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[Kristian Johnsen]

andrew gissing wrote on Thu, 30 December 2010 14:57

Thanks for the clarification. One of those cultural things. Like Adam wrote, also in my part of the world chains are standard fare on everything; I think I also remember seeing them on a dump truck trailer (which also dumped!). 10 tonne of sand + trailer and large chains. Down here we've also got reece hitches which can fully rotate 360 degrees. Used frequently on off-road vehicles and trtailers. I think once you're near 90 degrees though you probably have other things to worry about than if the hitch is still attached ! However, i've not yet seen the safety wire that you've mentioned. Good idea. Andrew

Andrew.

That's one of the things I so much enjoy about the PSW, the sharing of experiences across all the continents.

I used to be an offroading nut and drooelled over some really sweet hardware on my two trips down under.  I have also had the pleasure of visiting your very cool city and quite enjoyed both it and the areas north of it.

[Kristian Johnsen]

Gene.

Yes, indeed, I had fantastic luck.  I hope karma, I generally try to be a nice guy

Thank you for sharing!  Camping can be interesting here, haha.  never heard of the toothbrush trick, though!

[Bruce Gering]

This just happened to me last week. I live in a snowy climate during winter, and driving home after a Christmas party gig about 1 AM during a freezing drizzle, I got onto the freeway and drove slow-about 45mph or so. After only about 1 min or so, I had an eerie feeling that all was not well, like I was not in control. Just then, I started going into a fishtail spin. My reaction to this probably saved me. I took my feet off the pedals and let the wheel glide through my hands instead of trying to correct the spin.

The truck righted itself and I felt safe again, only to look in my side view mirror to see the trailer itself still fishtailing wildly. By that time, I was going rather slow(15mph) and finally the trailer stopped moving.

As I got further up the highway, I saw several squad cars with lights-a-flashing in the opposite direction of traffic, as several cars had spun out and were in the ditch. Then just ahead of that, the same thing on my side of the freeway. I think I drove home on the freeway at about 35mph tops the rest of the way. I threw out my underwear when I got home because I think I $hit several bricks.

[Kristian Johnsen]

The trailer is branded Br

[Marlow Wilson]

Here is the Bockmann trailer with a Knott system.  It uses surge brakes and the coupler rotates (though I'm not sure you'd ever need that feature).  



Other angle with the parking brake engaged.



This shows the safety cable (in addition to the chains) which pull and engages the hand brake if the primary and secondary systems fail.



Another nice element is the integral lock just below the 'push' button.

[Marlow Wilson]

Kristian, upon further inspection it actually looks like your's may be a variation of a similar system by another manufacturer. (*EDIT* I just reread that your's is made by Thule... woops)  I guess you could consider adding chains!

Below is the standard Knott system, which is very similar to yours.

[Jonathan Kok]

I gotta say...this is one of the more interesting off-topic threads I've read here.

I'm truly surprised that safety chains aren't required; they're mandatory in North America.  We cross them under the tongue, so that if the hitch fails, the basket created by the chains will catch the tongue, preventing it from dragging on the ground:


The hitch assembly here is only slightly different than yours, but the same concept.  A ball with a receiver.  Our locking levers have a hole through them that allows for a pin-lock, though.  With one of these installed, there is NO chance someone could disconnect your trailer, short of cutting the pin lock, as the lever cannot move:

There's also a pin-lock for the receiver as well, as the 'ball' part of our receivers are all removable.  Plus a ball lock for when the trailer is stored.  The biggest advantage of this has to do with the different classes of trailer tongues available, with different size balls.  Switching balls is easy this way.  Plus, different trailers have different tongue heights, so you can mix and match your drop-down and lift-up hitches accordingly.

Regarding the brakes, we have both the inertia ones you mentioned, as well as electronically controlled brakes.  The requirement for brakes varies greatly by state/province.  California, for example, requires brakes on anything over 1500lbs gross, while here in Ontario, it's 3000lbs.
The inertia ones are nice, as the trailer then only requires a 4-pin electrical connection, but there's no way to control the bias on them, which needs to be adjusted to account for the variable weight of the trailer.
The electronic brakes require a 6- or 7-pin connector, which may require re-wiring your truck; however they are controlled via a bias control box located in the cab, usually under the dash within reach of the driver:

There's a bias control knob on them, and often a brake-control lever.  The brakes on the trailer are triggered when you press the brakes on the towing vehicle, and the bias control allows you to adjust just how hard the brakes hit.  You can also use the lever to brake the trailer alone, should you run into the situation Bruce ran into.

The one thing I do like about your inertia brakes is the integral hand-brake.  Never seen that here.  I can see how it would be handy to pull the brake when the trailer is parked.  I'm curious...is there a locking mechanism that keeps the brakes engaged?  With our ball locks here, the trailer can still be stolen by simply using the (permanently mounted) safety chains.  If your brake lever can be locked in the 'on' position, I can see how this would make stealing a trailer a whole lot more difficult.  Though ultimately...nothing a sawz-all can't solve.

[Mike Christy]

Kristian, you're luck made me replace my original worn safety chains today, bought some heavy duty wench hooks/clasps too that replaced open S hooks. Im just glad it was in the mid 30s, and not the usual temps and wind.

Mike

[Adam Kane]

Kristian Johnsen wrote on Thu, 30 December 2010 12:06

Adam Kane wrote on Thu, 30 December 2010 14:46 Kristian Johnsen wrote on Thu, 30 December 2010 07:07 andrew gissing wrote on Thu, 30 December 2010 12:24 I'm curious about safety chains - were they not in use or, did the culprit undo those as well ? Andrew Read my post:  Once the trailer left the van the safety wire pulled taught and engaged the handbrake.  Here, No trailers have breakaway chains in the true sense of the word, unless they don't have any brakes at all (and those trailers are always under 750 Kg - mine is 2800 fully loaded). Wow...over here I don't think you're allowed to hook much of anything up without the safety chains. I've seen numerous times the hitch coupler come loose/break and the trailer stays attached with the chains until the driver slows down to correct the situation. Usually, the rear of the vehicle is banged up pretty good by the tongue of the trailer, but it stays attached. We used to have a 24-ft tandem axle cargo trailer with electric brakes. It had a break-away safety brake cable that would lock the tires up if the hitch came undone and the safety chains somehow failed. I try to make it a practice to double check the hitch area every time I hop back in the vehicle, even if I have only been parked for a few minutes. Regarding checking the coupling, etc.  We are only human, after all.  Even if you technically are supposed to, do you check the brake fluid level, hazard light bulbs and tire pressure every time you use your car?

I probably could have re-worded that a little. I didn't mean to imply that I was perfect and that I check them every time. I meant that it's a good idea and that I try to do it as often as as I can. A freaky experience a few years ago helped me to keep it towards the forefront of my mind more than before.

[Jamin Lynch]

That's why I ALWAYS make a walk around before I drive off. Even when I'm not pulling a trailer. Check the tires, make sure the doors are closed good, make sure nothing is going to shift, check the hitch, check the lights, and so on. Even if somebody messed with it, I will catch any problems BEFORE I leave.