breakaway cable don't fit !!

[JasonSDunks]

Help!

I have a witter detachable towball system, however the holes for the breakaway cable will not allow the clasp to pass throu'.

The cable cannot be looped around the towball (witters advice) so what can I do to make it work?

J

 

[Mikey1]

Hi Jason i have a swan neck towbar so have nowhere to attach the breakaway cable so i loop it around the towball not much else i can do really i dont think it is illegal either

 

[jacky3]

use a shackle

http://www.webriggingsupply.com/pages/catalog/
hardware/anchorshackles.html

 

[rob_jax]

Jason,

The breakaway cable needs to be attached to a rigidly mounted part of the car.

Mike can loop his cable around the swan neck tow-bar because it's permanently mounted on the car, you cannot because the tow ball is detachable and you must use the small hole on the bracket that holds the tow ball.

We replaced our brakeaway cable with one from ALKO that has a clip suitable for use with a detachable tow ball, or as Klarky says - get a large enough shackle and fit it in the hole - then loop the breakway cable through that.

Robert

 

[JasonSDunks]

Thanks for all your help guys, most helpfull

J

 

[littleangel]

Hi Jason,

I don't agree withrob_jax, Mike should not loop the breakaway cable around the tow ball, as this may not operate in the event that the caravan did actually disengage.

You could try fitting a back plate which has a hole to clip the cable on, this should remain free and you have the lenght if needed to active the van brakes.

It is ilegal to wrap breakaway cables aroung tow bars.

 

[GrahamF.]

Hi Jason,

I don't agree withrob_jax, Mike should not loop the breakaway cable around the tow ball, as this may not operate in the event that the caravan did actually disengage.

You could try fitting a back plate which has a hole to clip the cable on, this should remain free and you have the lenght if needed to active the van brakes.

It is ilegal to wrap breakaway cables aroung tow bars.

Sorry Marie, see technical advice leaflet published by NCC and they show this as one of the recommended options. I have a BMW 530d with a detchable tow bar and obtained written confirmation from BMW technical department that the only place a breakaway cable should be fitted is looped around the neck and clipped back on its self, infact they advise that it should not be fitted to any other part of the car.

So it looks as though the debate on this is not conclusive with contravening advice coming from all sides. It would be so simple if they just fitted a bracket on the car!.

Regards

Graham F

 

[JasonSDunks]

Marie,

My towball is detachable and witter don't recommend looping the cable around it.

The cost effective solution so far is to buy a 'D' ring and loop the cable thru that.

J

 

[rob_jax]

Hi Marie,

Sorry, looping the breakaway cable around the neck of a fixed tow ball is one of the safe, recommended ways to attach the cable to the car.

If you have a detachable tow-bar, then you need to attach the cable to the non-removable part of the tow-bar.

The reason for a breakaway cable is to apply the caravan brakes if it becomes disconnected from the car whilst travelling, so anything that could easily come apart cannot be used as an anchor point for the cable.

The Caravan Club has a nice illustrated leaflet with all the possible combinations for both types of tow-bar.

Robert

 

[mike_5041102]

For continental travelers, did you know most countries expressly forbid looping the breakaway cable directly over all types of tow ball? It must pass through a closed loop designed for the purpose on the towing vehicle. Obvious really as in the event of a caravan disconnect the A frame and hitch must rotate upwards thereby possibly pulling off a loosely fitted breakaway cable in the process. Is it not time UK woke up to this?