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Old 04-05-2013, 06:22 AM   #1
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Safety chain Hooks up/down?

I have the clevis type of hooks as supplied from Air Stream on our AS and was wondering, does it matter if the opening in the hook faces up or down, which method is the best?
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Old 04-05-2013, 06:36 AM   #2
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Hooks face down. Or to put it in other terms, attach to the receiver from above, not from below.

You want the strongest and thickest part of the hook to be load-bearing.
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Old 04-05-2013, 07:02 AM   #3
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Thanks, Protagonist.
Just needed to know the correct method, I've seen both ways and wasn't really sure.
Thanks again,
Denny
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Old 04-05-2013, 07:13 AM   #4
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clevis pins

Facing up or down is misleading. When your clevis pins have no load on them the open end should face your trailer.
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Old 04-05-2013, 07:36 AM   #5
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Opinions differ. Some trailer manufacturers agree with me, that in the event the trailer tongue comes off the hitch ball, you want the load on the strongest part of the hook.

Others agree with searcher, on the basis that if the hook faces down, a rock thrown up by the tow vehicle tires could hit the safety latch and cause the hook to come off. Or if you don't even have safety latches (open hook) that the rock could knock the hook off (more likely, in my book, but I don't use open hooks anyway).

I believe that a direct strike by a rock on the clevis hook's safety latch (you DO have safety latches, right) and striking hard enough to knock the hook off is a sufficiently remote possibility that I can discount it. So I hitch up with the open side of the hook facing down/forward.

I guess the final answer is, take your pick.
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Old 04-05-2013, 08:04 AM   #6
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Deep in the foggy haze of the past, I was told to put one hook 'up' and one hook 'down'.

I was surprised to learn that twisting the chain actually weakened the assembly. I am going to hook up today and shorten the chain to the proper length.

I wonder if the best safe solution instead of hooks is to use a properly rated clevis and safety wire the pin after putting it on the receiver?
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Old 04-05-2013, 08:06 AM   #7
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Latch/Open side of hook facing down. Latch hooks are much easier than the U-shaped link with the screw in pin.
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Old 04-05-2013, 09:19 AM   #8
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We have always hooked the safety chains to the receiver from the bottom up. I don't really think that it makes that much difference. What is important that hasn't been mentioned yet is that the safety chains should always be crisscrossed. The safety chain from the left side of the trailer should be connected to the right side of the receiver, and the safety chain from the right side of the trailer should be connected to the left side of the receiver.

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Old 04-05-2013, 09:36 AM   #9
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We have always hooked the safety chains to the receiver from the bottom up. I don't really think that it makes that much difference. What is important that hasn't been mentioned yet is that the safety chains should always be crisscrossed. The safety chain from the left side of the trailer should be connected to the right side of the receiver, and the safety chain from the right side of the trailer should be connected to the left side of the receiver.

Brian
Not too important on the crisscrossing of the chains on our new Airstream, the chains have the same attachment point on the frame, so it doesn't make any difference.

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Old 04-05-2013, 11:32 AM   #10
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Not too important on the crisscrossing of the chains on our new Airstream, the chains have the same attachment point on the frame, so it doesn't make any difference.

doug k
?? The chains should always be crossed for them to do what they are there for. If your trailer becomes undone, the chains will hold it up off the ground to keep the tongue from being a plow.
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Old 04-05-2013, 11:36 AM   #11
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?? The chains should always be crossed for them to do what they are there for. If your trailer becomes undone, the chains will hold it up off the ground to keep the tongue from being a plow.
If both chains are attached to the trailer at the same point, they can't be crossed; it's geometrically impossible. They form a triangle with the base of the triangle at the receiver, and the apex at the trailer tongue. You can only cross the chains if each chain is attached to the trailer at a different point.
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Old 04-05-2013, 11:50 AM   #12
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If both chains are attached to the trailer at the same point, they can't be crossed; it's geometrically impossible. They form a triangle with the base of the triangle at the receiver, and the apex at the trailer tongue. You can only cross the chains if each chain is attached to the trailer at a different point.

Then you just have to weave them.
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Old 04-05-2013, 11:50 AM   #13
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If both chains are attached to the trailer at the same point, they can't be crossed; it's geometrically impossible. They form a triangle with the base of the triangle at the receiver, and the apex at the trailer tongue. You can only cross the chains if each chain is attached to the trailer at a different point.
Both of our Airstreams have two safety chains. One attached to the right side of the "A" frame and one attached to the left side of the "A" frame. Is this not the correct way for them to be attached to the trailer?
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Old 04-05-2013, 11:56 AM   #14
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OK, who's up for a test?!

