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Been towing bumper pulls for 25 years, watched this video to see how many things you did wrong, and it is SPOT ON! I’m glad someone finally addressed twisting chains. He is right about cutting off links to get the right length. Very well done, Ross!
@@nhamilton9545 I was thinking along the same lines, when using your own trailer you can have the correct chain length but when renting a uhaul /Penske trailer and the chains are too long they won’t adjust them to the proper length
there are chain reducers you can get if your chains are too long and you tow with multiple trucks (google double clevis) .. i will address this in an upcoming video.
Ive Towed for years buts this is a great refresher. I would like to add one tip. If after you back up and BEFORE you put the truck in park, engage your parking brake, and then put it in park this should eliminate that annoying 1 inch extra roll that often takes the truck out of position. 😊
Thanks for watching and commenting Jim.... you can also just engage the parking brake before taking your foot off the main brakes, which will work before or after putting the truck in park. thanks for the reminder!
Dont cut the chains, you may wish you had more chain should you change tow vehicles or hitches. Just move the hook down to the desired link and leave the unusued links dangling. If needed, fold them back on the chain and tie them to it with wire ties. Alternaively you can used rated H links to shorten the chains, leaving a loop of chain below the H link.
Another fantastic process video Ross! For the breakaway safety cable - I swapped out one of my license place bolts for an eye bolt and nyloc nut behind the fender - makes it super convenient to clip on and is independent of the hitch receiver
something i really need to get around to doing... ive been putting it off for 7 years now, and my new tow vehicle has a small screen. time to get to it.
Good to know that I’ve been doing things correctly, so thanks for that. Two things stuck out for me though as a 5 ft solo traveller. 1) I usually raise my hitch higher to make it easier to engage the clamps on my bars. 2) As a solo traveller I usually have to run back and forth several times to ensure all of my lights are working. With your hint to just engage the hazards, this will save me the extra steps. So thanks!
Good job, Ross! I had a travel trailer from 2021 to 2023, and I made over 30 trips with this trailer. After watching your video, I see that I could have made a few changes to my procedure that would have made the whole travel process a lot safer. Twisting chains? Guilty! Thank you. Lou from Georgia.
@@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS -- I think back to the mid-70s when I was towing small fishing boats. The small amount of knowledge that I acquired was from watching other fisherman or from asking questions of the supposed "experts" at the marina. I was happy to believe everything they told me because they were "experts." These folks had a lot of "seat of the pants" experience, but "experts?" Not hardly. Sometimes being lucky completely outweighs being smart. Not often, but once in a while. 🙂
I've been camping and towing for 35 years. I never realized twisting chains reduced their strength. Man, am I glad I rabbit-holed to this video! Something I would add, though, when you hook to any given trailer for the first time, check left and right turn signals individually. Do this especially on a used or rental trailer, but I've seen new ones on delivery where the left/right signals were reversed. Great, great, to-the-point video!
absolutely! This little trick will make sure all your bulbs are working, and i dont think its necessary to check your truck turn signal outputs all that often, but definitely worth doing occasionally. thanks for the comment, glad to have you here bud.
Interesting about hooking the brake cable to the frame. I drove semi’s for 40 years. I was told to NEVER put the safety chains upside down as the spring loaded flimsy retaining mechanism has fallen off many times. More likely than something knocking it off from the road! NEVER SADDLE A DEAD HORSE!!
Ive been towing this specific RV for 8 years and my retaining mechanisms have never come off my hooks. If yours have come off, and you believe them to not be hitting anything from the road, I would immediately question the quality of those chain hooks/retainer clips. They should also be replaced immediately, as you probably know a hook that was manufactured with a retaining clip will fail inspection without a retaining clip. The only time a retaining clip is not needed is if the hook was manufactured without one. Same with lifting chains, as outlined by OSHA, ASME & ANSI.
excellent video, only thing i do different is i use the loop on the pin to hold my cable for the brake lights and the cable for the emergency brake so it does not fall on the ground
Thanks for this video, I thought I was doing it the right way but I now know that I have a couple of things to change on my hook up process. I can't believe I never thought to hook up the chains right away to the tow vehicle, that makes so much sense.
i hoooked up chains after connecting for years too. after 8 years im not ashamed to say im still learning too, and thats what this channel is all about, learning from experience and through others experience.
Thanks for the great video. I happen to be one of those individuals who twists one of my chains because it is longer than the other. It was good to see why I should shorten that chain. I also like the tip about clipping the breakaway cable to the vehicle frame rather than the hitch receiver. I'll have to see if my van has a good attachment point. One point I disagree with is the length of the breakaway cable. That's an issue I questioned before and did some research on. The RVIA (Recreational Vehicle Industry Association) recommends that the trailer break away cable be slightly longer than the safety chains rather than shorter. The reasoning is that if the trailer becomes uncoupled and held by the chains, the driver will still have full control over the brakes rather than them being fully applied and potentially making an unsafe situation worse. Keep making the great content.
Personally, I would just cut them to the right size... its really the proper way to do it. I would disagree with the break cable being longer... if the tongues detaches and the chains catch the tongue, the driver may have no way of knowing about the disconnection. with knowing this, coming to a stop could put the trailer through the truck. trailer brakes are not like truck brakes, they wont stop the trailer like truck brakes stop a truck. I do appreciate the input and its definitely an option.
@@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS Trailer brakes supplied with full current from the breakaway switch vs a controller create 2 very different results. If you install the chains correctly as shown in your video you still have control of the trailer and should be able to steer and stop with much more control than fully applied locked up trailer brakes. As far as knowing if it's come detached I would hope the noise and changes in vehicle geometry would alert even the worst of drivers.
On the surface, it does make sense that you would still want the ability to slowly brake and come to a stop without the brakes locking up if it becomes unhitched and is sitting on the chains. The reality though is that it may take too long for you to realize it is unhitched and your first knowledge of it may be the trailer slamming into the back of your truck. And if you do realize it immediately, your first reaction will be to slam on the brakes anyway.
im in the same boat, I can see pros and cons both ways. I feel like because the law only states you only need to have a brake cable connected and not a specific length, it might be a matter of personal preference? Im going to dig into this one a little bit. heres the ulitmate question... how strong are the brakes at 60-65 mph if they are immediately fully engaged. I know trailer brakes are more meant to AID the trailer in stopping, and are not necessarily the same strength as truck brakes are on a truck, for example. Knowing this, I dont feel like fully applied trailer brakes at your highest speed is going to make keeping the truck in the lane that difficult... the brakes should definitely make you notice something is wrong, but i dont think its going to cause an accident... I could be wrong, i have never fully squeezed my brake controller on the highway. I think the answer to that question will help us make the decision if we want our cable longer or shorter than our chains.... more to come on this. Thanks everyone!
I can't tell you how much I value your videos! We upgraded from a popup to a 27RK Travel Trailer last May and your details are great! You are one of the few creators whose "ads" for your sponsor, I don't skip! Do you have a Maintenance Checklist? Like a "Yearly, Quarterly, Monthly, Daily" kind of thing? Like how often to treat your slide seals, or how often to sterilize your water system.
something i really need to get around to doing... ive been putting it off for 7 years now, and my new tow vehicle has a small screen. time to get to it.
An other good habit to have before hitting the road is activating trailer brakes with the brake controller knob while starting to roll forward. That way you know that your trailer brakes are working and that they don’t drag after a brake application 😊
good point, i will usually tug test my trailer brakes about 10 seconds after pulling out of my driveway by using the override button on the brake controller only.
Very good video and always helpful to have a refresher course every once in a while. I will admit to accidentally towing a toy hauler round trip from Glamis to San Diego. At the time I had a motorcycle trailer, a small utility trailer and a car trailer. I had a few different tongue/ball setups and had a 2" on the truck and the toy hauler was 2 5/16". Thank god for that 1000 pounds of tongue weight!!!!
crossing the chains also keeps the loop fairly consistent in droop as you go around corners. whereas hooking straight would leave the loop getting more slack on an inside turn and coming tighter in an outside turn.
Ross great points. Also the safety chains being installed from bottom up is also stronger from what I was told. The way the hooks pitch when safety chains are needed prevents them possibly snapping off tip of hook
Thanks for a great guide to the process! I've always hitched before connecting the chains. That is an improvement I will take away! I've never found a good place to connect the brake safety cable. This bugged me, so I bored out the license plate holes and put eye bolts in. The brake safety cable is secured to one of the two eye bolts with a carabiner. My Tacoma had a metal behind the license plate, but the F-150 is all plastic. On the F-150 I used bumper washers to secure the eye bolts to reduce the unlikely risk of the eye bolts pulling through the plastic and ripping the license plate off instead of pulling out from the trailer side. For most trailers I have used, with a non-weight distribution hitch, I run the brake cable trough one eye bolt then to the opposite side to keep the brake cable just long enough. Since my Blue Ox WD hitch is longer, I just run direct to the eye on the same side that the brake safety switch is mounted to the trailer.
First off never trust a Dodge to pull anything. Just kidding, this is a good video. As someone who is in the class 8 trucking business, hot shot and pulls a travel trailer, I’ll throw my 2 cents in. If you don’t cross safety chains, that’s a DOT violation, twisted safety chains is also DOT violation. The emergency brake cable can be hooked to the same place as the safety chain, but not to the safety chain. I agree that somewhere other than the hitch is probably best, but if your entire hitch/receiver comes off the truck you have huge problems anyway. Now, I’ve never been stopped by DOT while pulling my camper, so I’m sure a lot of violations, people are going to say “I’ve been pulling my camper for 20 years this way and never had a problem” go missed. However we have been stopped plenty of times in tractor trailer/hot shot and gone over with a fine tooth comb, so I’m pretty familiar with DOT standards. Just poured a good drink, can’t wait to read the comments on this post…. Enjoy 😊
DOT doesn't usually pull over RV's unless something is seriously wrong, they are commercial vehicle enforcement. The whole purpose of safety chains is to prevent your unhooked trailer from taking out traffic behind it, not to hold up your trailer, not designed for that. If you have an e-brake set up, put a small shackle in the tow holes (should fit with safety chain) and connect to that. Otherwise great video.
I have a steep driveway that has a fairly harsh angle where I inter the street so I don't install my load leveling bars when hitching up at my house. A half mile down from the house is a very wide and level pull out where I can safely install them. This also where I remove them on my way home. With all of the frame failures happening on travel trailers, I don't want to take the chance of damaging my trailers' frame.
