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Posted this on the "things that you don't like" post as a fix for some who already have the 5/16" hook.
I have 5/16" hooks on my larger trailers and it was a pretty easy fix for mine to fit. I just cut about 1/4" off the end of the spring latch. cut 1/4" off and it fits just right.
See the piece I cut from the first hook on the vice jaw and the cut I made on the second latch. A quick cut with the hacksaw and it's done.
Is the Working Load Limit of 6,380 lbs per connector enough? I'm referring to the connectors that Roger posted above.
I am hoping so. Two safety chains will help. I hope to NOT hang the trailer from the chains. I am not an expert but my trailer will be about 9K and 750lb tongue.
I was following this thread before I got my truck and I thought WTF that's great (sarcasm)
Then I got the truck and hook up the chains on both my trailers.
What is the big deal. They slipped on like butter....?
I was following this thread before I got my truck and I thought WTF that's great (sarcasm)
Then I got the truck and hook up the chains on both my trailers.
What is the big deal. They slipped on like butter....?
Because those are actually facing the wrong way if your trailer becomes un hooked. you'll rotate the hooks on to the latch not the throat of the hook, the latch probably won't support the weight of the trailer.
Ahhh!!!!
well then.
I guess I've always been hooking up wrong.
Thanks for pointing that out. 15 years I've been doing that.
Guess I could change now, but they don't fit the other way. Lol.
I'm not convinced that wb6anp is correct. If the trailer comes off the ball mount then the chain end of the hook should rotate up, away from the clip. If the hooks were on the other way and the trailer became disconnected then the hook would rotate towards the clip.
I'm not convinced that wb6anp is correct. If the trailer comes off the ball mount then the chain end of the hook should rotate up, away from the clip. If the hooks were on the other way and the trailer became disconnected then the hook would rotate towards the clip.
Anyhow, I stand to be corrected.
Physics would say they are going to pull down and back away from the truck for the major jerks, with that setup the back pull is going against the safety clip. Flip them around and the back pull is going against the actual hook. There are of course the rare circumstances.
I can tell you from experience when a trailer comes uncoupled(my own stupidity) down the interstate there is a lot of jerking forward and backward and side to side. I don't think it makes any difference which way you connect the clamps given how much jerking in multiple directions occurs. I too have been doing it "incorrectly" for many years as well I guess but it held just fine the one time I screwed up.
I'm not doubting what either of you are saying, but then why did ford make it so a regular hook can't go in the one way but it can go in the other way.
When they tested their first trailer did it have freakishly large hooks?
I have two trailers and I've pulled at least 10 different trailers and I've never seen anything different.
We just need someone to attach the hooks wrong, leave the ball uncoupled and get out on the highway...
Fellas, I've never seen any operating instructions on these hooks and am going to remain in the either-way-works camp until someone with engineering evidence can demonstrate a problem. I too have needed these chains once and can attest that the trailer will go all sorts of directions when not secured to the ball. Up, down, left, right, forward, backward and everything in between.
I pull my 16' enclosed trailer a lot. I have railroad tracks at the end of my street I have to cross. More then once I've forgotten to put the latch down. I always get the warning sound of the extra loud trailer banging on the ball and know instantly what I forgot.
Never had it come off yet. Knock wood.
I've had a trailer come completely off the hitch. Actually, it was my dad that it happened to. I had nothing to do with it, I was just an astounded passenger. The whole hitch came completely off and the trailer went its merry way. I'm not sure there were even safety chains involved. Fortunately, there wasn't anybody on the road and it was a gentle shoulder. I learned my lesson to never, ever let my dad weld on any vehicle that I owned.
We just need someone to attach the hooks wrong, leave the ball uncoupled and get out on the highway...
Fellas, I've never seen any operating instructions on these hooks and am going to remain in the either-way-works camp until someone with engineering evidence can demonstrate a problem. I too have needed these chains once and can attest that the trailer will go all sorts of directions when not secured to the ball. Up, down, left, right, forward, backward and everything in between.
The trailer will definitely jerk every which way but the biggest jerks will always come from the trailer and truck going the opposite directions or truck forward and trailer backwards. Up/down and trailer/truck forwards though will still be felt.
Either way of hooking up the hooks that works is better than not having them hooked up at all 😉
Reason for hook coming from below. If the hook is put under pressure until it fails, snap, pop, bend, etc. it along with the chain will act like a rubber band. With the hook opening towards up the energy will be directed downward into the ground. With opening down the energy will be directed upward until something absorbs it or it runs out of energy. That is if everything is in good working order, if you drag your chains on the ground and wear half way through then that's now the weak link and where it will fail.
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