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Old 04-09-2018, 06:44 AM   #21
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And while I'm mentioning valuable/knowledgeable members, this forum is just "Lippin" full of them. I've learned so much in my short time here......thanks to all!
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Old 04-09-2018, 09:29 AM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by xrated View Post
And while I'm mentioning valuable/knowledgeable members, this forum is just "Lippin" full of them. I've learned so much in my short time here......thanks to all!
Quote:
Originally Posted by RickBetterley View Post
I’d like to second the admiration for chuckster’s generous sharing of knowledge.
^^^^ Times 10^100
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Old 04-09-2018, 02:47 PM   #23
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1. Always cross the chains under the tongue. ...
I've attached a photo of my chains' mount point on the underside of the tongue. I don't see how one is supposed to cross them with the way Keystone has them joined at a common point; I've tried. Are other trailers in the Keystone line done the same way?

I have my breakaway lanyard threaded through the chain and terminated at the hook as there is no place to connect it on the truck body. Is this an acceptable method?

Thank you.
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Old 04-09-2018, 04:37 PM   #24
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Food For Thought

My Passports have them mounted the same way. I still cross them under the tongue.

Edit: my break away is run through a chain but the end is looped though the safety chain hole on the truck and clipped on to ensure it will engage.
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Old 04-09-2018, 05:10 PM   #25
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SummitPond View Post
I've attached a photo of my chains' mount point on the underside of the tongue. I don't see how one is supposed to cross them with the way Keystone has them joined at a common point; I've tried. Are other trailers in the Keystone line done the same way?

I have my breakaway lanyard threaded through the chain and terminated at the hook as there is no place to connect it on the truck body. Is this an acceptable method?

Thank you.
Can you not connect it to the hitch?
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Old 04-09-2018, 05:20 PM   #26
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SummitPond View Post
I've attached a photo of my chains' mount point on the underside of the tongue. I don't see how one is supposed to cross them with the way Keystone has them joined at a common point; I've tried. Are other trailers in the Keystone line done the same way?

I have my breakaway lanyard threaded through the chain and terminated at the hook as there is no place to connect it on the truck body. Is this an acceptable method?

Thank you.
There's a great "step by step" instruction set located here: http://manuals.deere.com/cceomview/o...63066_K06.html

In the "Coupling the Trailer to the Tow Vehicle" section, they show a picture of a trailer tongue with chains attached very similar to yours. In the instructions, they caution to ALWAYS cross the safety chains under the tongue. Even with the chains attached to the trailer in one location, crossing them will always assure the tongue, if it should contact the ground/pavement, will "ride" on the chains until they tighten, then the chains will lift the tongue as they tighten. If the tongue is not "cradled" by the chains, it may contact the pavement, dig in and make the problem much worse.

As for the way you have your breakaway switch lanyard "laced through the chains", essentially you've completely negated the ability for the trailer brakes to engage if the coupler should separate. With it "laced through the chains" it will never be short enough to pull the pin from the breakaway switch because as the chain tightens, the lanyard remains the same length as the chain.

I'd urge you to take a stool out to your trailer, back the tow vehicle up to the tongue, connect the chains, find a place to attach the lanyard, then have your DW slowly "SLOWLY" pull the tow vehicle forward while you sit there, on the stool watching the chains. Once they are tight, have your DW stop the vehicle, apply the emergency brake so it won't move, and you can then shorten the lanyard so it actually pulls the pin out of the breakaway switch. This will assure that if you ever do have an accidental uncoupling, as the chains tighten at full extension, the breakaway switch will be activated BEFORE the chains are tight. That way, you'll have trailer brakes to keep your trailer from over-running your tow vehicle.

In the event of an uncoupling, what your "really really want" is for the chains to support the tongue (to keep it from digging into the pavement), the breakaway lanyard to pull the pin in the breakaway switch, applying the trailer brakes and the trailer to start pulling "evenly" on your tow vehicle as the trailer brakes slow your rig to a controlled stop.....

