I made this video for my YouTube channel. I assume everyone here knows how to hitch a trailer, so that's not my point of posting (although maybe some newbie will find it useful.)

I'm interested in getting feedback from everyone on the video. What you think about it. One thing I'm juggling in my head is that I talk about twisting safety chains to shorten them. I've always done this but someone brought up a good point that it might weaken them. How does everyone feel about this?

I appreciate anyone input!

 

Your video looks pretty good. There's always things that can be nitpicked, but overall it looked like good info for people to me.

1. I wouldn't consider 2 5/16 as a larger than standard size. It is probably enough to simply state that there are multiple ball sizes and they generally correspond to trailer size with the three most common being 1 7/8", 2" and 2 5/16".

2. You could mention to viewers that there are other trailer plugs that are no longer as common as the current 7 or 4.

3. For twisting chains, I'd just mention that it should be a temporary measure until you can get the chains modified to fit between the trailer and truck you tow with. It does appear to reduce strength. https://mechanicalelements.com/twisting-safety-chains/ But I personally plan to keep doing it, I have even larger chains and hooks than in your video and a small trailer <3,000lbs, so I don't think the strength will be an issue.

4. Technically you should be attaching the breakaway cable somewhere other than the hitch.

5. That wire routing wouldn't satisfy me. I would expect it to fall down more and drag on the road destroying itself. It may be fine, but I think a more conservative routing would be a better example for a video.

6. Maybe mention options for connecting the chains when the hooks won't fit through the connecting points on the hitch since so many people have problems with that with new Fords?

Anyway, don't be offended. You said you wanted feedback. Overall I think it was a good video that would help people trying to learn about this topic.

 

All good feedback!

A few replies1) With my target audience being people who have never towed a trailer, I expect that they'll only have equipment for 2" and just wanted them to be aware, but you're absolutely right, 2 5/6 isn't abnormal by any means.

2) I had an entire rant on 5 and 6 pin connectors, but I felt like it distracted from the "basics" I was aiming for, since most 5 and 6 pins will need to be rewired. Perhaps I should have just mentioned it.

4) Good point. Any suggestions where?

5) You and me both. I don't know who designed a 10 foot cable, but it bothered me a lot. I didn't know what to do with it because I was afraid of making it too tight.

I appreciate your feedback. I'm always looking to broaden my perspective with other opinions.

 

A) I wouldn't recommend a rant. Just a "other types exist, if your trailer is a flat 4 you can probably find an adapter to plug it into your tow vehicle at your local hardware store." As someone who owns an old Ford with one of those other plugs, I get it. It would probably be useful for them to know there is the possibility of less desirable things wired into their vehicle already, and that if they have a small trailer they can probably just buy a $10 adapter and forget about it.
A) I don't know. I hook it to the hitch like every other person on the planet who isn't subjected to professional DOT inspections. I'm sure it would be simple enough to bolt an eyebolt to the frame or run a loop of small cable around a frame rail, crimp the ends and clip to those, but that's really too complicated for beginners.
A) I have a trailer with a not that long, but still too long cable. I have a different tongue/jack setup, it looked like this may not work on yours, but I have the extra coiled around my jack on the top of the tongue where it sticks through.

 

Neat video but I do think he misses some good points. First, it may seem stupid to some, but the whole process of backing up close to the trailer, getting out and looking to make sure the tongue of the trailer is actually higher than the ball. When we were all learning, how many times have we backed into the trailer? Maybe not all of us, but I'd admit to doing it a couple times at least. He completely misses making sure the rise on the ball mount is appropriate for the trailer for a level, or slightly nose down trailer once hooked up. That's a fairly crucial step for a good towing experience, get that wrong and you could be white knuckling it the whole trip. He shows hooking up the break away but should stress that the break away should be shorter than the trailer chains, otherwise it won't engage if the trailer becomes disconnected. He shows the 7 pin vs. 4 pin but doesn't explain what the differences are. I feel like that's worth mentioning to a beginner. He keeps saying larger and smaller trailers as the differentiator, but it's not the size of the trailer that dictates 7 vs 4 pin, it's the type of trailer brakes (if the trailer even has brakes). Some larger trailers and/or boat trailers are 'large' but still have a 4 pin connection because they have surge brakes. Overall though, it's a decent starter video, I do think it could be expanded a couple minutes though.

I guess I'm like the rest of the responses, I've twisted chains to adapt them to the proper length, never seen it as an issue. I also haven't found an alternative location for the break away device, I hook it to the receiver. I also have a travel trailer with a very long plug for the 7 pin. I actually wrap it around the jack once before connecting to the truck. I also have a latching pin for the tongue that has a big D-shape to it so I run the wire through that which keeps it over the ball. It still has plenty of slack to make turns, it's still longer than the break away device wire but doesn't touch the road.

 

I'm not familiar with the newer SD rear bumper setups, but in my '05 Excursion there are a pair of small eyelets under the bumper that are there for chain attachment if using a actual bumper mounted ball without a receiver hitch, that's where I hook my breakaway cable.
And I agree about getting the trailer fairly level with the correct drop drawbar, about half the trailers I see on the road are way tongue high due to having the ball set too high. That can lead to all sorts of issues with handling and suspension wear.

 

Thanks for the feedback guys! You hot the nail on the head, which is why I'm planning on doing a longer more detailed video on how to tow a trailer. That will cover all of the things that you guys have talked about like hitch drop or rise, weight distribution, understanding how much weight your tow vehicle can tow, mirrors, brakes, etc. That video is designed to be a One-Stop shop for someone who has no idea what they're doing. This video is more designed to help the person who has never hooked up a trailer, and just needs to know how. For example maybe someone who has a family truck and trailer but has never hooked it up, or is working somewhere where they have to hook up a trailer like a family business. My thought was that there are people who will be asked to hook up trailers where there's already a set up established. That's how I got started towing.

But I like all of the feedback which will go into my all-in-one towing video.

 

Ha, I mis-read your initial post and didn't realize I was critiquing you, I thought it was just some random YouTube video. Overall, good start, it really comes down to how deep down the rabbit hole you want to go and the video ends up being very long. Might want to make a few videos as a series and you can link them all in the description.

 

Relevant to twisting chains


i used to, I no longer do.

better to tie them up with a bungee strapped to the tongue of the trailer.

 

That's really good information. He had the chain pretty tightly twisted, more than I'd ever do, but it illustrates the point well. Thanks for sharing. Good bit about the bungee cord.

 

Most of this is probably for the longer video, but a quick mention of making sure the tongue is higher than the ball and getting out and looking if you need to (I don't have a fancy backup camera so I am out of the truck 5+ times to check distance and alignment to the ball when solo) may be appropriate for the basic video.

 

That's pretty damning. I'm fairly certain that my chains are much beefier than that, but I suspect that they would have a similar problem.

 

I can attest to the new Class V 2.5 inch receivers on the 2020+ Super Duties having a PITA hook up design for safety chains. There is a shelf behind the holes that makes it impossible to run some hooks through and get the clip to close.

When we took delivery of our Catalina the dealer had to dig up shackles to put the safety chains on. It's really a nuisance and I'm actually planning on installing bigger safety hooks to delete the need for shackles.

I'll get some pictures of the receiver if anyone wants to see the goofy design.

 

Check out hammer locks. I looked into a larger hook but you start running into an issue of the large hook not fitting through the small front hole.

 

Your issue has been discussed multiple times in the 2017+ SD section of this forum.