Broken cable for the brake/break away

[KiraR]

Hi everyone:

23 days til take off from CT! Wow. Feels so exciting!

Our beauty, (R)o(V)er is getting all dolled up and ready to go.
Okay, she's not REALLY that precious, I just like words.

Here's a problem. The brake away (or is it break away??) cable BROKE! Yikes. Don't want to leave without fixing that important piece.

Advice greatly appreciated.

Best,
Kira

[AWCHIEF]

Easy fix. Get a piece of wire and replace it.

[AnnArborBob]

Not only is it an easy fix as mentioned previously, it would also be illegal and potentially very dangerous to tow the trailer without this important safety feature working properly.

[idroba]

Any decent RV parts place will have replacement cables for your break away switch, and if not, a new switch is still cheap and easy to install. There are several different ones used, if possible take your old one along to compare.

I do not recommend trying to repair the original cable.

[polarlyse]

Lowes & HD have the stuff also. They have a soft coupler that you can slip on and then with a cold chisel tap it shut to crimp to the cable. Cheap and easy.

[AStreamNerds]

order a new cable from Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Fastway-80-01-...reakaway+cable

[Kevin245]

I'd just replace the entire switch. For what you'll spend in effort and money you'll end up saving money and know that your switch is functioning properly.

[greenflag]

Get a Fastway cable mentioned in previous post. I replaced two previous cables before getting Fastway. Problem solved. I never drug another cable.

[sallye]

On our last trip, we got home and realized that the cable had been dragging and worn completely through! After that we got one of the coiled ones and put it on, although we had to shorten it a bit. According to a recent article in the AS magazine, the stretched out cable is only supposed to be 5 or 6 inches longer than the chains.

The original one that came with the (new) trailer was much longer than that, and because it didn't coil up, it dragged easily. We had coiled it up a little bit ourselves and secured the coil with twisty ties, only to keep it from dragging, but apparently that didn't work.

[Cousin Eddie]

Buy and install a new switch. They generally cost less than $20. When mounting the new switch, do not tighten the lock nut completely. The switch must move freely from side to side. Any trailer repair place should have the part.

[HowieE]

You can make a new cable odds are if you buy one it will be the wrong length. but so far no one has given any information on how long it should be. If the cable was long enough to drag on the ground and ware through the original was installed wrong and far too long.

The cable should be of a length that it will pull the pin before the chains go tight if the hitch fails. That ensures that the trailer brakes are set as it brakes free of the TV. If not and you attempt to stop the TV the trailer will overtake you and it is bigger than your are.

I like to route the through a D clip in the top hole of the hitch drop bar. This ensures that it is at the pivot point and is kept away from anything it could snag on and prematurely pull the pin. I also route the umbilical cord through that D ring fr he same reason.

[AWCHIEF]

This is what my trailer has. The coiled cord works well to keep from dragging .

http://www.amazon.com/Fastway-80-01-...5522494&sr=1-1

[HowieE]

I am sorry Mike rethink that. 4ft of cable with 2 ft. of chains. Think through a failure and what would have to happen to have that cable pull the pin.

[AWCHIEF]

It's all good. Nothing to lose any sleep about. At the most is it is closer to three ft and the switch sits at least 18 inches from the attachment under the bumper.

[m.hony]

Just simply buy a new cable.
Any trailer place (horse trailers, cargo trailers, car haulers, or camping trailers) or even Walmart or Tractor Supply has the cable. It costs no more than $6-$8. I bet even auto parts houses have the cable.