Gooseneck: Where to mount Break-a-way Switch?

I have a goose neck trailer that did not have a break-a-way battery or lanyard switch. My question is where to mount the cable on the break-a-way switch. The instruction do not say where to mount but they tell you not where to mount. They way not to mount to the truck ball or the safety chain truck connection points. This makes sense, but where do I mount the break-a-way switch cable/lanyard?

Thanks,

CT

Mine is mounted on the outside of the first section of beam angling up away from the hitch post.

It needs to be up close to the pin so that a sharp turn in one direction or the other won't pull the plug.

On the anchor end, I have factory cleats in my bed and I loop the loose end through the center and over both horns of one of the cleats, in my case in the right front corner.

Some folks will install a cleat under the front lip of the bed just for your application.

Mine is on the side of the diagonal piece just up and back from the post.

(quoted from post at 21:11:45 02/16/11) I have a goose neck trailer that did not have a break-a-way battery or lanyard switch. My question is where to mount the cable on the break-a-way switch. The instruction do not say where to mount but they tell you not where to mount. They way not to mount to the truck ball or the safety chain truck connection points. This makes sense, but where do I mount the break-a-way switch cable/lanyard?

Thanks,

CT

Click to expand...

My trailer came from the factory with the break-away cable fastened directly to one of the safety chains. I asked a DOT officer if that was correct, and he told me it was not, but another officer told me if it came from the factory that way, it was good enough. Darned if I know, but I'm not going to change it.

From what I understand, the break-a-way cable can be mounted to the same attachment point as the safety chain, it just can't be attached to the safety chain.

I appreciate the replies. I did not realize how poor my grammar was in my original post, it was late.

Like I said, the instructions did not suggest where to mount, but did say NOT to attach the lanyard to the ball or the truck side safety chain points. I like the idea of mounting a cleat to the truck bed. I assume one would set the distance to pull the break-a-way before the chains pull tight. On the other hand, mounting to the truck side safety chain point would only engage the break-a-way IF the trailer completely separated from the truck. I would think this is desirable because the instructions state if the break-a-way is activated while the trailer is still plugged into the truck it will destroy your brake controller.

In my warped mind, if the chains still have the trailer attached to the truck, I'd rather be able to control the brakes manually, rather than them going full lock with me trying to control the truck only... with a fried controller.

Thoughts?

CT

You're thinkin' hard on a good question.

In my one and only DOT stop (recounted elsewhere too many times) one of my issues with the inspector was on the breakaway test. I was fine with the test, but he objected to me pullin' the pigtail before I went to the cab to move the truck after he'd pulled the breakaway pin. Tried to explain to him just what you're talkin' about. Might have been easier to explain to him if the truck had a slushbox where you have to apply the brake to get the truck in gear, instead of the handshaker that it does have, but I didn't (and don't when I check it myself) want to take any chance that I'd instinctively or absent-mindedly touch the brake pedal either goin' into gear or stoppin' the truck while the breakaway battery was doin' its thing. Could NOT get it through his head if that brake pedal were touched with the breakaway system hot that I'd pass his test put wouldn't have any trailer brakes when I left and would defeat the whole "purpose" of his inspection. Which is probably a good part of what made him so ugly and the rest of the experience even more of an ordeal.

That said . . . and enuff about it . . .

One school of thought would be that if you have a breakaway event, gettin' things stopped under something like control, you're gonna tear things up as the hitch post is gonna be rammin' around quite a bit (with any luck) at the extent of the chains still holding it. The cost of another controller would pale against the potential cost of the bodywork.

On the flipside, if it was not a matter of hitch failure but, say, a boneheaded moment forgetting to latch the hitch that caused the trailer to pop loose, you would still have the body damage, but a long lanyard would save your controller so that you'd be able to get home, torn up sheetmetal and all.

Still, I can appreciate that it would be desirable to be able to keep the trailer at least steerable, even pulling it with the chains after the hitch fails and the ability to regulate the brakes would be key to that. Only trick there is making it all happen. That's a lot going on all at once in a VERY short time. Manually controlling the brakes without the breakaway and trying to balance manual applications of the trailer brakes while regulating the much more powerful and effective brakes on the truck . ? . ? . That's a handful, especially if you consider the variability in your trailer load -- unladen, the trailer brakes at full voltage should lock it up; fully loaded, they'll merely provide a respectable assist to the truck in getting a properly hitched trailer stopped. I don't know how a fella could ever get enough experience under his belt to be able to dive right into that fast-breakin' situation and be able to pull it off.

So, for all my mixed feelin's, my own plan for such an event is that I prefer to have the pin pulled before I hit the end of my chains. Thinkin' there is I'm already in trouble, but there's less to cope with. The trailer, if everything is in good repair and working as it should (any problem in that regard and all bets are off), will be applying a straight-line pull to the rear. I would avoid any hard application of the truck brakes to avoid havin' the hitch post slam forward into the cab. Better plan is to start coastin' the truck, tralier tugging straight behind, and feel out the truck brakes to get things stopped while trying to keep tension on the chains without repeatedly banging the slack out of them, realizing that steering the trailer could be a marginal prospect at best and one may have to hold to a fairly straight line to get stopped while still alive and uninjured. It may hold up traffic behind you but you will be alive and your trailer still attached, rather than watching in your mirror as the trailer breaks completely free and travels off to the other side of the road and takes out other vehicles and their drivers and passengers.

Using that approach, you could, after changing your shorts, replace the breakaway pin and maneuver the whole rig safely if awkwardly to the side of the road. And in the instance of it not being an actual hitch failure, you will also have saved your controller to be able to get to home, safety and repairs.

I favor snubbing it up short, with just enough slack to let it travel to the rear and apply the breakaway a short way before it would reach the length of the chains.

That's my plan. I'll be watching for others' ideas with interest.

the best place to mount the switch is close to the hitch and not in the way of anything so when u turn it wont get pulled and as far as the tow end u want to put it on a place that is attached to where the trailer is hooked on to for example if u are using a reciver hitch put it on the bumper wherever u can find a spot u dont want to put it on the safety chains the reson u want to put it on another location is in case the trailer comes off and takes the reciver with it it can still pull the pin i hope this helps.

I mounted a snap to my tool box on truck and hook it there seems to work well