if its braked you need a different cable to an unbraked one ,and ofcourse something to attach it to on the car ,halfords sell one for braked trailers but not the plate it attaches to
a strong chain will be fine for unbraked ones but it must be just long enough to hold the trailer to the car but short enough not to let the trailer hit the road ,and ofcourse that plate it attaches to on the car.
i tried everywhere to find one then stumbled over them in a camping shop ,it uses one of the towballs bolts to attach it to the car so the chain/wire just clips into it.
You could use a short length of chain obtainable from a DIY store.
Secure both ends to the trailer draw bar so that it forms a loop but make sure it is long enough to hoop over the towball before hooking up the trailer.
its recomended you dont loop it over the towball nowadays.
a brakeaway cable must pull on the brakes before it snaps ,the unbraked one shouldnt snap under any circumstances.
a loop over the towball would just fall off in the rare case the towball comes adrift hence its not done any more and ofcourse if the trailer came off the ball the hitch may rise up and pull any loop off the ball anyway.
a loop around the actual towbar itself is ok but not perfect.
there seems to be a few different attachment doodas for the chain wire ,the brakeaway type seems just to be a spiral of metal you "wind" the cable around whilst the type i have is a hefty bit of iron with a bolt hole ans a slit ,the bolt goes through the hole attaching it to the car and a hefty spring clip on the cable clips into the slit.
on a visit to the dump the police were there inspecting trailers and early in the year a large number of yellow jacketed chaps were pulling over anything being towed and going over them with great care for defects.
most trailers sit about waiting to be used so the bearings dry out and rust sets in so maybe a danger on the road etc.a missing safety chain may get a verbal on a good day but could be classed as a danger if the copper has had a bad day
OMG - I was aking at my local camping/caravan shop that sells trailers etc. about 8 weeks ago about breakaway cables as we had been given an old trailer without one.
They sold me the type that loops over the towball (only just mind, its a real tight fiddle to get it on and off). Anyway I was asking the bloke in the shop about legalities etc etc and he said that was all I needed for an unbraked trailer.
I have to admit both me and hubby had thought it was a kind of pointless thing, as has been explained above, if the trailer lifts off so will the breakaway cable most probably!!!
I have just been to Cornwall and back like that, not realising. Looks like I will now have to buy another type with bolts etc.
Looks like i need to sort something myself as my trailer comes with a short chain already attached that is just long enough to slip over the towball.
I didn't know it was illegal!
My Nissan towball is bolted on underneath the car and has a long neck that comes up from under the rear bumper.
Any suggestions on how i can adapt it would be gratefully received.
How long has this law been in ? My son bought a brand new trailer last June and there was no mension about a safety cain or cable. It isnt fitted with breaks.and is very light that you can pick it up when its empty.
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Topic: trailer cable