Depending on power cables, I have seen people use Velcro strap around the cable and cap (at the tow vehicle)as an extra safety, to keep the cable from disconnecting from the outlet.
I remember when a friend of mine neglected to ensure that he had inserted the reciever lock bar for his hitch when connecting his new trailer. He managed to leave the resort, pull out onto the hiway and make it almost a 1/2 mile before the hitch and trailer said 'bye bye'. Guess where the saftey brake cable was also connected? Fotunately, everything managed to gently roll/slide/coast to a stop in the lane and after some embarasment, was correctly attached and the rest of the trip was much less eventful.
AHA! 2:50, thanks for that. I always figured that clasp down is safer, since more hook is engaged with the reciever. If the trailer comes down, it will tug downwards. I didn't think about the clasp being damaged and unhooked, that's a great lesson.
I always place my vehicle in neutral first, then apply the emergency brake, then place it in park. Fully agree 100% with the tips on your video. Great information.
Something I have ran in to ok checking lights on the trailer. There a vehicles that use a different circuit path or module between the hazard switch and the turn signal switch. The hazards will work but turn signals won't.
very true, but this is more about checking to make sure the actual bulb filaments (or led lights) on the trailer are good. Its perfectly fine to make sure your truck outputs are working, I just dont think its necessary every time. it would be weird if everyone checked their vehicle outputs every time before driving right? haha, imagine seeing a parking lot full of people walking around their car at Lowes lol.
As far as connecting the 7 way, do it while you are there, so it does not become a forgotten item. DC current does not care how many sources are tied together, the truck 7 way, your converter (shore power supplied) or your solar, its OK for all of them to power the buss at the same time. Just don't forget the 7 way and the light check, which I do last.
There is no problem with multiple charge sources to a 12volt battery other than not exceeding the charge profile of the battery. In fact you can have a solar panel array going to the battery(ies) plugged into shore with the converter on and have the 7pin and truck running. Here is what you have to figure. If it’s a single lead acid battery you don’t want to exceed a total charge of 40amps continuous. Lead acid batteries are like slow cookers. You cant charge them too fast otherwise they can swell. But if you have 2 or more then you probably don’t have enough charge sources to worry about. Im not big on converters because the preset logic as soon as you plug it in it will go into bulk charge for a longer time than necessary. Newer chargers that can do lithium or LA have logic that allows it to slow the charge quicker….but that’s another story. Bottom line. Watch out on multiple charge sources to 1 battery, go balls to the wall if there is more than 1.
I look at it in different way no hook to shore power and vehicle at same time. First disconnect shore power then hook up to vehicle. Not as a charging problem but to prevent forgetting to disconnect shore power. I've seen a few dragging their shore power cords and a time or two the stinky slinky hose. Most of the time it was in changing RV pad sites and distracted.
Great video and great tips for those new to bumper pull RV's. However I disagree with one of your points... If after a failure of the hitch system, if the safety chains are keeping the trailer still connected to my tow vehicle as they are intended to do, I do not want the control of the trailer brakes taken away from me, the driver. The emergency braking activation cable is only for an instance where you have totally lost control of the trailer (meaning it is 100% detached from the tow vehicle). The trailer power cable should also be long enough so as to not disconnect from the vehicle, and the emergency braking system should not activate if the chains are pulled to their full length with the trailer unhitched, but the chains remain attached to the tow vehicle. This allows ME to control what the trailer brakes are doing should this ever happen. In simple terms, the emergency cable should only activate the emergency braking switch if the distance between the trailer and the tow vehicle becomes greater than what it could with the safety chains pulled to full length. The way I keep the emergency cable and the trailer power cable from getting fowled in any part of the hitch is to clip them both inside the loop of the wire bale of the coupler lock pin. This will keep them from ever being pinched during sharp turns, etc.
Sorry Scott, I'm a little confused by your comment. If the hitch fails, as you say, or comes off the truck, the safety chains are NOT keeping your trailer connected to the truck because they are connected to the hitch as well. Do you understand? if the hitch comes off, so does the part where your chains are connected to the hitch, and having the brake activated could prevent the trailer from running though the back of your truck. I might be misunderstand your comment, please clarify if what I'm reading is not what youre saying. Thanks Scott.
@@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS The "Hitch" is the system of components that are from the receiver socket aft. If anyone with any engineering sense was concerned about the vehicle "receiver hitch" coming detached from the vehicle, with the highly regulated society we live in, there would be laws requiring even the safety chains to be directly connected to the vehicle frame. That is not the case, because it is not a problem. The safety chains are for a failure of the hitching "system".
i understand what you're saying, and actually agree with not being worried about my hitch receiver coming off, but I'm still not sure what you're saying is the downside to connecting the cable to the frame. It will pull with any normal failure just as it would if connected to the eyelet, plus it will pull if the hitch becomes disconnected. I'm just confused, not arguing, on what you're saying.
@@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS You said there are two important things to follow, regardless of where you decided to connect the end of the cable (I see no problem with connecting it to the frame of the tow vehicle if that makes you feel better).... For one of them you said the activation cable should be shorter than the chains so that the brakes go into emergency activation mode before the chains become tight. This is what I think is wrong and bad advice. As I said above, the emergency brakes should never activate unless the trailer has fully disconnected from the tow vehicle. I believe this is why the cable is typically quite long which is what gives you enough length to connect it to the tow vehicle frame, when it is really only meant to reach to the safety chain connection point on the vehicles receiver hitch.
i get what you're saying now... personally, id rather the trailer brakes activate if it comes off the ball for this one reason: if the chains catch the tongue, you may not even know its been disconnected. you also still have the chance of the trailer running through the back of the truck if it becomes disconnected. thanks for your input and for watching Scott. Something definitely to note.
the throat of the chain will rest against the eyelet should the chain be activated in either direction, but hooking from underneath is going to prevent the things i talk about in the video while driving. thank you for watching and glad it helped!
For the trailer chain length issue. For years I just go to tractor supply and get the trailer chain hooks with the clip so you can remove them from the chains, and if my chains are long I can just shorten them up and have the extra hanging from that same clip, even doubled up the extra so it doesn’t hang so low or swing around much. Way better than twisting chains and allows for the same trailer to be used on different trucks with different chain length requirements
Regarding the power between the truck and the trailer. After having the cable pinched and damaged between the anti-sway bar and the hitch assembly (which took a day of repair and the replacement of a number of fuses both in the trailer and in the tow vehicle) I got into the habit of attaching a bungee chord from the propane cover and the mid-point of the power cable. This allowed flexible movement of the cable but ensured that it didn't drop down where it could be pinched by the anti-sway bars and the hitch assembly. When they saw what I was doing a number of trailering friends started doing the same thing with positive results. No more pinched power cables.
When connecting to tow vehicle I was always taught to put one safety chain clasp "over " passenger side and one "under " drivers side incase trailer breaks free from hitch jamming up under your bumper when breaking potentially breaking free from the clip lever..and especially if theres only one safety chain on a trailer to always put towards passenger side so in the event of a break free from hitch, trailer will pull towards passenger side instead of on coming traffic side avoiding a possible collision. Via the Commercial Drivers License handbook rules for CDL test..
Thanks for sharing Craig, however I dont know of any RV manufacturer outfitting the trailer with 1 chain. The regulations vary depending on the state, some states require at least one, many require 2 chains. And because these are moving from state to state, thats probably why they all come with 2 chains.
I completely remove my shore power cable and water lines BEFORE starting this entire process. You really don't want that kind of voltage or water pressure in the mix when you're shifting things around. If, for example, the trailer shifts and severs your shore power line, you now have a major electrical hazard.
I use a coiled e brake cable it doesn't fall down and it will not bind. I hook it to an eye bolt on the bumper of the tow vehicle. Thanks for your information on this subject. First class all the way..
thanks Vernon, going to actually release a follow up since this video got so many view and questions... I think I might go the route of the coiled cable to a license plate eyebolt too... going to the frame under the truck works fine, but if i dont have to crawl underneath it would be easier and accomplishing the same thing.
@@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS oh it’s awesome I already have winterized it and put it away for the winter ❄️ because we just have to many projects going on the property but ya after living in the city it’s piece and quiet and enjoying the sunrise and sunset thanks for asking Ross I will send you some pictures
Ross, another awesome video. I just installed air lifters on my Chevy Colorado for leveling our Forest River Wolf Pup because the back of the truck seemed like it was dropping too much on hook-up. The air bags work perfectly, BUT I would love to see a video on the right way to set them; i.e., do I want to maintain the level of the truck when nothing is connected? Do I want it to drop a little? On our last trip up I-94 in Michigan, they have this godawful concrete pavement that is "sculpted" so each section dips in the middle and rises toward the expansion joints. We both felt like our heads would snap off from the bouncing.
Ive never used bags so I really dont know much about them. are your leaf springs in good shape? its normal for a truck to drop a little with a load, even my 1 ton ram drops a little when i connect our small trailer.
Sometimes the hitch lock can bind because of rust on the ball and/or the plate that slides under the ball, don't grind material off either obviously, but smoothing out the rough rusty stuff can make a difference in how easily your hitch lock binds. I've also heard (but am unsure) that if the angle of the hitch is too extreme (like if the trailers flat but the trucks on a hill) that the lock wont slide under the ball easily. Unfortunately those locks are far easier to disengage than to engage.
As far as pigtail hookup, I do not recommend hooking both shoreline and camper pigtail up at the same time! Actually this did happen to me. The trucks tow module fuse busted and that ain't cheap!!!
What if your chains are too short to cross without rubbing on the bottom of the trailer hitch? We just got the hitch at the dealer and everything you say don’t do, they did🤦🏻♀️. Would you have them shorten the emergency break line or just do it yourself? Every time I questioned something I was told I was wrong. The break line is twisted in the chain, they did not cross the chains as “they would rub the bottom of the hitch” and finally he hooked the break line to the hook of the chain. I just walked away. Now do you back up with the sway bars in tact or off? This was a “hitch expert” Thank you We also have the exact same hitch as you.
if they are too short to cross, you just dont cross them. personally I would have new chains welded to the tongue that I could cross, but theres an expense to that. you can shorten the brake cable yourself, but I have a new video coming that talks about that so hang tight. if the brake cable is run through the chain, it has a chance to break. this is a definite no-no.
@@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS thank you. I have informed the dealership and they are going to retrain their employees. They assured me this will be fixed. They also said they will fix our chains😊. We did not take possession due to them needing to fix things found at inspection.
