Broken Trailer Breakaway Cable

[slickstick]

Had my second fiasco as a first time boat owner. Not sure exactly what happened but last time I took her out, I must have botched the hitch hookup somehow. As soon as I went to turn pulling out of my storage spot, the trailer came detached and fell. Doh! Thankfully the boat and the truck are fine. The trailer is mostly fine. It landed on the spare tire which bent the spare tire holder a bit (cheap and easy replacement) and also snapped the breakaway cable for the brakes.

What is the process for replacing this cable? I have a Magic Tilt trailer, but assume they are all similar.

Any idea how I screwed this up? I was really sure the hitch was on, shut, and pin was definitely in. My best guess is the ball wasn't seated all the way in and it was sitting on top of the ball. Still scratching my head about it, though.

 

[zipper]

I don't know about your Magic tilt trailer, but I recently replaced mine on my MFI trailer. https://jetboaters.net/threads/mfi-trailer-just-changed-the-breakaway-cable.26516/ Try to download a service manual for your actuator.

 

[swatski]

Those coupler ball gripping/ adjustment mechanisms can be tricky. I would respectfully suggest an easy way to deal with it is by taking the boat off the trailer - one can then manually test this critical coupler/hitch ball connection by lifting, jerking, and shoving the trailer tongue around - one should not be able to dislodge it in any direction including strait up.

One word of caution about those breakaway cables - and this is something that almost never gets talked about for some reason - is to make sure the cable's truck connection is securely fastened. Shorland'r trailers come with a little "S" figure clip - and that things is just awful as it can disconnect at any time driving down a highway, potentially get snagged with catastrophic consequences. It can be replaced with a carabineer type clip, or just wrapped around enough to prevent it from getting loose and dragging.

EDIT: there are many very experienced trailer drivers here (I'm not one of them), if you can post pictures of the troubled coupler in question it may be easier for the guys to give you specific advice.

--

 

[TimW451]

We’re the safety chains attached? They should’ve caught the trailer.

Ford F-350 Saved From Bridge Plunge Due To Trailer Safety Chain — Jalopnik

Safety chains play an incredibly important part of correctly towing a trailer. They add a layer of redundancy to make towing safer for you and others on the road. But for the occupants of this Ford Super Duty in Idaho, their trailer’s safety chains are what kept them from plunging off of a...

apple.news

 

[flyingnugget]

@slickstick, Man that is horrible and I can only imagine how you felt when that monster dropped. My stomach would have been in knots.
Not being trying to be an ass, but, do you have the correct size hitch ball for that coupler? When my coupler connects, its on there pretty securely and there is zero room left. Just thinking that may be an issue for it to come off. I have a Shorelander trailer so I think the attach point is a bit different. I cant close the coupler and add the lock pin on mine till its completely attached.

Good luck. Next time maybe have a spotter or someone else drive and you watch to see if there is something you are missing when you start to tow. Better to have it happen there than at 65mph!

 

[Dave burke]

I snapped the cable on my trailer two years ago. I had a hard time finding a replacement and eventually called Shorelandr who put me onto a third party seller who sent me a replacement cable. Changing the cable was tricky too but it can be done if you’re patient. Read the instructions with the cable carefully.

@swatski makes a great point about the S clips. I’m going to change mine for a carabiner clip this summer.

 

[Betik]

You guessed it but I can tell you for sure what happened. Your trailer was probably 1 inch more forward than where it should have been. The locking “tongue “ took the weight of the trailer so you where able to flip the jack wheel and put the pin as BAU. The problem is your tongue locked on the top of the ball instead of underneath of it. To avoid this you can jerk it around like @swatski said or( and) take the plunge. I have gotten myself in the habit of laying down on the floor after I put the pin to make sure that the tongue is properly sited.
I know it is a pain but I can been luck to avoided your situation more than once by laying down. One particular time I remember we were in a bit of a rush so I thought about skipping the whole plunge thing, but somehow Zeus smacked me in the head and made me look. Boy was I glad he did.

You know what you don’t realize is that you were extremely lucky. You could have ended up on the highway and in some shitty pothole your trailer would have at highway speeds and now you will asking about how to file a total loss on your insurance.

I have seen utility trailer come off whole making a turn on traffic lights and although it turned out okay it was scary to see truck going in one direction and trailer with lawn mowing equipments going in a different direction.

 

[swatski]

@slickstick, Man that is horrible and I can only imagine how you felt when that monster dropped. My stomach would have been in knots.
Not being trying to be an ass, but, do you have the correct size hitch ball for that coupler? When my coupler connects, its on there pretty securely and there is zero room left. Just thinking that may be an issue for it to come off. I have a Shorelander trailer so I think the attach point is a bit different. I cant close the coupler and add the lock pin on mine till its completely attached.

Good luck. Next time maybe have a spotter or someone else drive and you watch to see if there is something you are missing when you start to tow. Better to have it happen there than at 65mph!

Most couplers including the Shorland'r have an adjustment screw, buried underneath; if it is too tight it won;t let the coupler latch to lock, if it is too lose the coupler CAN slip off of the ball, if the trailer bounces.

With SHorland'r trailers - maximum caution is advised. Their trailers sometimes come in with no grease in the bearings, and can be really poorly adjusted for the tongue length, I would not assume the coupler locking mechanism is well tightened, definitely something to check even in a brand new trailer.

