Safety Chains

[ford84]

Whats going on guys, I recently have changed things up and thought that I was making my life easier. I have a 2014 Jeep with a lift and bigger tires. With towing a trailer the safety latch or "ball latch" ( you know that little lever that you have to flip to lock the ball on to the trailer) will get stuck when trying to remove the trailer due to hitting my spare tire with only about 1/4" of space. The trailer will go on no problem but coming off is the problem. So I bought a "extra extra long" ball mount this makes it 16 inches from eye to eye and its perfect because now its out past my spare tire, however now my safety chains dont reach. I thought that changing them out would be a easy ordeal however I completely forgot about the hooks.

So my question is how do I go about this, I bought chain, and I need to get the old hooks off and on to the new chain. I kinda dont want to heat them up to bend them so I figured I would check. I dont have the proper stuff to do this anyways but theres a local welding shop near by that will help me out if need be.

I am also open to other ideas if pictures are needed then let me know and I can gladly take some so you can get an eye for what I am talking about.

 

[GA_Boater]

Does the trailer sit level when on the ball? A drop ball mount might actually work better than the extender and the chains would fit.. The ball moved back 18" can make the trailer very twitchy when towing.

 

[Bondo]

I am also open to other ideas

Ayuh,.... Buy new hooks for the new chains,.....

 

[fhhuber]

cut the last chain link. Then:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/45863512?...4122888&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=118465849248&veh=sem

 

[Thalasso]

Does the trailer sit level when on the ball? A drop ball mount might actually work better than the extender and the chains would fit.. The ball moved back 18" can make the trailer very twitchy when towing.

That's a good question.
My guess the trailer tongue is pointed up in the air and this is why he is having a hard time getting the latch unlocked
(Larger tires with a lift kit)

 

[ford84]

No Title

Ok so here's a pic....the piece in red.

My jeep is an Unlimited 2.5 in lift with 33in tires. There was a drop hitch on it. Any lower and I'm going to drag the tongue of the trailer. The problem was when that latch was in the up or open position and the trailer was coming off the ball, that latch would hit the tire and prevent the trailer from lifting off the ball. Now with the 16 inch extension (trailer toes great with it towed it the 90 miles home after I bought it) the safety chains don't reach we just went to Lowe's and grabbed some extender links and what not to get it home not as a perm solution. So now the hooks are not easy to bend obviously, is it ok to heat the hook to get it off and on to a newer longer chain.....

The trailer does not sit exactly level however the tongue is slightly in the air but it's not extremely bad maybe 2 inches up on the tongue side.

 

[ford84]

 

[Stingrayaxe]

That trailer tongue does look a little high. Put a level on it to confirm. It looks like you could use a ball mount that lowers the tongue. Remove the extender and your problem might be solved.

 

[Thalasso]

Use the old shank and turn the thing over and it will drop the tongue. I am surprised you don't notice any wiggling from the trailer for the lack of enough tongue weight. Your chains will fit and the trailer will be level

 

[GA_Boater]

What Thalasso said. Another simple solution is swing the spare. It won't even need to be fully open.

 

[fhhuber]

Flip the stinger is a good idea for trying to get the top of the ball to 17 in from the pavement. (correct height ... standard used by all trailer makers)

May or may not need the long stinger then... Shorter is better for backing up and for the ability of the tow vehicle to handle more tongue weight.

If the boat is properly fit to the trailer (including having the outboard mounted) then it will be balanced with 60%+ of the weight forward of the axle.

The couple inches of ball height won't make much difference to towing except making it more likely to drag the boat's prop.

 

[Chad Flaugher]

I wouldn't recommend running that extension at all. 16" adds an unbelievable amount of added force to your receiver hitch. Drop that ball down 2" - 4" and you'll be right where you need to be.

 

[fhhuber]

In general, the front wheels of the jeep will be in the air before the hitch is in trouble due to weight*leverage.

But right there is the first reason to keep it short... tongue weight * distance from rear axle = force attempting to push the bumper down... and lift the front off the ground.

Look at how the jeep is sitting... tail down and nose up. Low beams would shine where the high beams should be aimed.

 

[jayhanig]

No Title

Thalasso is correct. Flip the ball mount over inside the receiver and then reinstall the ball onto the new top position.. Your chains will fit and you should have proper clearance. I don't think you need to spend a dime. One caveat: Make sure you really put some oomph on the nut holding the ball onto the ball mount. It's akin to the Jesus nut on a helicopter because if it comes off....

This is how your ball mount ought to look.

 

[airshot]

Jay has the right idea with the ball mount, however...I can't see that boat having that much tongue weight, something tells me that the jeep is loaded heavy in the back or it sits that way without the boat hooked on. That Jeep has a fairly stiff suspension and I don't believe his boat has that much tongue weight to cause that kind of drop.

 

[jayhanig]

Jay has the right idea with the ball mount, however...I can't see that boat having that much tongue weight, something tells me that the jeep is loaded heavy in the back or it sits that way without the boat hooked on. That Jeep has a fairly stiff suspension and I don't believe his boat has that much tongue weight to cause that kind of drop.

Having the longer tongue may cause that effect on the Jeep. The longer the arm, the more the center of gravity is moved aft. It's acting as a lever.

I'd go back to the original short ball mount, if I didn't make that clear with my earlier remark. Flipping it over ought to give him enough space to release the hitch lever. If it doesn't, just swing the spare tire a little bit out of the way, as GA_Boater suggested.

 

[fhhuber]

Doesn't have to be measurably compressing the rear springs in order to be lifting the nose... the "trick" is the teeter-totter effect. ... or leverage... or as Archimedes said: Give me a long enough lever and I can move the world."

Its: distance from the pivot point (rear axle) to load X load (weight on the ball)
Put a long enough stinger on and 50 lb tongue weight will take the front wheels off the ground.

 

[airshot]

It just seems from his picture that the back of his jeep is really squatted down. I tow a 22' 3000lb boat with an S-10 blazer and 250lbs of hitch weight and my blazer does not squat near as bad as his pic appears. Mabey just the pic.

 

[sphelps]

Not trying to change the subject or high jack but talking about chains .. Is the proper way to hook them to the hitch is crossing them under the tongue ? Or just straight back .. I have always wondered .. I assume crossed would maybe cradle the tongue to maybe keep it from hitting the ground should it jump off the ball ...
Probably a dumb question .. :facepalm:

 

[GA_Boater]

Crossed is the way I've always been told to hook the chains. It worked the one time a coupler failed at low speed.