I always ensure my truck is turned off before connecting my trailer cable. For some reason if the truck is on when I connect, it does not transmit lights or brake signal to the trailer. I have to turn the truck off, pull the plug, put it back in and restart the truck. 2014 Sierra, 2016 GD Imagine.
one thing I noticed you did not mention about the hook. yes the "direction of travel on the back" but you are putting the load on the "throat" of the hook or the strongest part of the hook. the other way you had it "the wrong way" is called tip loading and derates the hook and the weakest part of the hook. this I found out is only really thought in rigging courses, as a heavy equipment operator, I had to do a basic rigging course and this was one of the main points drilled into our heads, at the college I went to here in canada.
glad to see your paying attention, I thought about mentioning this as another reason to connect from underneath while filiming the video, but decided to take it out. once the chains are activated, they are going to pull straight back on the hooks, and since the angle of the chain wont change reagardless of how the hook is connected, the throat of the hook will pull against the eyelet in both scenarios. thanks for the info and for watching!
One thing I like to do once I lower hitch onto ball and close latch I try jacking up trailer to assure it is intact locked to ball. Back of tow vehicle raises up then I’m locked.
I think the reason people are still twisting their safety chains is because manuals straight from the manufacturer actually still recommend it! In my Coachmen Apex Nano Owner’s Guide it says “If the chains are too long, simply twist them until the desired link is obtained.”
If the chains are mounted at the same point, then crossing them will likely have zero benefit; there is nothing stopping the chain deciding on it's own where it will cross, most likely right at it's mount point.
i wont disagree you dont get much of an X if they connect at the same point, but as mentioned in the video, its giving you a chance and its better than not doing it. there's no benefit to not doing it.
@@f2cmadmaxx if you really want a cradle, why not add a cross chain with some locking links so there really is a support chain at a good point. Wow this might be an idea for a new product....
Really great and very detailed video! Do you have any videos on adding an amplifier to a Toyhauler? I am very interested in doing this but need some guidance as the 12V wire run to power an amp would be pretty long. Would be really interested on your ideas and advice on ways to do this. Thanks for the great video!
I would add one thing, now this could just be my jurisdiction, BUT I had a commercial enforcement officer tell me that you should slide the locking pin for the toung across from drivers side towards passenger side. The reason behind this being that IF the lock on the pin fails open, the way the road is sloped towards the ditch for rain drainage it wall pull with gravity so its resting on the head of the pin not just sliding backwards and out of the hole
very interesting idea.... i would go with it! its a very slight possibility, but even if theres a .001% chance and theres no downside to doing it, then do it! Thanks for sharing. Another thing is some people choose to use a padlock instead... I can see both good and bad with that as well. more to come.
100% agreed, slightly safer for even a slight change in what you already have to do is always worth it! But yeah I went to a lock as well, then its an extra step of protection when parked too!
Make sure your power cord has enough slack for sharp turns. I used to wrap the cord around the tongue so it wouldn't drag on the ground but wrapping it too tight will cause it to be pulled from the plug on sharp turns losing the trailers lights. Been there. Done that.
Luckily in 8 years with many sharp turns it seems mine is just the right length from the factory. Thanks for sharing Kenny, hope you got it all worked out.
Why is the hitch and ball extended by a foot or more? Does that type of hitch carry more weight? Sorry, looking to buy my first travel trailer and trying to learn. Great video! First time watching your channel.
another tip: be in the habit of completely hooking up or uhooking the trailer. if you just drop it on the hitch and leave the rest disconnected to move it around your yard, you may just drop it on the hitch and try to pull it down the road some day.
I was told by what I would consider a very reliable source to have your vehicle in neutral, for much of the hook up process. Said you're pulling horribly on the vehicles transmission when in Park with the E brake on. That there's incredible torque on your transmission in the hook up process. That being in neutral takes that issue away. Complete newbie. I've only had 5 trips so 10 hookups total. Let me know if I'm missing something. The way I've been looking at it, is I'm hooking it up floating so to speak. Compared to locked in with high toque, possibly pulling on my transmission. Love to hear your/peoples opinion on this
The parking pawl locks your transmission. There’s more torque on your transmission when you are pulling the trailer up a hill. PLEASE, for the love of God, please don’t hook up in neutral. You’re going to KILL someone when your truck and trailer rolls away.
@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS first off captain obvious. Yes of course there is more torque on your tranny when pulling uphill. Secondly it's in neutral once the hitch is locked down. Let's not be a drama queen alright
You asked for answers, I gave you one, and you’re calling me “captain obvious.” That’s a clear sign your “question” is a joke. Because I don’t want people who are here to learn to get hurt or killed, I’m going to delete your comment. If you ask for answers, get them, and then decide to respond with an ignorant comment, there is no need for you comment in the first place. I hope you find what you’re looking for.
@@grantdevries8648 you’re source is an idiot nothing is pulling or pushing on your trans when the RV is chocked. omg I can’t stop laughing torque on your truck transmission better get your advice elsewhere bro
Crossing the tow chains is not only a good idea, in some states it’s a legal requirement. I know it is here in Montana, and I believe also in Wyoming and Minnesota at least.
I'm confused, I thought it was a pretty good idea to remove the power cable before plugging the rv into the truck (never thought of that), but when you were testing the running lights of your rv, your power cable was hooked up to your rv? So, should someone remove the power cable or not?
What is the best tow hitch to get? We are having a Apex Ultra-Lite 243FKS built for us and we have a F250 XL Crew Cab gas built for us and it only has 91 miles on it with a 8 foot bed! The Truck is only going to be used to pull the RV! The RV is 29.5 feet long and has a hitch weight of 810lbs. As You can tell, we are new at this and our fist long trip will be to pick up the travel trailer when it gets to the dealership and it passes the inspection that we are going to have done on it with an outside inspector! Sorry for the long rant. Thanks
😂😂😂 Every European will laugh and be shocked at the same time. What are you guys doing with all those chains, and why is the connection/kupler from the stone age? Wow, just wow… So many wows😁 Hydraulic lifter?😳 You guys can’t be serious. Do you really apply such a heavy load on the towing car? Or are you just lazy? It’s funny to watch the difference between Europe and the USA. Cheers everyone ❤
it seems like you are a little vague on the actual physics so let me help you on a few things... the chains are to prevent the trailer from injuring others by veering off into another lane should it be disconnected. they are required by law. second, there is no hydraulic "lifter." Its electric, not hydraulic, 12 volts actually, and there is a manual crank should the electric fail. third, such a heavy load? I'm guessing you dont understand tongue weight on a trailer so let me help you...tongue weight on a trailer similar to this size will range from a 400lb to a 800 lb tongue weight. thats it. all the weight is on the axles. the trucks payload capacity on a small half ton made in the last 15 years is 1500lbs... so the truck is MORE THAN CAPABLE of handling 800lbs. The truck in the video has a payload capacity of 4100lbs, even with a 1000lb tongue weight, there is plenty of room left and the truck is being used well within its specs. Do you need any clarification on anything else?
I've always wondered if I should be connecting the 7 pin when the vehicle is off or is it ok that the vehicle is running. I try to make a habit of shutting the truck off before connecting.
same principle of turning off breakers before unhooking shore power I guess... probably wont matter because the voltage is so low, but I would guess turning off the truck first would be "technically" correct.
You've been my sherpa to campers, and continue with great videos! I have to ask, what is that you're using to crank down on the WD chains? I have a Blue Ox swaypro and hate the standard lever they give you with it.
there's some debate on this too that I didnt get into in this video. I agree with that line of thinking, I want the brakes to activate should the tongue disconnect, but there are also folks who would rather have control of the trailer brakes should the trailer become disconnected... meaning they leave the brake cable longer than the chains so it will ONLY activate if the chains fail. I might have to circle back to this one specific topic in a future video.
Nice video. I have a 2018 ram 1500 2x4 towing a 8x16 enclosed trailer. My son in law gave me an Anderson anti sway set up. I haven't installed it yet. Any suggestions for it. Thanks
if you are able, they are fairly easy to install, there should be an install video on TH-cam for your specific hitch. If not, and any trailer or rv shop can install it on the frame.
I noticed at 1:11 that your chains are connected at the same point on the tongue. Mine is the same way and because of that, never saw a benefit of crossing the chains. But I also noticed at 2:00... is that a hitch pin to try and create a cradle point in the chains that otherwise wouldn't be there because of where the chains are connected on the tongue?
I am having a hard time finding info on porpoising and what I need to do to ensure I'm towing properly. I have a new 2024 GMC 2500 HD Denali Ultimate. My understanding is that it's equivalent to a one ton since it has the towing package. I haul a Venture Touring with a hitch weight of 1250 lbs. with a total of 9000 lbs. My weight distribution hitch is rated for 1400/14000. I had some porpoising on my last trip. Help someone??
Do NOT lift the truck with the trailer jack. The jack is not designed for it nor is the hitch and is not recommended by manufacturers. Not only is twisting the chains weakening then but it's also illegal. The breakaway cable has to be connected to a separate point not the same point as the safety chains. To hitch or frame depends on state or province. Light cable can be run through clip on coupler latch to keep it off the ground. Also do not use 4 way to check lights, check signals and brake lights separately to avoid false outputs
The frame manufacturers and hitch manufactuers DO actually recommend to lift the tongue after connection. Heres a video direct from Blue Ox proving this. th-cam.com/video/yVpumWOapZY/w-d-xo.html Happy to provide more links to other manufacturers who do as well. The tongue takes more of a beating while driving 65 mph than it does by lifting it 2 inches while its stationary. I would advise against running ANYTHING through your coupler lock. If the power cable gets snagged on something, theres a chance its ripping off your coupler lock. It can also tear and short on the frame. Dont do this!!! If your power cord is too long, there are accessories you can get to shorten it where its not interfering with other components.
I mean you’re not wrong about the twisting chains. But you are using 5/16-3/8 chains with around 4K-8k lbs working limit times 2. Really on your set up the weak point is where both are hooked to a single welded bar, that will break at less that 4K (I’m guessing). Again you are not wrong, but in reality twisting should not be a problem, but if you are the only one that tows the trailer, making them the right length makes sense.
The bar welded on the tongue is certified and rated equal or higher than the chains that would be used on any rv with that uses that specific frame, so it’s actually going to be the last thing to break. Tig welds can often produce a stronger connection than the metal itself. A twisted chain rated at 8K will break at 2K according to this test, which is easily going to be the weakest point on the entire connection. Where there may be a weak point not mentioned in this video is on old rusty hitch eyelets.