--

 

[Babin Farms]

Here's a general pic to show you how the mechanism works and what to adjust if needed

 

[drewkaree]

No idea how to deal with the cable, but in a past career, I used to work at a tool rental place. Common issue was that the trailer has a little "tongue" that seats up under the shoulder of the ball, and if it's too tight, it can FEEL like it's on there and seated, but you're really just clamping it against the side of the ball, and not getting it past that shoulder. It'll tighten like it's on there, and it may even ride perfectly fine...until it doesn't.

I have no idea if that's what happened to you, but it sounds like that's what happened to you. When I first got my trailer, the tongue was slightly too tight. No idea who set it up, but it's an easy fix. Like @zipper said, download an owner's manual for your trailer if you didn't get one included. It'll show you how to adjust that little tongue in the manual.

 

[zipper]

Find out which brake actuator was installed on your trailer. My MFI trailer has a UFP brake actuator installed on it. Here is the manual for a UFP actuator, for anyone that needs it.

Adobe Acrobat

documentcloud.adobe.com

 

[slickstick]

I don't know about your Magic tilt trailer, but I recently replaced mine on my MFI trailer. https://jetboaters.net/threads/mfi-trailer-just-changed-the-breakaway-cable.26516/ Try to download a service manual for your actuator.

Called Magic Tilt service and the guy was recommending that the entire actuator be replaced. He was saying he worries about running that cable and somehow it can get pinched. Seems like overkill.

 

[slickstick]

Those coupler ball gripping/ adjustment mechanisms can be tricky. I would respectfully suggest an easy way to deal with it is by taking the boat off the trailer - one can then manually test this critical coupler/hitch ball connection by lifting, jerking, and shoving the trailer tongue around - one should not be able to dislodge it in any direction including strait up.

One word of caution about those breakaway cables - and this is something that almost never gets talked about for some reason - is to make sure the cable's truck connection is securely fastened. Shorland'r trailers come with a little "S" figure clip - and that things is just awful as it can disconnect at any time driving down a highway, potentially get snagged with catastrophic consequences. It can be replaced with a carabineer type clip, or just wrapped around enough to prevent it from getting loose and dragging.

EDIT: there are many very experienced trailer drivers here (I'm not one of them), if you can post pictures of the troubled coupler in question it may be easier for the guys to give you specific advice.

--

Good idea on the carabiner. I usually loop it through the hitch and clip it back onto the safety chain which seems to hold pretty solid, though.

 

[slickstick]

We’re the safety chains attached? They should’ve caught the trailer.

Ford F-350 Saved From Bridge Plunge Due To Trailer Safety Chain — Jalopnik

Safety chains play an incredibly important part of correctly towing a trailer. They add a layer of redundancy to make towing safer for you and others on the road. But for the occupants of this Ford Super Duty in Idaho, their trailer’s safety chains are what kept them from plunging off of a...

apple.news

Yes but not sure how they would catch the trailer from hitting the ground... the chains would have to be REALLY tight for that.

 

[slickstick]

@slickstick, Man that is horrible and I can only imagine how you felt when that monster dropped. My stomach would have been in knots.
Not being trying to be an ass, but, do you have the correct size hitch ball for that coupler? When my coupler connects, its on there pretty securely and there is zero room left. Just thinking that may be an issue for it to come off. I have a Shorelander trailer so I think the attach point is a bit different. I cant close the coupler and add the lock pin on mine till its completely attached.

Good luck. Next time maybe have a spotter or someone else drive and you watch to see if there is something you are missing when you start to tow. Better to have it happen there than at 65mph!

It definitely woke me up quick! I do believe it's a standard 2" ball/coupler but here you go, check it out.

 

[slickstick]

You guessed it but I can tell you for sure what happened. Your trailer was probably 1 inch more forward than where it should have been. The locking “tongue “ took the weight of the trailer so you where able to flip the jack wheel and put the pin as BAU. The problem is your tongue locked on the top of the ball instead of underneath of it. To avoid this you can jerk it around like @swatski said or( and) take the plunge. I have gotten myself in the habit of laying down on the floor after I put the pin to make sure that the tongue is properly sited.
I know it is a pain but I can been luck to avoided your situation more than once by laying down. One particular time I remember we were in a bit of a rush so I thought about skipping the whole plunge thing, but somehow Zeus smacked me in the head and made me look. Boy was I glad he did.

You know what you don’t realize is that you were extremely lucky. You could have ended up on the highway and in some shitty pothole your trailer would have at highway speeds and now you will asking about how to file a total loss on your insurance.

I have seen utility trailer come off whole making a turn on traffic lights and although it turned out okay it was scary to see truck going in one direction and trailer with lawn mowing equipments going in a different direction.

Yea I think it's definitely best to get low and take a look up and verify the ball is all the way into the coupler.

You're right... it could have been a lot worse!

 

[zipper]

Called Magic Tilt service and the guy was recommending that the entire actuator be replaced. He was saying he worries about running that cable and somehow it can get pinched. Seems like overkill.

That is this throw it away, don't take the time or know how to fix it mentality/society we live in. It was not hard to replace once I figured it out. Yours does look like a UFP from the bottom.

 

[slickstick]

That is this throw it away, don't take the time or know how to fix it mentality/society we live in. It was not hard to replace once I figured it out. Yours does look like a UFP from the bottom.

View attachment 145130

Yup... It's a UFP