"Safety" cables - replace them with chains!

[Rick Westlake]

Sounds like a Macgregor might just have the grunt to stop a Toyota
(Nissan Patrol) owner

Allan

Aside from the hatch, the Toyota was barely fazed. Got the boat to its winter home, and got me home too.

There are a number of "if" conditions that could have prevented the car-damage. 4Runner vs Nissan Patrol is not one of them. Only the absence of a hatch (as on a pickup truck with a Gator Net instead of a drop-gate) would have prevented the damage I sustained....

[Russ]

The tongue may have done more damage underneath; my speedometer doesn't work, several warning lights stay on, and it takes a lot of force to shift the transmission out of "park".

Wow! That almost happened to me with my old boat. My son wanted to help and he hooked up the hitch. Well, I didn't think to check and as I was pulling away I heard a thump. Stopped and went back and saw it almost about to fall off. Lesson, check three times all gear back there.

As for your Toyota, it might be a simple problem. Have you checked simple stuff like fuses.
Our old boat had a worn wiring harness. The first time we hit the brakes hard, the harness shifted and shorted out the brake lights blowing the fuse. Several warning lights came on the dashboard. I pulled over to check and then couldn't get it out of park. Next to the shifter is a little plastic cap and under it is an emergency release button to get the shifter out of park.
It turns out the brake light fuse is also connected to other stuff like the stability control and anti-lock brakes. Weird. I replaced the fuse and all came back to life.

Also, many states don't allow S hooks on chains. The closed ones are much safer.



--Russ

[pokerrick1]

The above closed connector is EXACTLY what I use - - -after I criss-cross the chains to create a cradle, which has saved me and my tongue (trailer tongue) MORE THAN ONCE!!

Rick Less

[Québec 1]

The above closed connector is EXACTLY what I use - - -after I criss-cross the chains to create a cradle, which has saved me and my tongue (trailer tongue) MORE THAN ONCE!!

Rick Less

ditto
Q1

[c130king]

So you guys have actually had your hitch come undone and the "cradle" caught your hitch...both of you?

I must admit that I have the S-shaped connectors and do not have that screw-close carabiner thing-a-ma-jig. Be easy enough to get one and use it...only take an extra 30 seconds every time you hitch or un-hitch.

But I have never had the hitch come undone.

I gotta stop reading these trailering posts...the more I read the more nervous I get.



Jim

[Québec 1]

Jim,
My ditto was for this part of pokerrick1 statement

The above closed connector is EXACTLY what I use - - -after I criss-cross the chains to create a cradle.

Q1

[Rick Westlake]

I gotta stop reading these trailering posts...the more I read the more nervous I get.

Jim, when you're hitching up a trailer, it's appropriate to be as "nervous" as you'd be preflighting a C-130 with a heavy load and a long flight ahead. I wasn't as careful as I should have been, and I paid a penalty - but not as bad as, say, having a heavy-loaded pallet come loose during climb-out.

Russ, you're right about the electricals. The warning lights, transmission lock-out, stability control and probably the speedometer, are on the same circuit as the windows - and yesterday morning, the insurance adjuster could see a bit of the door's wiring harness through the gash where the wince post - I mean winch post - punched through the back hatch. (More truth than usual in that slip ... I did wince.)

Haven't mounted the new safety chains yet, but I will before I get the 4Runner back from the repair shop. I will use "quick-links", like the one Russ shows in his post, to attach them to the tow-beast.

PS - the estimate has come in. $2389 - of which I'll pay my $500 deductible. My first claim in 35 years of good driving....

[Kelly Hanson East]

I confess I went back to S-hooks after I had a closed hook freeze up on me , taking 30 minutes to get it loose (and the Admiral fuming to get out since I had parked her in.)



Russ - couldnt find any info from the Empire state on closed vs S hooks - do you have any links?? Hows the snow up there???

[Nick]

I have always had chains and a galvanised shackle to attach it to the hitch on all my trailers and boat trailers. Even hire trailers have the same. Cheers Nick

[Phillip]

OK....I have had a few trailers thru the place.
None had cable.
All had a double chain which my certifier wanted changed to a single heavier chain.
S hooks on the chain are a no-no, but ok on the break-away cable.
Closed ones (like picture above) are not the best (yes, they can freeze) and we replace with a heavy galvanised D shackle (easy to undo when freezes---pliers or shifter or a screw driver thru the hole on the end)...make sure you don't loose the bolt type bit with the thread on....only drawback with them.
C130king...here is an idea. My trailer guy said...buy vegetable cooking oil....put it in a squirter, and after you have washed down, shoot some up the box section....just about as good as fish oil....but no smell.
(Is the Tojo and Landcruiser?)

Cheers
Phillip

[c130king]

Phillip,

After reading your post I realized I made a mis-statement...blame it on not being around my boat enough. I only have the S-hook on my breakaway brake cable. The chains have galvanized carabiners.

As to the vegetable oil suggestion. Is there a hole in the box section somewhere...where do get access to the inside of that box section?

Thanks,
Jim

[Russ]

Russ - couldnt find any info from the Empire state on closed vs S hooks - do you have any links?? Hows the snow up there???

New Jersey made S hooks illegal. I don't know about NY or others. But a wrench and some WD40 is better than a nasty accident IMHO.

Snow: Got 2 feet last week and it's now melting. Gotta deal with it to have such great Summers.


--Russ

[Phillip]

C130King.
My mistake. This is what we have to do with our trailers, so we have a big open front, and we have a hole at the rear that we take the hydrolic line thru...
I know John (worker) winds the jockey wheel up ( when the trailer is facing up-hill a bit) and squirts it down. Leave it for a long time, then winds it down a bit, and repeats a few times.It is amazing how much 'disappears' up there, so can only guess it just soaks in.

Cheers
Phillip

[pokerrick1]

Yes - KHE - I have had these connectors "freeze up" also, but had the tools on hand to get them open - - - - I kept two spare replacement new connectors on board.

And c130King - - - not with the Mac - - - but I had my traiiler come off the hitch on my 21' Wellcraft open bow and, yes, the cradle caught it - - no bouncing the tongue on the pavement.

I, also, don't like hearing all these trailer horror stories - - - - cause I don't like to trailer in the first place.

Rick Less

[Kelly Hanson East]

You guys using carabiners for chain clips ... Where did you get these? I never found carabiners rated high enough for the trailer load. I figure they should be rated 2000# minimum