After you get it stopped, be sure to change your underwear, but hopefully the entire rig will still be "dirty side down" and still on the same side of the interstate that it was on when the uncoupling occurred.
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Old 04-10-2018, 03:26 AM   #27
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Originally Posted by JRTJH View Post
There's a great "step by step" instruction set located here: http://manuals.deere.com/cceomview/o...63066_K06.html
John

Thank you. This is great. I saved the photo for crossing the chains (MX27991) and enlarged it. It must be a combination of my poor eyes and a small photo that gets grainy when enlarged, as I don't really see what I think of as a cradle. The funny thing is, I do "cross" the chains on my rig even though I don't see any benefit as (stated below) that's what I initially read in the Keystone owner manual. Do you only cross them once, or twice? I haven't tried the latter - maybe that does better?

Quote:
Originally Posted by JRTJH View Post
In the "Coupling the Trailer to the Tow Vehicle" section, they show a picture of a trailer tongue with chains attached very similar to yours. In the instructions, they caution to ALWAYS cross the safety chains under the tongue. Even with the chains attached to the trailer in one location, crossing them will always assure the tongue, if it should contact the ground/pavement, will "ride" on the chains until they tighten, then the chains will lift the tongue as they tighten. If the tongue is not "cradled" by the chains, it may contact the pavement, dig in and make the problem much worse.
How many links do most people have, and how do you shorten a chain? Maybe that's part of my problem (that the chains are too long). I'll go out and check them when the downpour stops.

Quote:
Originally Posted by JRTJH View Post
As for the way you have your breakaway switch lanyard "laced through the chains", essentially you've completely negated the ability for the trailer brakes to engage if the coupler should separate. With it "laced through the chains" it will never be short enough to pull the pin from the breakaway switch because as the chain tightens, the lanyard remains the same length as the chain.

I'd urge you to take a stool out to your trailer, back the tow vehicle up to the tongue, connect the chains, find a place to attach the lanyard, then have your DW slowly "SLOWLY" pull the tow vehicle forward while you sit there, on the stool watching the chains. Once they are tight, have your DW stop the vehicle, apply the emergency brake so it won't move, and you can then shorten the lanyard so it actually pulls the pin out of the breakaway switch. This will assure that if you ever do have an accidental uncoupling, as the chains tighten at full extension, the breakaway switch will be activated BEFORE the chains are tight. That way, you'll have trailer brakes to keep your trailer from over-running your tow vehicle.
Shortening the lanyard seems fairly straightforward. What do you use, though, to mechanically affix a new loop in the end of the lanyard? And where do you couple the lanyard to on the truck? I don't seem to have any separate hook; do you loop it through/over the pin that holds the hitch in the receiver?

Quote:
Originally Posted by JRTJH View Post
In the event of an uncoupling, what your "really really want" is for the chains to support the tongue (to keep it from digging into the pavement), the breakaway lanyard to pull the pin in the breakaway switch, applying the trailer brakes and the trailer to start pulling "evenly" on your tow vehicle as the trailer brakes slow your rig to a controlled stop.....

After you get it stopped, be sure to change your underwear, but hopefully the entire rig will still be "dirty side down" and still on the same side of the interstate that it was on when the uncoupling occurred.
Which direction to you connect the hooks at the end of the chains to the hitch receiver? I have them coming in from the underside so the points of the hooks face out. Is this OK, or should I reverse it and have the points of the hooks face in? Or doesn't it matter?

Again, thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise. One of our neighbors (a few blocks away - he was out working on the truck as we were taking our daily constitutional and we noticed the new acquisition in the driveway) just purchased an Impact Fusion - his first TT, and we informed him about this site. Hopefully he'll take advantage of the information available here.

Ken
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Old 04-10-2018, 03:29 AM   #28
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Can you not connect it to the hitch?
Chip

Do you loop the lanyard over the hitch (but avoid the ball area as it may cause wear to the lanyard) or do something else?

I don't have any place on the hitch that I see to affix the lanyard.

Ken
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Old 04-10-2018, 03:41 AM   #29
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Originally Posted by SummitPond View Post
Chip

Do you loop the lanyard over the hitch (but avoid the ball area as it may cause wear to the lanyard) or do something else?