@@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS structural tig? Not normally a thing. When doing welding strength testing in tension, MiG, flux core, and dual shield produces a stronger overall strength. Its not the weld that breaks it’s the heat effected zone around it. Also, the chain strength that I stated, are working load, not max breaking strength. The chain that was in the video was of 1/4 chain (or it looked like it) and its safe working load is around 1.5k to 3k depending on grade, and it made it to 2k tested and 6k not. Again, not twisting is better. I was just saying
I understand, but the chain weld is much stronger than the a twisted chain, I’m just responding to your original comment that it will break at 1000 lbs. it won’t. Also, mig is not stronger than tig: www.twi-global.com/technical-knowledge/faqs/mig-vs-tig-welding#:~:text=TIG%20welded%20joins%20are%20typically,that%20can%20weaken%20the%20weld.
Question….. my truck has a wdh with the solid sway bars on the side, when I bought my new travel trailer the dealer was setting everything up and called to my attention, since my truck has a 6in lift on it they had to raise almost the entire rearend off the ground to even get the bars on or off. Does this sound right to you or may they might have setup my wdh wrong?
im trying to visualize this in my head, and im thinking something is wrong with their installation. the bars in relation to the hitch have nothing to do with the height of the truck... meaning the hitch receiver should have a drop shank installed, and where the ball and bars are are always at the same height. the truck can be 20 feet in the air, but with a drop shank, everything should still be connecting at the height of the tongue when the trailer is level. make sense?
when your trailer is connected to the truck, it should be level... the hitch receiver may be 20 feet in the air, but the hitch ball and sway bar connections points should be down with the trailer tongue. hope that helps. email me a side pic if you can of it connected on a level road: management@rvtipsandtravels.com
@@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS awesome. Will do tomorrow when I can. From my point of view the truck does look level when it’s hooked up but I will definitely get you some pics. Thanks for the reply!!
Hi danielblack. I have a similar solid bar wdh (e2 hitch). Your dealer should have adjusted BOTH the height of the "landing points" on your A-frame, AND the height of the BALL on your hitch, so that the top of the BALL is about one inch above the bottom of the ball receiver on the A frame. The landing arms on the A frame should be about 26 inches back from the ball receiver, and these can easily be height adjusted to correct the bars' load bearing capacity. You can usually adjust these up or down with a torque wrench (about 70-75 ft-lb, typically). If the BALL HEIGHT on your truck is set correctly to the BALL RECEIVER on your trailer WHEN THE TRAILER IS LEVEL TO THE GROUND (not "bubble level," but GROUND level), you're set up correctly. When you raise the hitched combo of your truck and tongue jack to install the wdh bars, it can take almost full height of the tongue jack to get the bars engaged on the landings correctly (then pinned in). This can raise the back end of your truck a lot, whether lifted or not. My truck has a 2" lift, and the combo raises it about 5-6 inches to get the bars on. It doesn't quite get the back tires off the ground, but it seems close to doing so! That wdh hitch works beautifully. I had to readjust all of the dealership's (CW) installation and redo the wdh myself following the hitch manufacturers instructions (and had them on the phone to be sure I did it correctly). The only new tool I had to buy was a 250 ft-lb torque wrench for the main hitch bolts. Sounds like what you described is actually how it should be. Good luck.
The emergency brake and parking brake are interchangelable terms, it is ONE mechanism to assist the parking pawl on the transmission. Not really sure how that is misleading. You have a great day! For reference: www.google.com/search?q=EBRAKE+VS+PARKING+BRAKE&rlz=1C1VDKB_enUS936US936&oq=EBRAKE+VS+PARKING+BRAKE&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIJCAEQABgKGIAEMggIAhAAGBYYHjINCAMQABiGAxiABBiKBTINCAQQABiGAxiABBiKBTINCAUQABiGAxiABBiKBTINCAYQABiGAxiABBiKBTINCAcQABiGAxiABBiKBTIKCAgQABiABBiiBDIKCAkQABiABBiiBNIBCDM0NzlqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS The e brake is generally referred to as the emergency brake, but there is no such thing because it is not for emergency purposes. On most vehicles, it is labeled a parking brake. But just because people call it an e brake does not make it an emergency brake. Neither way do they engage the parking prawl in the transmission. They only have a cable that runs to the rear brakes. Putting the vehicle in park is what engages a prawl in the transmission, and that is not an emergency brake. Proper instructions from manufacturers always state to use the parking brake and never refer to it as an e brake. Also, when you jack up the vehicle and it is only in park, and the parking brake is not engaged the Rear wheels will spin in opposite directions, thus the purpose for a parking brake. They are different.
so you're saying it one sentence there is no such thing as an emergency brake, then you say it is different from the parking brake? Im not going to argue with you. People use the terms interchangebly, regardless of what you call it or dont want to call it. its just a term. I would understand if there was a secondary back up brake that could be confused with the "parking brake", but there isnt. In fact, you knew what I was referring to since the footage shows the brake activation. Call it whatever you like, calling it an Ebrake is not going to confuse or mislead anyone. And the "parking brake" can be used as an emergency brake: cable driven parking brakes can be applied if you lose hydralic fluid, thus making it a perfect resource in an emergency.
@@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS I'm not trying to argue either, but e brake is as you say confused with parking brake. I'm not discussing the electric brake on the trailer here, you are spot on there. The parking brake is the farthest left pedal in the driving vehicle, way off against the wall in front of the driver. Some vehicles have it in the center console area. Otherwise I agree with all other aspects of your video. I've been driving truck & trailers for 35 years. My first time was a crash course in the rugged mountains in Montana, when my Mom met an oncoming vehicle and needed to get backed out of the way. I had to do it because she didn't know how. I was just I've been driving professionally for 25. This is just for clarification.
I would add last thing to disconnect. A personal experience, RV pad had a slight pitch and very smooth concrete with some dust on it. Wheel chocks started sliding jack came off block rolling a few feet enough for jack to be bent. Had to cut off and replace jack.
One important reason for not having your chains too long is that they can spark on the pavement when hitting a bouncy spot in the road, potentially igniting a fire. That's not something you want anywhere, but especially in places like British Columbia or California where major wildfires are a yearly occurrence. Also, I'm going to start attaching my chains with the clasps upsidedown and my brake cable to the truck frame, neither of which occurred to me before seeing this video
I'm reminded of the time I hooked up the camper and had gotten about a block when it suddenly came to me that I'd neglected to close the hitch. It was on our checklist but the wife and myself had missed it due to a completely unanticipated sequence of innocuous events. So now it's on the checklist twice. Another informative, no-nonsense video. Thank you!
@@floydffrogfloydffrog7453 not sure what those innocuous events are but I suspect your surrounding neighbors distracted you with their useless conversation. People just dont get it. When I am unloading or loading my car in the trailer or hooking up the trailer I dont want help nor do I want to engage in any conversation. That is how stuff gets missed. Again, people dont get it. At the race track that behavior is particularly bad.
Oh my! I just bought a travel trailer in June from the dealership. We have went on 6 trips so far. Anywhere from 2hrs to 4hrs away from home. We are 1st time owners, so I wanted the dealership to do a walkthrough with us. I had *a lot* of questions. Of course, I will search TH-cam for answers also, but I never take just one person's word for it to be *_fact_* I will do a lot of research. Our dealership showed us how to hitch up and told us to *twist the chains* Ughhh! So, I am going to have to cut a couple of links out. He also told us to clip the chain downward on the hitch. *_WRONG_* Makes me nervous now. Thank you so much for all your videos. I have learned a lot from you!
if you have hoods that you can easily disconnect from the chains (like mine in the video), just move the hook to the appropriate link and you can let the additional links either hang or zip tie them to another link. That way you dont have to cut the links.
Great video and spot on advice. I’m a recently retired MTO officer in Ontario, Canada. DOT for my American friends. I’m also an avid RVer. It’s all about getting to where we are going safely.
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Been towing bumper pulls for 25 years, watched this video to see how many things you did wrong, and it is SPOT ON! I’m glad someone finally addressed twisting chains. He is right about cutting off links to get the right length. Very well done, Ross!
@@jamessajack982 I agree. Dealerships can learn from this video.
As usual a Great Informative Video. I hope some newbie’s and seasoned veterans learned something by watching. I know I did. Thanks Again!
I rented a UHaul and was surprised when the worker twisted the chains as a means of "adjustment for the length".
@@nhamilton9545 I was thinking along the same lines, when using your own trailer you can have the correct chain length but when renting a uhaul /Penske trailer and the chains are too long they won’t adjust them to the proper length
there are chain reducers you can get if your chains are too long and you tow with multiple trucks (google double clevis) .. i will address this in an upcoming video.
Ive Towed for years buts this is a great refresher.
I would like to add one tip.
If after you back up and BEFORE you put the truck in park, engage your parking brake, and then put it in park this should eliminate that annoying 1 inch extra roll that often takes the truck out of position. 😊
Thanks for watching and commenting Jim.... you can also just engage the parking brake before taking your foot off the main brakes, which will work before or after putting the truck in park. thanks for the reminder!
Dont cut the chains, you may wish you had more chain should you change tow vehicles or hitches. Just move the hook down to the desired link and leave the unusued links dangling. If needed, fold them back on the chain and tie them to it with wire ties. Alternaively you can used rated H links to shorten the chains, leaving a loop of chain below the H link.
will be addressing this in a follow up video.
Another fantastic process video Ross! For the breakaway safety cable - I swapped out one of my license place bolts for an eye bolt and nyloc nut behind the fender - makes it super convenient to clip on and is independent of the hitch receiver
@@rvgearandfar Great idea.
Great idea
I painted my tongue bright yellow. My backup camera picks it up because it’s much brighter
something i really need to get around to doing... ive been putting it off for 7 years now, and my new tow vehicle has a small screen. time to get to it.
Good to know that I’ve been doing things correctly, so thanks for that. Two things stuck out for me though as a 5 ft solo traveller. 1) I usually raise my hitch higher to make it easier to engage the clamps on my bars. 2) As a solo traveller I usually have to run back and forth several times to ensure all of my lights are working. With your hint to just engage the hazards, this will save me the extra steps. So thanks!
glad to help, and be safe out there Karen!
Good job, Ross! I had a travel trailer from 2021 to 2023, and I made over 30 trips with this trailer. After watching your video, I see that I could have made a few changes to my procedure that would have made the whole travel process a lot safer. Twisting chains? Guilty! Thank you. Lou from Georgia.
I've been guilty of doing a lot of things wrong over the years too, not ashamed to admit it. We learn and help each other!
