cable will snap leaving the trailer behind you

in the US does the chain have to be strong enough so that if the trailer becomes unhitched the chain keeps it attached to the towing vehicle

do you guys think this is a good idea?

feedback....

Over the years I have been involved in converting US trailers to meet the feckin Icelandic/EU regulations, they use heavier chains (on larger trailers there are 2 of them) than here in Europe but they use a lot more electric brakes and which only few years where accepted in EU. On the boat trailers we import nowdays from US they are all fitted with hydraulic disc brakes again there no mechanical handbrake are fitted so we have to make and add them on. Also change the coupling from 2" to 50mm. Those trailers with disc brakes are lot more robust and do not get stuck in brakes like the feckin European pushrod system.

Bogi

more feedback.....

Trailer chains

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Trailers over here are generally equipped with two chains strong enough to keep the trailer attached to the vehicle if the hitch were to fail for some reason. I would think there would be some level of liability if a manufacturer were to equip a traller with substandard chains. You must have safety chains on a trailer to legally tow on U.S. roads though I am sure there are some people who neglect to use them. Wire rope or cable is also used by some manufacturers instead of chains.

more feedback

US Trailers with brakes are also required to have the same cable rip-cord to stop the trailer if everything fails. Our trailer laws vary by state. In Connecticut, 3000 lb and over are required to have brakes, other states' laws differ over the weight levels before you need to have brakes. You can get either drum or disc brakes also.

more feedback

Ditto here in Ontario, Canada. My trailer has two chains, plus the brake cable. The one and only time I "needed" my chains (Lesson learned: Don't be yabbin to the service guy while hooking up trailer... ) the "S" hook on one of them straightened out and let go. Fortunately the other held fast.

I subsequently replaced the chains and hooks with much heavier jobbies...
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Pump it up and RIDE!

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The system I have is different and allows the car to apply power assisted braking incorporating the vacuum unit on the cars braking system. The degree of braking can be adjusted from a gain unit dash mounted in the van which gets its signal from the brake pedal. Also has a full braking application from break away solenoid.
 

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