Over Thanksgiving, my father and I drove his truck to Colorado to take a small load and bring back my brothers gooseneck stock trailer to use to move. (From Oregon, 950 miles one way, 18-19 hours one way, straight through with me and Dad switching off driving and sleeping... Brutal).

Anyway, I have little experience with goosenecks. It has monstrous safety chains and a cable attached to a break away switch, to activate the trailer brakes should the trailer come loose from the truck.

The thing is, the chains are shorter than the switch cable. We bought the trailer new and this is the way it came from the maker. It is a very well built trailer so I would assume the trailer is built right, but it doesn't make sense to me that, essentially if the gooseneck came loose from the ball, that it would reach the end of the safety chains long before it pulled the switch. This is assuming of course that I attach end of the switch cable to the same place I attach the chains. But I don't know where else I would attach it.

The only other thing I can think of is, the switch and cable are designed purposly this way, so that the break away switch won't activate unless the chains detach or break, so that the trailer comes entirely unattached from the truck. But frankly this doesn't make much sense either.

Does anyone have any input on how this is all supposed to work? We have to tow this trailer, loaded with stuff, back to Colorado twice, to get all of Dad and my step-mothers junk moved. At least one trip will be with my truck and I want to make sure this is all done right.

Thanks,

 

I own 3 trailers, and have owned others in the past.

While none of these are goosenecks, they all have safety chains that are shorter than the breakaway cable.
Rather scary to have the trailer brakes lock up if still chained to the truck in my opinion.

 

I never have asked the question, but that would be my take on it, that the brakes only engage in the event the safety chains fail. I too would not want the brakes locked on the trailer if only attached by the chains, i would rather be able to steadily and slowly reduce speed rather than all of a sudden it rips out the back of the truck because the brakes locked down..

 

Break away cable.....Applies trailer brakes when it is activated. Like when the trailer breaks away from the tow vehicle. It appears to be a safety feature that would slow down the projectile (broke away trailer).

Safety chains...Not too short, not too long. Allow tow vehicle to keep trailer under control, if the hitch becomes damaged, or malfunctions. Also while this happens the electrical plug usually is still plugged into tow vehicle, due to the length of it. Allowing the trailer brakes to still be used, along with stop lamps.

Overview.....Safety chains are to keep trailer in check, if hitch fails. Break away is to keep trailer under control if it becomes detached from tow vehicle completely.

 

That is set up right. The cable/brakes are the last chance to slow/stop the trailer after all other systems fail. On a side note, i've never used safety chains on a gooseneck. I've yet to see one come off, there is so much weight pushing down and drag/pull when your moving. Only time you may have a failure is if the ball isn't clicked into place or you forget to lock the pin and then load a machine/truck from the back.

 

I was told by a hotshot driver that in Texas (that's where I am) the law does not require the safety chains to be hooked on a gooseneck trailer. That pretty well speaks for the likelihood of it breaking away.

 

Thanks everyone for their replies. It all seems to make sense.

I'm really not that worried about the thing coming off at all, I just tend to get a bit obsessive about my truck and stuff.

 

Unless the hitch has a locking bolt and pin, (fifthwheel and kingpin) safety chain are required by federal law. A ball and socket set-up is not a locking bolt and pin, therefore you must use chains.

 

i DO NOT want to be next to a truck/trailer that isn't hooked up correctly!!!!!!!!!! it's pretty brazen to think that 5th wheel, or any attaching point won't break at some point!! torque, twist, push, pull, salt, sand, all help disintegrate hardware, and without safety chain backup??? HOLY COW!!!! you only need to see one in the weeds to understand!!

 

Yes, safety chains ARE required!!!!! It really, really annoys me to see people just assume that goosenecks don't need them. Heck, some gooseneck hitches don't even have clips for them! VERY DANGEROUS, and very illegal. ALWAYS use chains, and always use the breakaway cable. The cable should be longer than the chains.

On a seperate note, the chains should ABSOLUTELY NOT be connected to the same place as the breakaway cable. If one fails, the other needs to kick in. In my truck I attach the cable to the truck box bracket, or to the tie-down clips in the front corners of the box. In tagalong trailers, I attached the chains to the reciever, and the cable to the bumper hitch. If one fails, the other needs to kick in to protect the other drivers on the road.

 

This is a good post David. I'm glad you asked the question. My trailer rig is set up correctly, as most have indicated here. But I learned some things that I really took for granted and didn't completely understand as I do after reading this.

Specifically...NOT to hook the breakaway cable thru the same loop as the chains. If that loop fails, and the chain comes unattached, then the cable does too...and that means no breaks at all...even when the trailer is completely disconnected. That would than defeat the purpose of having it in the first place.

I like this towing forum. Lots of experience in here. thanks Guys.
Paul

 

If chains are "required" then why aren't trailers manufactured with them? We just bought a 2008 model ponderosa gooseneck stock trailer and it has no chains. It does have a breakaway, but no battery came with it and we haven't put one in yet...

 

Because you bought the cheapest of the cheapest CRAP trailer you could find. I'm sorry, but when you can buy a 20' gooseneck for $2000 that should tell you something. Plus the battery! That's, what, a $6 item?

Somehow I doubt Ponderosa is part of the trailer manufacturer's alliance, which self regulates safety

I have read reports from people who have had absolutely horrid experiences with that brand. One person had a 40' tri-axle. They had a horse fall through the floor (it was 6 months old) due to the poorest quality welds you could ever imagine. They also lost an axle. They skimp on every single item they can... hence why you can buy them so cheap. I paid 10x more for my Featherlite, which has the best and strongest chains you can buy for that application.

On a seperate but related note, I had a friend who's 2008 commercial truck (a flatbed of some kind, big truck like a GMC 7500) was fined $2500 for STOCK, FACTORY mirrors that were over the federal width limits without a wide load banner. Just because its sold does not mean its entirely legal.

 

After a little googling on laws regarding safety chains, I came to two conclusions.

1) There doesn't appear to be a lot of information available.

2) As best as I can figure, it varies from state to state.

This is a PDF document I found that summarizes state laws.

http://www.expediter.com/natm%20pdf%...Laws-Table.pdf

 

You read about people having "horrid" experiences with every brand. This is the 2nd ponderosa trailer we have owned. The first was bought brand new in 1990, and the only thing ever done was new tires and fixing wiring caused by normal use. Our operation simply outgrew the the old trailer and we upgraded to the 20ft model. We have had absolutely zero problems with it, using it, heavily, on a regular basis.

You really oughta think about not talking down to people and talking bad about their stuff. Just because you have a feather-lite that cost 5 times as much, doesn't make you any better than me, or make your trailer any better than mine.