@@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS -- I think back to the mid-70s when I was towing small fishing boats. The small amount of knowledge that I acquired was from watching other fisherman or from asking questions of the supposed "experts" at the marina. I was happy to believe everything they told me because they were "experts." These folks had a lot of "seat of the pants" experience, but "experts?" Not hardly. Sometimes being lucky completely outweighs being smart. Not often, but once in a while. 🙂
I've been camping and towing for 35 years. I never realized twisting chains reduced their strength. Man, am I glad I rabbit-holed to this video! Something I would add, though, when you hook to any given trailer for the first time, check left and right turn signals individually. Do this especially on a used or rental trailer, but I've seen new ones on delivery where the left/right signals were reversed. Great, great, to-the-point video!
absolutely! This little trick will make sure all your bulbs are working, and i dont think its necessary to check your truck turn signal outputs all that often, but definitely worth doing occasionally. thanks for the comment, glad to have you here bud.
Interesting about hooking the brake cable to the frame. I drove semi’s for 40 years. I was told to NEVER put the safety chains upside down as the spring loaded flimsy retaining mechanism has fallen off many times. More likely than something knocking it off from the road! NEVER SADDLE A DEAD HORSE!!
Ive been towing this specific RV for 8 years and my retaining mechanisms have never come off my hooks. If yours have come off, and you believe them to not be hitting anything from the road, I would immediately question the quality of those chain hooks/retainer clips. They should also be replaced immediately, as you probably know a hook that was manufactured with a retaining clip will fail inspection without a retaining clip. The only time a retaining clip is not needed is if the hook was manufactured without one. Same with lifting chains, as outlined by OSHA, ASME & ANSI.
excellent video, only thing i do different is i use the loop on the pin to hold my cable for the brake lights and the cable for the emergency brake so it does not fall on the ground
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Thanks for this video, I thought I was doing it the right way but I now know that I have a couple of things to change on my hook up process. I can't believe I never thought to hook up the chains right away to the tow vehicle, that makes so much sense.
i hoooked up chains after connecting for years too. after 8 years im not ashamed to say im still learning too, and thats what this channel is all about, learning from experience and through others experience.
Thanks for the great video. I happen to be one of those individuals who twists one of my chains because it is longer than the other. It was good to see why I should shorten that chain. I also like the tip about clipping the breakaway cable to the vehicle frame rather than the hitch receiver. I'll have to see if my van has a good attachment point.
One point I disagree with is the length of the breakaway cable. That's an issue I questioned before and did some research on. The RVIA (Recreational Vehicle Industry Association) recommends that the trailer break away cable be slightly longer than the safety chains rather than shorter. The reasoning is that if the trailer becomes uncoupled and held by the chains, the driver will still have full control over the brakes rather than them being fully applied and potentially making an unsafe situation worse.
Keep making the great content.
Personally, I would just cut them to the right size... its really the proper way to do it.
I would disagree with the break cable being longer... if the tongues detaches and the chains catch the tongue, the driver may have no way of knowing about the disconnection. with knowing this, coming to a stop could put the trailer through the truck. trailer brakes are not like truck brakes, they wont stop the trailer like truck brakes stop a truck. I do appreciate the input and its definitely an option.
@@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS Trailer brakes supplied with full current from the breakaway switch vs a controller create 2 very different results. If you install the chains correctly as shown in your video you still have control of the trailer and should be able to steer and stop with much more control than fully applied locked up trailer brakes. As far as knowing if it's come detached I would hope the noise and changes in vehicle geometry would alert even the worst of drivers.
On the surface, it does make sense that you would still want the ability to slowly brake and come to a stop without the brakes locking up if it becomes unhitched and is sitting on the chains. The reality though is that it may take too long for you to realize it is unhitched and your first knowledge of it may be the trailer slamming into the back of your truck. And if you do realize it immediately, your first reaction will be to slam on the brakes anyway.
im in the same boat, I can see pros and cons both ways. I feel like because the law only states you only need to have a brake cable connected and not a specific length, it might be a matter of personal preference? Im going to dig into this one a little bit. heres the ulitmate question... how strong are the brakes at 60-65 mph if they are immediately fully engaged. I know trailer brakes are more meant to AID the trailer in stopping, and are not necessarily the same strength as truck brakes are on a truck, for example. Knowing this, I dont feel like fully applied trailer brakes at your highest speed is going to make keeping the truck in the lane that difficult... the brakes should definitely make you notice something is wrong, but i dont think its going to cause an accident... I could be wrong, i have never fully squeezed my brake controller on the highway. I think the answer to that question will help us make the decision if we want our cable longer or shorter than our chains.... more to come on this. Thanks everyone!
@@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS Excellent points! Something that really needs to be tested on a closed track with "disposable" trailer....lol
Such good tips! I usually hook up the chains last...no more! Thanks, Ross.
it never hurts to do it first... hopefully the chocks do their job and you never have a problem, but doesnt hurt to be safe.
I can't tell you how much I value your videos! We upgraded from a popup to a 27RK Travel Trailer last May and your details are great! You are one of the few creators whose "ads" for your sponsor, I don't skip!
Do you have a Maintenance Checklist? Like a "Yearly, Quarterly, Monthly, Daily" kind of thing? Like how often to treat your slide seals, or how often to sterilize your water system.
maintenance is tricky to put in one checklist... its long, but we do release a lot of maintenance videos on specific topics.
I painted the front of my trailer tongue safety yellow so as to better see it when backing to connect the hitch.
something i really need to get around to doing... ive been putting it off for 7 years now, and my new tow vehicle has a small screen. time to get to it.
An other good habit to have before hitting the road is activating trailer brakes with the brake controller knob while starting to roll forward. That way you know that your trailer brakes are working and that they don’t drag after a brake application 😊
good point, i will usually tug test my trailer brakes about 10 seconds after pulling out of my driveway by using the override button on the brake controller only.
Very good video and always helpful to have a refresher course every once in a while.
I will admit to accidentally towing a toy hauler round trip from Glamis to San Diego. At the time I had a motorcycle trailer, a small utility trailer and a car trailer. I had a few different tongue/ball setups and had a 2" on the truck and the toy hauler was 2 5/16". Thank god for that 1000 pounds of tongue weight!!!!
crossing the chains also keeps the loop fairly consistent in droop as you go around corners. whereas hooking straight would leave the loop getting more slack on an inside turn and coming tighter in an outside turn.
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Ross great points. Also the safety chains being installed from bottom up is also stronger from what I was told. The way the hooks pitch when safety chains are needed prevents them possibly snapping off tip of hook
as long as the throat of the hook is against the eyelet, you are good!
Thanks for a great guide to the process! I've always hitched before connecting the chains. That is an improvement I will take away!
I've never found a good place to connect the brake safety cable. This bugged me, so I bored out the license plate holes and put eye bolts in. The brake safety cable is secured to one of the two eye bolts with a carabiner.
My Tacoma had a metal behind the license plate, but the F-150 is all plastic. On the F-150 I used bumper washers to secure the eye bolts to reduce the unlikely risk of the eye bolts pulling through the plastic and ripping the license plate off instead of pulling out from the trailer side.
For most trailers I have used, with a non-weight distribution hitch, I run the brake cable trough one eye bolt then to the opposite side to keep the brake cable just long enough. Since my Blue Ox WD hitch is longer, I just run direct to the eye on the same side that the brake safety switch is mounted to the trailer.
First off never trust a Dodge to pull anything. Just kidding, this is a good video. As someone who is in the class 8 trucking business, hot shot and pulls a travel trailer, I’ll throw my 2 cents in. If you don’t cross safety chains, that’s a DOT violation, twisted safety chains is also DOT violation. The emergency brake cable can be hooked to the same place as the safety chain, but not to the safety chain. I agree that somewhere other than the hitch is probably best, but if your entire hitch/receiver comes off the truck you have huge problems anyway. Now, I’ve never been stopped by DOT while pulling my camper, so I’m sure a lot of violations, people are going to say “I’ve been pulling my camper for 20 years this way and never had a problem” go missed. However we have been stopped plenty of times in tractor trailer/hot shot and gone over with a fine tooth comb, so I’m pretty familiar with DOT standards. Just poured a good drink, can’t wait to read the comments on this post…. Enjoy 😊
DOT doesn't usually pull over RV's unless something is seriously wrong, they are commercial vehicle enforcement. The whole purpose of safety chains is to prevent your unhooked trailer from taking out traffic behind it, not to hold up your trailer, not designed for that. If you have an e-brake set up, put a small shackle in the tow holes (should fit with safety chain) and connect to that. Otherwise great video.
thanks for watching
I have a steep driveway that has a fairly harsh angle where I inter the street so I don't install my load leveling bars when hitching up at my house. A half mile down from the house is a very wide and level pull out where I can safely install them. This also where I remove them on my way home. With all of the frame failures happening on travel trailers, I don't want to take the chance of damaging my trailers' frame.
makes sense.
Depending on power cables, I have seen people use Velcro strap around the cable and cap (at the tow vehicle)as an extra safety, to keep the cable from disconnecting from the outlet.
I just use a piece of electrical tape.
good idea too!
I remember when a friend of mine neglected to ensure that he had inserted the reciever lock bar for his hitch when connecting his new trailer. He managed to leave the resort, pull out onto the hiway and make it almost a 1/2 mile before the hitch and trailer said 'bye bye'. Guess where the saftey brake cable was also connected? Fotunately, everything managed to gently roll/slide/coast to a stop in the lane and after some embarasment, was correctly attached and the rest of the trip was much less eventful.
im surprised it doesnt happen more often! thanks for sharing Andy!
AHA! 2:50, thanks for that. I always figured that clasp down is safer, since more hook is engaged with the reciever. If the trailer comes down, it will tug downwards.
I didn't think about the clasp being damaged and unhooked, that's a great lesson.
I always place my vehicle in neutral first, then apply the emergency brake, then place it in park. Fully agree 100% with the tips on your video. Great information.
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All good information. Thanks for sharing and confirming that my hookup process is perfect.
you bet!
Thanks for showing the chain test, something I didn't know and the test makes it very clear.
No problem!
Something I have ran in to ok checking lights on the trailer. There a vehicles that use a different circuit path or module between the hazard switch and the turn signal switch. The hazards will work but turn signals won't.
very true, but this is more about checking to make sure the actual bulb filaments (or led lights) on the trailer are good. Its perfectly fine to make sure your truck outputs are working, I just dont think its necessary every time. it would be weird if everyone checked their vehicle outputs every time before driving right? haha, imagine seeing a parking lot full of people walking around their car at Lowes lol.
