Preparing a Vehicle for Towing Feedback

What is the best way to attach the breakaway cable
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Reply By: Notso - Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 at 18:10

Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 at 18:10
That;s an interesting question.

Ivew seen a few of them connected to the towbar tongue.

Now my van doesn't require one so I've never thought about it before, but!

I reckon they would be better connected to the vehicle chassis somewhere so that if the towbar drops off, now don't laugh I've seen it happen, then the breakaway will work as well as if the towball breaks or something..

I'm not sure what the laws are re this so maybe a Caravan sales professional could help!
AnswerID: 411088

Reply By: Crackles - Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 at 18:20

Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 at 18:20
Loop the breakaway cable around the tow bar crossmember, feed it back though it'self then plug it in. Should ideally always be attached seperately to the tow bar tounge or safety chains.
Cheers Craig............
AnswerID: 411091

Reply By: landseka - Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 at 18:24

Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 at 18:24
I hook mine onto the rear bumper of my Triton Dual cab ute. It is totally independent of the towbar so is a safe anchor point.

Cheers Neil
AnswerID: 411093

Reply By: Member - George (WA) - Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 at 18:46

Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 at 18:46
Clip the break away cable to the same hole where you attach the safety chain U bolt. Cheers
AnswerID: 411094

Reply By: Member - Graham H (QLD) - Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 at 19:16

Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 at 19:16
The whole idea of the breakaway system is to stop the van quickly if it should break away from the car.

Like towball breaking Nissan towbars coming off the chassis Dont laugh it has happened. Has happened to a Prado that I personally know the owner of as well. The cast part broke in two and the van disappeared down the hill behind him, luckily not on a road. Van was underweight for breakaways but shows the benefit of having one CORRECTLY ATTACHED.

The ideal place is to make a ring attached to a part of the car OTHER THAN THE TOWBAR ASSEMBLY.

Mine goes thru one of the shackles to a ring bolted to the chassis separate from the towbar mounts.

The post above that says " where the chain attaches" shows a distinct lack of thought about why you would have the system.

Witness the big crash in SA that has been the subject of a coroners report and the van went 150m into a tree. Either no breakaway fitted or when the towbar ripped off the car the wire was attached to it and so didnt activate.

As i posted previously about the guy in Kalgoorlie who had the wire wrapped twice through the hitch handle and attached to one tiny little U shackle I wouldnt have on a box trailer.

This on a 25ft van behind a Prado. This would have been illegal on its own with what he told me he had in it..

Think logically not she'll be right.

The family you may kill could be a friend.
AnswerID: 411096

Follow Up By: Notso - Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 at 19:21

Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 at 19:21
Mate, I didn't mention the vehicle name that lost the towbar, but I will now in defence of Patrols, it was a landcruiser ute, latest model, chassis broke, towbar fell off. So one shouldn't take things like this as an opportunity to bag particular makes.

PS I don't own either of em


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FollowupID: 681153

Follow Up By: Member - Graham H (QLD) - Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 at 19:55

Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 at 19:55
I only referred to that because it was a known problem and there was a thread on either here or the C & M forum with photos showing what had happened

Likewise the Prado.

I was not bagging anything just posting know facts. I dint know about your one.


It can happen to any make especially if maintenance is not attended to..

Breaksafes should be mandatory on all vans and there should be a rule for how they are connected as well.

Especially after some of the replies.
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FollowupID: 681159

Follow Up By: Notso - Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 at 20:09

Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 at 20:09
Yes as I said in my post I really do think that it is wrong to attach them anywhere on the towbar.

But there doesn't appear to be any clear direction as to the "Correct" way to attach it.
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FollowupID: 681162

Follow Up By: Member - Graham H (QLD) - Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 at 20:31

Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 at 20:31
Some common sense surely would tell most that its illogical to attach it to any part that may detach itself from the car due to stress etc.

Tis a rare commodity these days though isn't it

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FollowupID: 681164

Reply By: Member - DAZA (QLD) - Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 at 19:19

Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 at 19:19
G/Day Hanker

I see you have a Nissan Patrol going by your Profile, so loop the end of the Breakaway Cable through the Tow Hitch on the back of your Bumper Bar and use a U-Bolt to connect, the Breakaway Cable should be clear of your Towbar so if for any reason the Towbar comes off, the Breakaway will activate being attached to your vehicle.

Cheers
AnswerID: 411098

Follow Up By: Member - Leave_enough_space - Wednesday, Mar 31, 2010 at 17:21

Wednesday, Mar 31, 2010 at 17:21
There's been a similar thread on one of the other forums just recently.

We have a Patrol, and as mentioned in one of the earlier posts there is a U-shaped bracket, that is mounted separately to the towbar, and we have always used that to attach the breakaway wire.

Just recently we had our van in for a bit of work with our maintainer and he assisted us to hookup when we were leaving. Normally I use a shackle to attach the end loop of the wire to the U-bracket on the Patrol.

He told us that was illegal and the way to do it was to pull out the pin from the breakaway unit, put the end loop of the breakaway wire through the U-bracket and then pass the pin through the end loop. The pin is then passed through the handle on the top of the hitch before finally putting the pin back into the unit.

This made sense to me as it means one less shackle to lose, and keeps the wire under control. However the thread on the other forum was pretty disparaging about this approach, and starting quoting from all manner of legal and semi-legal documentation to show that what we had been told was incorrect/wasn't a requirement etc

Like many things to do with caravanning, you have to make up your own mind, and this seems to be one of them. At least with the Patrol we have a ready made attachment point.

Anyway this is the way we do it now.

LES
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