Hook up your trailer as you normaly do, then unhook and set your tounge down on the safety chains. Do they really stop the tounge and the associated other stuff (sway bars, jack....) from hitting the pavement? What does happen to the sway bars?

Thinking through this some more, do you really even want the tounge cradled in the chains? When you realize the trailer is unhooked, you probably are goint to simutaneously crap yourself and slam on the brakes. Unless your trailer brakes are set perfectly, you are liable to introduce your propane tanks to your trunk!

I kinda think I would prefer if the trailer became "a plow", hopefully a somewhat controlled one.
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Old 04-05-2013, 11:56 AM   #15
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Then you just have to weave them.
Weaving them is no better than twisting them, in terms of strength loss.

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Both of our Airstreams have two safety chains. One attached to the right side of the "A" frame and one attached to the left side of the "A" frame. Is this not the correct way for them to be attached to the trailer?
Every trailer I've seen has each safety chain attached at a different point, one on the left, the other on the right. That is the traditional way, and certainly correct.

That doesn't mean that a single attachment point underneath on the centerline is necessarily wrong. Depending on how far back on the centerline it is, the chains may still keep the tongue from plowing pavement, because the two sides of the A-frame might rest on the chains, instead of the tongue resting on them. But if they're too far forward on the centerline, ahead of the A-frame, they'd do no good in that regard.
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Old 04-05-2013, 12:00 PM   #16
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OK, who's up for a test?!

Hook up your trailer as you normaly do, then unhook and set your tounge down on the safety chains. Do they really stop the tounge and the associated other stuff (sway bars, jack....) from hitting the pavement? What does happen to the sway bars?

Thinking through this some more, do you really even want the tounge cradled in the chains? When you realize the trailer is unhooked, you probably are goint to simutaneously crap yourself and slam on the brakes. Unless your trailer brakes are set perfectly, you are liable to introduce your propane tanks to your trunk!

I kinda think I would prefer if the trailer became "a plow", hopefully a somewhat controlled one.
That is frankly an irresponsible attitude and could cost you if your trailer gets loose and damages someone's property or (much worse) injures someone. You seem to recognize that slamming hard on the brakes with the trailer down on the chains is a bad idea, so just don't do that, or adjust your brake controller better.
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Old 04-05-2013, 12:13 PM   #17
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Weaving them is no better than twisting them, in terms of strength loss.
Ok I should of added a smiley . I cross my chains on both the Airstream and the boat trailer.
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Old 04-05-2013, 12:41 PM   #18
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Personally in a catastrophic separation I would rather my trailer be " in my trunk" then in someone else's face. Oh, and bye-the-way I also cross the chains and connect the hooks from the top.
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Old 04-05-2013, 12:46 PM   #19
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I cross the chains under the hitch, twisting them to get the right amount of slack, and I'm glad that I do. Last year, I went to hook up the trailer. I took the ball carrier out of my van, and inserted it into the receiver. For some reason, I was distracted at that point - phone call, went inside to get something I remembered, or something else. I backed the van, dropped the trailer onto it, and finished hooking up the chains and electric. I took off, headed for home. Crossed some railroad tracks, heard a loud noise, and saw that the Airstream behind me was at a strange angle, nose down. Pulled over to the side, and found that I had not inserted the pin to hold the carrier in the receiver! The carrier pulled out when I went over the tracks, and was now suspended in the crossed chains. Damage? Well, if you drop the nose of your trailer, it lands on the jack, which had gouged a groove in the asphalt. I was afraid that I had bent the jack post, but it worked fine. The bottom of the shaft was mis-shapen, which I later smoothed out with a grinder so that I could fit the foot on it again. Jacked the nose up, backed the van up a bit, removed the carrier from the chains and reinstalled it in the receiver correctly. Hooked back up and went on my way. Lesson learned.
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Old 04-05-2013, 12:55 PM   #20
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Just to clarify, I never said to not use chains. Is the assumption that if the tounge hits the ground your chains fail?

I was just going thru the geometery of the failure in my head.

I suspect that 100% of the purpose of the chains is to stop your trailer from leaving your vehicle while you come to a controlled stop. How this best happens to prevent injury and lessen damage is my question.

Sorry for being irresponsible. And yes, I always cross my chains.
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