As far as connecting the 7 way, do it while you are there, so it does not become a forgotten item. DC current does not care how many sources are tied together, the truck 7 way, your converter (shore power supplied) or your solar, its OK for all of them to power the buss at the same time. Just don't forget the 7 way and the light check, which I do last.
There is no problem with multiple charge sources to a 12volt battery other than not exceeding the charge profile of the battery. In fact you can have a solar panel array going to the battery(ies) plugged into shore with the converter on and have the 7pin and truck running.
Here is what you have to figure. If it’s a single lead acid battery you don’t want to exceed a total charge of 40amps continuous. Lead acid batteries are like slow cookers. You cant charge them too fast otherwise they can swell.
But if you have 2 or more then you probably don’t have enough charge sources to worry about. Im not big on converters because the preset logic as soon as you plug it in it will go into bulk charge for a longer time than necessary. Newer chargers that can do lithium or LA have logic that allows it to slow the charge quicker….but that’s another story.
Bottom line. Watch out on multiple charge sources to 1 battery, go balls to the wall if there is more than 1.
I look at it in different way no hook to shore power and vehicle at same time. First disconnect shore power then hook up to vehicle. Not as a charging problem but to prevent forgetting to disconnect shore power. I've seen a few dragging their shore power cords and a time or two the stinky slinky hose. Most of the time it was in changing RV pad sites and distracted.
Great video and great tips for those new to bumper pull RV's.
However I disagree with one of your points...
If after a failure of the hitch system, if the safety chains are keeping the trailer still connected to my tow vehicle as they are intended to do, I do not want the control of the trailer brakes taken away from me, the driver.
The emergency braking activation cable is only for an instance where you have totally lost control of the trailer (meaning it is 100% detached from the tow vehicle). The trailer power cable should also be long enough so as to not disconnect from the vehicle, and the emergency braking system should not activate if the chains are pulled to their full length with the trailer unhitched, but the chains remain attached to the tow vehicle. This allows ME to control what the trailer brakes are doing should this ever happen.
In simple terms, the emergency cable should only activate the emergency braking switch if the distance between the trailer and the tow vehicle becomes greater than what it could with the safety chains pulled to full length.
The way I keep the emergency cable and the trailer power cable from getting fowled in any part of the hitch is to clip them both inside the loop of the wire bale of the coupler lock pin. This will keep them from ever being pinched during sharp turns, etc.
Sorry Scott, I'm a little confused by your comment. If the hitch fails, as you say, or comes off the truck, the safety chains are NOT keeping your trailer connected to the truck because they are connected to the hitch as well. Do you understand? if the hitch comes off, so does the part where your chains are connected to the hitch, and having the brake activated could prevent the trailer from running though the back of your truck. I might be misunderstand your comment, please clarify if what I'm reading is not what youre saying. Thanks Scott.
@@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS The "Hitch" is the system of components that are from the receiver socket aft.
If anyone with any engineering sense was concerned about the vehicle "receiver hitch" coming detached from the vehicle, with the highly regulated society we live in, there would be laws requiring even the safety chains to be directly connected to the vehicle frame.
That is not the case, because it is not a problem.
The safety chains are for a failure of the hitching "system".
i understand what you're saying, and actually agree with not being worried about my hitch receiver coming off, but I'm still not sure what you're saying is the downside to connecting the cable to the frame. It will pull with any normal failure just as it would if connected to the eyelet, plus it will pull if the hitch becomes disconnected. I'm just confused, not arguing, on what you're saying.
@@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS You said there are two important things to follow, regardless of where you decided to connect the end of the cable (I see no problem with connecting it to the frame of the tow vehicle if that makes you feel better)....
For one of them you said the activation cable should be shorter than the chains so that the brakes go into emergency activation mode before the chains become tight.
This is what I think is wrong and bad advice.
As I said above, the emergency brakes should never activate unless the trailer has fully disconnected from the tow vehicle.
I believe this is why the cable is typically quite long which is what gives you enough length to connect it to the tow vehicle frame, when it is really only meant to reach to the safety chain connection point on the vehicles receiver hitch.
i get what you're saying now... personally, id rather the trailer brakes activate if it comes off the ball for this one reason: if the chains catch the tongue, you may not even know its been disconnected. you also still have the chance of the trailer running through the back of the truck if it becomes disconnected. thanks for your input and for watching Scott. Something definitely to note.
Great tips Ross! Have always connected safety chains from top but will be changing to come from the bottom 👌👍
the throat of the chain will rest against the eyelet should the chain be activated in either direction, but hooking from underneath is going to prevent the things i talk about in the video while driving. thank you for watching and glad it helped!
Im new to this, thanks for a great video. Just bought our first travel trailer
Excellent 💯👌👍
Thank you so much 😀
For the trailer chain length issue. For years I just go to tractor supply and get the trailer chain hooks with the clip so you can remove them from the chains, and if my chains are long I can just shorten them up and have the extra hanging from that same clip, even doubled up the extra so it doesn’t hang so low or swing around much. Way better than twisting chains and allows for the same trailer to be used on different trucks with different chain length requirements
agreed!
Very informative and useful to those who have RV. Great tips and sharing sir
Glad it was helpful!
Ross you are the man ! We love ya !
thank you, glad to have you here!
Regarding the power between the truck and the trailer. After having the cable pinched and damaged between the anti-sway bar and the hitch assembly (which took a day of repair and the replacement of a number of fuses both in the trailer and in the tow vehicle) I got into the habit of attaching a bungee chord from the propane cover and the mid-point of the power cable. This allowed flexible movement of the cable but ensured that it didn't drop down where it could be pinched by the anti-sway bars and the hitch assembly. When they saw what I was doing a number of trailering friends started doing the same thing with positive results. No more pinched power cables.
@@chriscutress1702
Good tip.
good tip for those with extra long power cables!
Great video, precise and to the point. Thanks
Glad it was helpful!
Great video. Thank you for your content.
THANK YOU for always watching and commenting Robert! 🍻
When connecting to tow vehicle I was always taught to put one safety chain clasp "over " passenger side and one "under " drivers side incase trailer breaks free from hitch jamming up under your bumper when breaking potentially breaking free from the clip lever..and especially if theres only one safety chain on a trailer to always put towards passenger side so in the event of a break free from hitch, trailer will pull towards passenger side instead of on coming traffic side avoiding a possible collision. Via the Commercial Drivers License handbook rules for CDL test..
Thanks for sharing Craig, however I dont know of any RV manufacturer outfitting the trailer with 1 chain. The regulations vary depending on the state, some states require at least one, many require 2 chains. And because these are moving from state to state, thats probably why they all come with 2 chains.
I completely remove my shore power cable and water lines BEFORE starting this entire process. You really don't want that kind of voltage or water pressure in the mix when you're shifting things around. If, for example, the trailer shifts and severs your shore power line, you now have a major electrical hazard.
that is definitely something you can do as well. thanks for sharing.
I use a coiled e brake cable it doesn't fall down and it will not bind. I hook it to an eye bolt on the bumper of the tow vehicle.
Thanks for your information on this subject. First class all the way..
thanks Vernon, going to actually release a follow up since this video got so many view and questions... I think I might go the route of the coiled cable to a license plate eyebolt too... going to the frame under the truck works fine, but if i dont have to crawl underneath it would be easier and accomplishing the same thing.
Right on Ross as always great information 👍
thanks brother, hows the new property?
@@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS oh it’s awesome I already have winterized it and put it away for the winter ❄️ because we just have to many projects going on the property but ya after living in the city it’s piece and quiet and enjoying the sunrise and sunset thanks for asking Ross I will send you some pictures
100% and yes hook that E brake to the frame.
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Ross, another awesome video. I just installed air lifters on my Chevy Colorado for leveling our Forest River Wolf Pup because the back of the truck seemed like it was dropping too much on hook-up. The air bags work perfectly, BUT I would love to see a video on the right way to set them; i.e., do I want to maintain the level of the truck when nothing is connected? Do I want it to drop a little? On our last trip up I-94 in Michigan, they have this godawful concrete pavement that is "sculpted" so each section dips in the middle and rises toward the expansion joints. We both felt like our heads would snap off from the bouncing.
Ive never used bags so I really dont know much about them. are your leaf springs in good shape? its normal for a truck to drop a little with a load, even my 1 ton ram drops a little when i connect our small trailer.
Crossing safety chains allows for tighter turns as well😅
Personal preference only but I'd be getting rid of the hooks on the safety chains.
I've always used either D or bow shackles on my safety chains.
Sometimes the hitch lock can bind because of rust on the ball and/or the plate that slides under the ball, don't grind material off either obviously, but smoothing out the rough rusty stuff can make a difference in how easily your hitch lock binds.
I've also heard (but am unsure) that if the angle of the hitch is too extreme (like if the trailers flat but the trucks on a hill) that the lock wont slide under the ball easily.
Unfortunately those locks are far easier to disengage than to engage.
A little rust free and a scuff pad will clean the rust right off the ball: amzn.to/4cxtFJl
As far as pigtail hookup, I do not recommend hooking both shoreline and camper pigtail up at the same time! Actually this did happen to me. The trucks tow module fuse busted and that ain't cheap!!!
I dont recommend it either.
What if your chains are too short to cross without rubbing on the bottom of the trailer hitch? We just got the hitch at the dealer and everything you say don’t do, they did🤦🏻♀️. Would you have them shorten the emergency break line or just do it yourself? Every time I questioned something I was told I was wrong. The break line is twisted in the chain, they did not cross the chains as “they would rub the bottom of the hitch” and finally he hooked the break line to the hook of the chain. I just walked away.
Now do you back up with the sway bars in tact or off? This was a “hitch expert”
Thank you
We also have the exact same hitch as you.
My dealership told me the same thing. Everything is the opposite of this video.
if they are too short to cross, you just dont cross them. personally I would have new chains welded to the tongue that I could cross, but theres an expense to that. you can shorten the brake cable yourself, but I have a new video coming that talks about that so hang tight. if the brake cable is run through the chain, it has a chance to break. this is a definite no-no.
@@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS thank you. I have informed the dealership and they are going to retrain their employees. They assured me this will be fixed. They also said they will fix our chains😊. We did not take possession due to them needing to fix things found at inspection.
