Breakaway Cable Placement

[villain2000]

Here in PA it is illegal to hook your breakaway cable to your hitch pin. That is how my tt dealer in OH showed me to hook it up. I am being told by an inspection tech that I have to to hook my breakaway cable to either the bumper or the frame of the vehicle. My bumper is vinyl, so that is out. I guess i need to find a way to hook to the frame. Can anyone give me some ideas or pics of their setup. Thanks in advance.

[82corvette]

I hook ours to the loops where we hook up the safety chains.

[OurJayco]

I hook mine where the chains hook and I use a "Fastway Zip Breakaway Coil Cable".

Click here for a link
http://www.rvwholesalers.com/catalog...r-17-0178.html

[villain2000]

Both of your methods seem perfectly acceptable to me, but, I was told that if your hitch would happen to fall off or pull away from the vehicle, then your breakaway cable still wouldnt activate. Thats why it needs to be hooked to the bumper or the frame of the vehicle, not the hitch. OurJayco - thanks for the link. I think I can make something work based on that product. Didnt know such a thing existed.

[Rustic Eagle]

Originally Posted by villain2000

snip.......I was told that if your hitch would happen to fall off or pull away from the vehicle, then your breakaway cable still wouldn't activate.....snip

That's correct, there is a high possibility that even with the hitch dragging along the highway still being secured by the safety chains attached to the TT the e-brake may not activate, even if the hitch broke away clean....you could still have a run-away TT.

Another scenario; assuming that the hitch (TV receiver) and safety chains remained attached to the TV but the TT still broke away from the TV (ball shank sheared, ball mount cracked in half, etc.), ideally one wouldn't want the e-brake cable longer than the safety chains. The e-brake should activate just prior to the safety chains being pulled to their full length.

IMO it's difficult finding an e-brake cable attachment location on the TV that would cover all possible catastrophic component failure conditions.

My E-brake cable is attached to the same location as one of my safety chains on the TV's receiver (not ideal), but my E-brake cable length is shorter than my safety chains. I mocked up an E-brake location on my TV frame once, but then the cable was longer than the safety chains (unless I relocated and changed the angle of the E-brake switch).

Then there's the TT's 7-pin pig tail, how does it's length play into the equation (maintaining TT braking control within the TV under certain failure conditions)?.........that's for another thread.

Bob

[rray32539]

I use a small length of lightweight chain that attaches to the breakaway cable on one end and to a tie down eyelet in the truck bed on the other. Attaching the breakaway cable to any part of the hitch assembly defeats the purpose of the breakaway, if the hitch fails, the breakaway cable should be attached to another part of the tow vehicle to properly operate.

[David472]

I think most people hook them to the same spot as the safety chains, because it's convenient. I do that as well, and never feel good about it. Need to find a better way.

[Terry]

Originally Posted by David472

I think most people hook them to the same spot as the safety chains, because it's convenient. I do that as well, and never feel good about it. Need to find a better way.

I do the same thing and agree.....I was under there on the last trip looking at it and telling myself I need to do something different. I keep thinking about the hitch breaking off as a unit and the switch not operating. I just need to get under there and attach some kind of clip or carribeaner for it.

[12_AMS]

I tow with a minivan (please don't throw stones) and I have it connected to the latch of the tailgate.

Rick

[villain2000]

Originally Posted by 12_AMS

I tow with a minivan (please don't throw stones) and I have it connected to the latch of the tailgate.

Rick

No stones thrown here. Welcome to the forum. Nothing wrong with a minivan tv. I like your idea of attaching the cable to the tailgat latch. I am going to explore that further.

[Denise]

Originally Posted by 12_AMS

I tow with a minivan (please don't throw stones) and I have it connected to the latch of the tailgate.

Rick

LOL, that's the "other" forum... you're safe here!