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Married to a Louie Lover
Posts: 3303
  
| Having a disagreement with my husband...
How long/short do you adjust your breakaway lanyards?
If the trailer came off the ball would
A - the e-brakes kick in as the chains pull tight because the lanyard is just a bit shorter than the chains.
B - if the chains break, then the e-brakes kick in because the lanyard is longer than the chains, you had the electric brakes anyway up until the chains break, and the e brake would risk jerking you into the ditch.
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 911
Location: Northern Ontario | Im thinking A but wanna see what other people say |
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| MORE THAN YOU EVER WANT TO KNOW ABOUT
BREAKAWAY SWITCHES
https://youtu.be/eubR3ssLiOM |
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 Too Skinny
Posts: 8009
Location: LA Lower Alabama | Personally I would like my brakes to engage before the chains break. This gives me slightly more control than if they lock up after. Now it technically is safer for the trailer to wreck on its own rather than for it to take your truck with it so make sure you have the proper truck for your size trailer. This is why some people have the brakes lock up after the chains break.
Edited by cowgalsissy 2018-03-22 8:47 AM
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 310
Location: North Dakota | A for sure |
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Married to a Louie Lover
Posts: 3303
| cowgalsissy - 2018-03-22 8:39 AM
Personally I would like my brakes to engage before the chains break. This gives me slightly more control than if they lock up after. Now it technically is safer for the trailer to wreck on its own rather than for it to take your truck with it so make sure you have the proper truck for your size trailer. This is why some people have the brakes lock up after the chains break.
Plenty of truck for the trailer, no concerns there.
Had an acquaintance wreck while hauling a trailer over winter hitting black ice, so safety has been at the front of my mind as we start hauling this season.
I haven’t had a chance to watch the video posted, but plan to.
I was option A. Husband was B, felt that the e brakes engaging would cause the trailer to jerk and potentially pull you off the road altogether. Neither one of us has experienced e brakes catching, although he had our flatbed come off the hitch, so he’s got me there - it doesn’t have an ebrake though. |
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| There was a post on FB recently about this. They said that you want the brakes to engage before the chains actually break away.
Hopefully you can follow this link:
https://www.facebook.com/dwayne.russell.169/posts/10214819895319973
If you cannot search Dwayne Russell and safety chains and you should find it.
Edited by turnthree 2018-03-26 11:51 AM
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Nut Case Expert
Posts: 9305
Location: Tulsa, Ok | I think it pretty much depends on the exact circumstances which option is optimal. My gut reaction is that you are pretty much screwed regardless if the trailer comes off the ball. I just hope if it happens I can get the heck away from the trailer as I have seen a situation where the trailer came over the truck -- not pretty.
We did lose a flatbed one time. It was one of those "elephant foot" type hitches. When it came lose it hit the tailgate, bent it in a vee and dropped thru onto the bumper and held there until we could get off the road. Trailer was empty and I am unsure what would have happened if it had been carrying additional weight. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1857
| Just had this happen last week. Luckily the trailer was empty. I would say A. |
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Emergency brake on trailer