I always ensure my truck is turned off before connecting my trailer cable. For some reason if the truck is on when I connect, it does not transmit lights or brake signal to the trailer. I have to turn the truck off, pull the plug, put it back in and restart the truck. 2014 Sierra, 2016 GD Imagine.
one thing I noticed you did not mention about the hook. yes the "direction of travel on the back" but you are putting the load on the "throat" of the hook or the strongest part of the hook. the other way you had it "the wrong way" is called tip loading and derates the hook and the weakest part of the hook.
this I found out is only really thought in rigging courses, as a heavy equipment operator, I had to do a basic rigging course and this was one of the main points drilled into our heads, at the college I went to here in canada.
glad to see your paying attention, I thought about mentioning this as another reason to connect from underneath while filiming the video, but decided to take it out. once the chains are activated, they are going to pull straight back on the hooks, and since the angle of the chain wont change reagardless of how the hook is connected, the throat of the hook will pull against the eyelet in both scenarios. thanks for the info and for watching!
One thing I like to do once I lower hitch onto ball and close latch I try jacking up trailer to assure it is intact locked to ball. Back of tow vehicle raises up then I’m locked.
That is done in this video.
When driving tractor trailer pulling doubles you always hook the chains from the top and not from the bottom
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I think the reason people are still twisting their safety chains is because manuals straight from the manufacturer actually still recommend it! In my Coachmen Apex Nano Owner’s Guide it says “If the chains are too long, simply twist them until the desired link is obtained.”
😳 definitely not correct... the amount of misinformation out there is disturbing.
Good information
Thanks Tim, good to hear from you again my friend.
If the chains are mounted at the same point, then crossing them will likely have zero benefit; there is nothing stopping the chain deciding on it's own where it will cross, most likely right at it's mount point.
i wont disagree you dont get much of an X if they connect at the same point, but as mentioned in the video, its giving you a chance and its better than not doing it. there's no benefit to not doing it.
@@f2cmadmaxx if you really want a cradle, why not add a cross chain with some locking links so there really is a support chain at a good point. Wow this might be an idea for a new product....
@@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS in some places like Ontario it the law that they must be crossed
Really great and very detailed video! Do you have any videos on adding an amplifier to a Toyhauler? I am very interested in doing this but need some guidance as the 12V wire run to power an amp would be pretty long. Would be really interested on your ideas and advice on ways to do this. Thanks for the great video!
I would add one thing, now this could just be my jurisdiction, BUT I had a commercial enforcement officer tell me that you should slide the locking pin for the toung across from drivers side towards passenger side.
The reason behind this being that IF the lock on the pin fails open, the way the road is sloped towards the ditch for rain drainage it wall pull with gravity so its resting on the head of the pin not just sliding backwards and out of the hole
very interesting idea.... i would go with it! its a very slight possibility, but even if theres a .001% chance and theres no downside to doing it, then do it! Thanks for sharing. Another thing is some people choose to use a padlock instead... I can see both good and bad with that as well. more to come.
100% agreed, slightly safer for even a slight change in what you already have to do is always worth it!
But yeah I went to a lock as well, then its an extra step of protection when parked too!
Make sure your power cord has enough slack for sharp turns. I used to wrap the cord around the tongue so it wouldn't drag on the ground but wrapping it too tight will cause it to be pulled from the plug on sharp turns losing the trailers lights. Been there. Done that.
Luckily in 8 years with many sharp turns it seems mine is just the right length from the factory. Thanks for sharing Kenny, hope you got it all worked out.
Why is the hitch and ball extended by a foot or more? Does that type of hitch carry more weight? Sorry, looking to buy my first travel trailer and trying to learn. Great video! First time watching your channel.
what do you mean extended? back, or down?
@@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS Extended back.
thats just how everything is built. There's no adjustments on the shaft, thats just how far back this hitch is designed.
another tip: be in the habit of completely hooking up or uhooking the trailer. if you just drop it on the hitch and leave the rest disconnected to move it around your yard, you may just drop it on the hitch and try to pull it down the road some day.
great point Ken, the process should always be completed once its started.
I was told by what I would consider a very reliable source to have your vehicle in neutral, for much of the hook up process. Said you're pulling horribly on the vehicles transmission when in Park with the E brake on. That there's incredible torque on your transmission in the hook up process. That being in neutral takes that issue away. Complete newbie. I've only had 5 trips so 10 hookups total. Let me know if I'm missing something. The way I've been looking at it, is I'm hooking it up floating so to speak. Compared to locked in with high toque, possibly pulling on my transmission. Love to hear your/peoples opinion on this
The parking pawl locks your transmission. There’s more torque on your transmission when you are pulling the trailer up a hill. PLEASE, for the love of God, please don’t hook up in neutral. You’re going to KILL someone when your truck and trailer rolls away.
@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS first off captain obvious. Yes of course there is more torque on your tranny when pulling uphill. Secondly it's in neutral once the hitch is locked down. Let's not be a drama queen alright
You asked for answers, I gave you one, and you’re calling me “captain obvious.” That’s a clear sign your “question” is a joke. Because I don’t want people who are here to learn to get hurt or killed, I’m going to delete your comment. If you ask for answers, get them, and then decide to respond with an ignorant comment, there is no need for you comment in the first place. I hope you find what you’re looking for.
@@grantdevries8648 you’re source is an idiot nothing is pulling or pushing on your trans when the RV is chocked. omg I can’t stop laughing torque on your truck transmission better get your advice elsewhere bro
Ummmm, how do I say this nicely? Your reliable source is messing with you.
Crossing the tow chains is not only a good idea, in some states it’s a legal requirement. I know it is here in Montana, and I believe also in Wyoming and Minnesota at least.
thanks Tony, something I might look into further to release in future videos, but wherever you are, theres no reason not to cross them. 🍻
I'm confused, I thought it was a pretty good idea to remove the power cable before plugging the rv into the truck (never thought of that), but when you were testing the running lights of your rv, your power cable was hooked up to your rv? So, should someone remove the power cable or not?
It was not connected at the outlet.
What is the best tow hitch to get? We are having a Apex Ultra-Lite 243FKS built for us and we have a F250 XL Crew Cab gas built for us and it only has 91 miles on it with a 8 foot bed! The Truck is only going to be used to pull the RV! The RV is 29.5 feet long and has a hitch weight of 810lbs. As You can tell, we are new at this and our fist long trip will be to pick up the travel trailer when it gets to the dealership and it passes the inspection that we are going to have done on it with an outside inspector! Sorry for the long rant. Thanks
wandering weekends has a ton of hitch review videos. check them out @WanderingWeekends
@@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS I used his videos to make the decision on our hitch
😂😂😂 Every European will laugh and be shocked at the same time.
What are you guys doing with all those chains, and why is the connection/kupler from the stone age?
Wow, just wow… So many wows😁
Hydraulic lifter?😳 You guys can’t be serious. Do you really apply such a heavy load on the towing car? Or are you just lazy?
It’s funny to watch the difference between Europe and the USA. Cheers everyone ❤
it seems like you are a little vague on the actual physics so let me help you on a few things... the chains are to prevent the trailer from injuring others by veering off into another lane should it be disconnected. they are required by law. second, there is no hydraulic "lifter." Its electric, not hydraulic, 12 volts actually, and there is a manual crank should the electric fail. third, such a heavy load? I'm guessing you dont understand tongue weight on a trailer so let me help you...tongue weight on a trailer similar to this size will range from a 400lb to a 800 lb tongue weight. thats it. all the weight is on the axles. the trucks payload capacity on a small half ton made in the last 15 years is 1500lbs... so the truck is MORE THAN CAPABLE of handling 800lbs. The truck in the video has a payload capacity of 4100lbs, even with a 1000lb tongue weight, there is plenty of room left and the truck is being used well within its specs. Do you need any clarification on anything else?
I've always wondered if I should be connecting the 7 pin when the vehicle is off or is it ok that the vehicle is running. I try to make a habit of shutting the truck off before connecting.
same principle of turning off breakers before unhooking shore power I guess... probably wont matter because the voltage is so low, but I would guess turning off the truck first would be "technically" correct.
You've been my sherpa to campers, and continue with great videos!
I have to ask, what is that you're using to crank down on the WD chains? I have a Blue Ox swaypro and hate the standard lever they give you with it.
i use this breaker bar and a 1" socket:
- amzn.to/4fJrsgI
- amzn.to/4dGnQKp
The brake cable length should be slightly shorter than the safety chains. If the safety chains go taunt the brake cable will activate.
there's some debate on this too that I didnt get into in this video. I agree with that line of thinking, I want the brakes to activate should the tongue disconnect, but there are also folks who would rather have control of the trailer brakes should the trailer become disconnected... meaning they leave the brake cable longer than the chains so it will ONLY activate if the chains fail. I might have to circle back to this one specific topic in a future video.
Nice video. I have a 2018 ram 1500 2x4 towing a 8x16 enclosed trailer. My son in law gave me an Anderson anti sway set up. I haven't installed it yet. Any suggestions for it. Thanks
if you are able, they are fairly easy to install, there should be an install video on TH-cam for your specific hitch. If not, and any trailer or rv shop can install it on the frame.
Thanks
I noticed at 1:11 that your chains are connected at the same point on the tongue. Mine is the same way and because of that, never saw a benefit of crossing the chains. But I also noticed at 2:00... is that a hitch pin to try and create a cradle point in the chains that otherwise wouldn't be there because of where the chains are connected on the tongue?
the hitch pin is actually just on the chains because thats where I keep it when its not on the coupler, BUT you might be on to something!
I bet that camper pulls way better with that Cummins!
NIGHT AND DAY from my old truck my friend!
I have heard it is required to cross the chains in some states.
ive heard that too, but looking up and confirming state laws is an arduous task lol.
As a newer tt owner, it looks like I'm doing most things properly.
good to hear!
I am having a hard time finding info on porpoising and what I need to do to ensure I'm towing properly. I have a new 2024 GMC 2500 HD Denali Ultimate. My understanding is that it's equivalent to a one ton since it has the towing package. I haul a Venture Touring with a hitch weight of 1250 lbs. with a total of 9000 lbs. My weight distribution hitch is rated for 1400/14000. I had some porpoising on my last trip. Help someone??
this channel has a lot about towing: www.youtube.com/@L2SFBC
@@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS Thank you!
Do NOT lift the truck with the trailer jack. The jack is not designed for it nor is the hitch and is not recommended by manufacturers.
Not only is twisting the chains weakening then but it's also illegal.
The breakaway cable has to be connected to a separate point not the same point as the safety chains. To hitch or frame depends on state or province.