I don't have any place on the hitch that I see to affix the lanyard.

Ken
I bought a quality carabiner. It stays in my loop and I hook it through the same holes my chain hooks go through. Works for me.
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Old 04-10-2018, 03:28 PM   #30
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I always cross my chains, but I'll tell you I'm doubtful those chains are strong enough to cradle the trailer tongue should it disconnect. At a campground last summer, the guy in campsite across from me, forgot to secure his hitch with the hitch pin.

He proceeded to pull out of the campsite and 3ft later BOOM! The hitch and tongue of the trailer slammed to the ground, the chains broke and the chain links were all bent and twisted on the ground.
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Old 04-10-2018, 04:05 PM   #31
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I triple check the interior and the exterior. I do not assign this task to anyone but myself. That way if anything goes wrong it is my fault. I do not want DW or anyone else feeling bad because they missed something.
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Old 04-10-2018, 04:34 PM   #32
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Summitpond, are you 100% sure? My ford has several places to latch the breakaway. 1st is the loop made for it above the right side chain connection. You will never see it unless you look under the hitch as it is hidden. 2nd and 3rd place is where the chains connect to the hitch. Get a big HD carbinner and place it on the end loop of breakaway cable, I have them on both trailers now.
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Old 04-10-2018, 05:39 PM   #33
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I bought a quality carabiner. It stays in my loop and I hook it through the same holes my chain hooks go through. Works for me.
Chip,

I never thought of that idea. Clever. What do you consider quality, and where do you find one? We don't have a lot of rock climbing here in FL, but maybe the sporting goods chain would have one? Thank you for the idea.

Ken

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken / Claudia View Post
Summitpond, are you 100% sure? My ford has several places to latch the breakaway. 1st is the loop made for it above the right side chain connection. You will never see it unless you look under the hitch as it is hidden. 2nd and 3rd place is where the chains connect to the hitch. Get a big HD carbinner and place it on the end loop of breakaway cable, I have them on both trailers now.
Ken,

I will look under the hitch as you suggest; I don't remember seeing anything when I checked the spare, but then I wasn't focused on that at the time. It is supposed to dry out tomorrow (it's been raining all day) and I'll go looking to see what I can find.

When you say "HD" do you mean heavy duty or Home Depot? I'll ask the same question of you as Chip above - where do you find one? Thank you for that hint regarding the hitch loop.

Ken
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Old 04-10-2018, 05:47 PM   #34
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I don't know what kind of hardware stores you have where you are but they carry carabiners and they usually come in all sorts of sizes. Very handy, we use them on all our fence gates vs padlocks (7' wooden).
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Old 04-10-2018, 06:20 PM   #35
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I don't know what kind of hardware stores you have where you are but they carry carabiners and they usually come in all sorts of sizes. Very handy, we use them on all our fence gates vs padlocks (7' wooden).
Danny

Thank you. I'll check out Ace or Home Depot/Lowe's. The only carabiners I'm familiar with are the cheap aluminum ones you get as "gifts" to sling on your belt to carry keys.

Ken
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Old 04-10-2018, 06:40 PM   #36
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Thanks for sharing!! I had no idea that I was supposed to cross my chains!!
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Old 04-10-2018, 06:42 PM   #37
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Walmart will have climbing gear in/near the camping section. I’ve gotten carabiners there. Just be careful as they will also carry poor quality key chain like carabiners as well.
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Old 04-10-2018, 06:48 PM   #38
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You can tell a good carabiner from a bad one (non professional stuff). I've seen Walmart selling them that, I believe, you could twist with two fingers (looked like cheap aluminum). Just pay attention.
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Old 04-10-2018, 06:53 PM   #39
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I bought 3 from harbor freight years ago. Use them with my engine hoist and have lifted V10’s.
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Old 04-10-2018, 07:19 PM   #40
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Be sure to get steel and not aluminum. Here's a link to a Google search. https://www.google.com/search?q=stee...obile&ie=UTF-8
Amazon has 6,000 hits on steel carabiner. Get one that locks closed.
Have fun shopping around.
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