Light cable can be run through clip on coupler latch to keep it off the ground. Also do not use 4 way to check lights, check signals and brake lights separately to avoid false outputs
The frame manufacturers and hitch manufactuers DO actually recommend to lift the tongue after connection. Heres a video direct from Blue Ox proving this. th-cam.com/video/yVpumWOapZY/w-d-xo.html Happy to provide more links to other manufacturers who do as well. The tongue takes more of a beating while driving 65 mph than it does by lifting it 2 inches while its stationary.
I would advise against running ANYTHING through your coupler lock. If the power cable gets snagged on something, theres a chance its ripping off your coupler lock. It can also tear and short on the frame. Dont do this!!! If your power cord is too long, there are accessories you can get to shorten it where its not interfering with other components.
I mean you’re not wrong about the twisting chains. But you are using 5/16-3/8 chains with around 4K-8k lbs working limit times 2. Really on your set up the weak point is where both are hooked to a single welded bar, that will break at less that 4K (I’m guessing).
Again you are not wrong, but in reality twisting should not be a problem, but if you are the only one that tows the trailer, making them the right length makes sense.
The bar welded on the tongue is certified and rated equal or higher than the chains that would be used on any rv with that uses that specific frame, so it’s actually going to be the last thing to break. Tig welds can often produce a stronger connection than the metal itself. A twisted chain rated at 8K will break at 2K according to this test, which is easily going to be the weakest point on the entire connection. Where there may be a weak point not mentioned in this video is on old rusty hitch eyelets.
@@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS structural tig? Not normally a thing. When doing welding strength testing in tension, MiG, flux core, and dual shield produces a stronger overall strength. Its not the weld that breaks it’s the heat effected zone around it.
Also, the chain strength that I stated, are working load, not max breaking strength. The chain that was in the video was of 1/4 chain (or it looked like it) and its safe working load is around 1.5k to 3k depending on grade, and it made it to 2k tested and 6k not.
Again, not twisting is better. I was just saying
I understand, but the chain weld is much stronger than the a twisted chain, I’m just responding to your original comment that it will break at 1000 lbs. it won’t. Also, mig is not stronger than tig: www.twi-global.com/technical-knowledge/faqs/mig-vs-tig-welding#:~:text=TIG%20welded%20joins%20are%20typically,that%20can%20weaken%20the%20weld.
I do the ebrake to the bumper not the hitch.
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Question….. my truck has a wdh with the solid sway bars on the side, when I bought my new travel trailer the dealer was setting everything up and called to my attention, since my truck has a 6in lift on it they had to raise almost the entire rearend off the ground to even get the bars on or off. Does this sound right to you or may they might have setup my wdh wrong?
im trying to visualize this in my head, and im thinking something is wrong with their installation. the bars in relation to the hitch have nothing to do with the height of the truck... meaning the hitch receiver should have a drop shank installed, and where the ball and bars are are always at the same height. the truck can be 20 feet in the air, but with a drop shank, everything should still be connecting at the height of the tongue when the trailer is level. make sense?
@@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS yes it does. I do have the drop shank but I really think they installed it incorrectly in my opinion.
when your trailer is connected to the truck, it should be level... the hitch receiver may be 20 feet in the air, but the hitch ball and sway bar connections points should be down with the trailer tongue. hope that helps. email me a side pic if you can of it connected on a level road: management@rvtipsandtravels.com
@@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS awesome. Will do tomorrow when I can. From my point of view the truck does look level when it’s hooked up but I will definitely get you some pics. Thanks for the reply!!
Hi danielblack. I have a similar solid bar wdh (e2 hitch). Your dealer should have adjusted BOTH the height of the "landing points" on your A-frame, AND the height of the BALL on your hitch, so that the top of the BALL is about one inch above the bottom of the ball receiver on the A frame. The landing arms on the A frame should be about 26 inches back from the ball receiver, and these can easily be height adjusted to correct the bars' load bearing capacity. You can usually adjust these up or down with a torque wrench (about 70-75 ft-lb, typically). If the BALL HEIGHT on your truck is set correctly to the BALL RECEIVER on your trailer WHEN THE TRAILER IS LEVEL TO THE GROUND (not "bubble level," but GROUND level), you're set up correctly. When you raise the hitched combo of your truck and tongue jack to install the wdh bars, it can take almost full height of the tongue jack to get the bars engaged on the landings correctly (then pinned in). This can raise the back end of your truck a lot, whether lifted or not. My truck has a 2" lift, and the combo raises it about 5-6 inches to get the bars on. It doesn't quite get the back tires off the ground, but it seems close to doing so! That wdh hitch works beautifully. I had to readjust all of the dealership's (CW) installation and redo the wdh myself following the hitch manufacturers instructions (and had them on the phone to be sure I did it correctly). The only new tool I had to buy was a 250 ft-lb torque wrench for the main hitch bolts. Sounds like what you described is actually how it should be. Good luck.
keep bars installed, no need to disassemble
im not following you here? can you explain?
Crossing the chains is pointless / impossible if they both come from a single point on the trailer.
You can still manually cross the chains under the tongue. The trailer chains in this video connect at the same point.
Its DOT requirement to cross the chains.
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... trailer tires are "chalked"...?????
It’s “chocked.” Do you have a question?
Can’t thank you enough. Camping world told me to twist my chains. I’m so disgusted with them.
glad it helped.
If you are going to call it for safety, don't mislead. The parking brake is not an "E" brake.
The emergency brake and parking brake are interchangelable terms, it is ONE mechanism to assist the parking pawl on the transmission. Not really sure how that is misleading. You have a great day!
For reference: www.google.com/search?q=EBRAKE+VS+PARKING+BRAKE&rlz=1C1VDKB_enUS936US936&oq=EBRAKE+VS+PARKING+BRAKE&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIJCAEQABgKGIAEMggIAhAAGBYYHjINCAMQABiGAxiABBiKBTINCAQQABiGAxiABBiKBTINCAUQABiGAxiABBiKBTINCAYQABiGAxiABBiKBTINCAcQABiGAxiABBiKBTIKCAgQABiABBiiBDIKCAkQABiABBiiBNIBCDM0NzlqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS The e brake is generally referred to as the emergency brake, but there is no such thing because it is not for emergency purposes. On most vehicles, it is labeled a parking brake. But just because people call it an e brake does not make it an emergency brake. Neither way do they engage the parking prawl in the transmission. They only have a cable that runs to the rear brakes. Putting the vehicle in park is what engages a prawl in the transmission, and that is not an emergency brake. Proper instructions from manufacturers always state to use the parking brake and never refer to it as an e brake. Also, when you jack up the vehicle and it is only in park, and the parking brake is not engaged the Rear wheels will spin in opposite directions, thus the purpose for a parking brake.
They are different.
so you're saying it one sentence there is no such thing as an emergency brake, then you say it is different from the parking brake? Im not going to argue with you. People use the terms interchangebly, regardless of what you call it or dont want to call it. its just a term. I would understand if there was a secondary back up brake that could be confused with the "parking brake", but there isnt. In fact, you knew what I was referring to since the footage shows the brake activation. Call it whatever you like, calling it an Ebrake is not going to confuse or mislead anyone. And the "parking brake" can be used as an emergency brake: cable driven parking brakes can be applied if you lose hydralic fluid, thus making it a perfect resource in an emergency.
@@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS I'm not trying to argue either, but e brake is as you say confused with parking brake. I'm not discussing the electric brake on the trailer here, you are spot on there. The parking brake is the farthest left pedal in the driving vehicle, way off against the wall in front of the driver. Some vehicles have it in the center console area. Otherwise I agree with all other aspects of your video. I've been driving truck & trailers for 35 years. My first time was a crash course in the rugged mountains in Montana, when my Mom met an oncoming vehicle and needed to get backed out of the way. I had to do it because she didn't know how. I was just I've been driving professionally for 25. This is just for clarification.
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Never trust anybody who tells you to insert safety chains from the bottom.
please explain your reasoning why exposing the hook clasps to road hazards and the potential to be knocked off is a better idea.
nothing?
Great video brother .
Much appreciated
Chains first, brilliant. Sometimes common sense isn’t common.
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I would add last thing to disconnect.
A personal experience, RV pad had a slight pitch and very smooth concrete with some dust on it. Wheel chocks started sliding jack came off block rolling a few feet enough for jack to be bent. Had to cut off and replace jack.
One important reason for not having your chains too long is that they can spark on the pavement when hitting a bouncy spot in the road, potentially igniting a fire. That's not something you want anywhere, but especially in places like British Columbia or California where major wildfires are a yearly occurrence.
Also, I'm going to start attaching my chains with the clasps upsidedown and my brake cable to the truck frame, neither of which occurred to me before seeing this video
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I'm reminded of the time I hooked up the camper and had gotten about a block when it suddenly came to me that I'd neglected to close the hitch. It was on our checklist but the wife and myself had missed it due to a completely unanticipated sequence of innocuous events. So now it's on the checklist twice.
Another informative, no-nonsense video. Thank you!
@@floydffrogfloydffrog7453 not sure what those innocuous events are but I suspect your surrounding neighbors distracted you with their useless conversation. People just dont get it. When I am unloading or loading my car in the trailer or hooking up the trailer I dont want help nor do I want to engage in any conversation. That is how stuff gets missed. Again, people dont get it. At the race track that behavior is particularly bad.
excellent point Floyd... same goes with changing oil on the truck, checking fluids (so you dont leave a cap off), etc...
Out-freaking-standing! I saw a camping world video where they hooked the brake cable to the chain hook!😮😮😮
yeah that will never pull the brake 😐
Oh my! I just bought a travel trailer in June from the dealership. We have went on 6 trips so far. Anywhere from 2hrs to 4hrs away from home.
We are 1st time owners, so I wanted the dealership to do a walkthrough with us.
I had *a lot* of questions. Of course, I will search TH-cam for answers also, but I never take just one person's word for it to be *_fact_*
I will do a lot of research.
Our dealership showed us how to hitch up and told us to *twist the chains*
Ughhh! So, I am going to have to cut a couple of links out. He also told us to clip the chain downward on the hitch. *_WRONG_*
Makes me nervous now. Thank you so much for all your videos. I have learned a lot from you!
if you have hoods that you can easily disconnect from the chains (like mine in the video), just move the hook to the appropriate link and you can let the additional links either hang or zip tie them to another link. That way you dont have to cut the links.
Great video and spot on advice. I’m a recently retired MTO officer in Ontario, Canada. DOT for my American friends. I’m also an avid RVer. It’s all about getting to where we are going safely.
thank you!
Used to twist my chains if they were to long but won't any more. Thanks for good video
Those look like weight distribution bars not sway bars.