safety chain plate for light trailer...

tws

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Sep 17, 2008
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greetings,

i am trying to find a safety chain plate with a single hole to accommodate a 3/4" class two 2" ball hitch for my 475 lb combined boat and trailer - the tongue weight is maybe 10lbs... any ideas where i might find such a plate?
 

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alldodge

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greetings,

i am trying to find a safety chain plate with a single hole to accommodate a 3/4" class two 2" ball hitch for my 475 lb combined boat and trailer - the tongue weight is maybe 10lbs... any ideas where i might find such a plate?

Have a few ideas:
If you can find a ball with long shank, just drill a hole thru the center and bolt on. chain.jpg


If there is a place under the bumper that this plate could be welded to or a shackle
Have any place you could wrap a piece of chain around the rear?

I guess you don't want to drill two more holes and install eye bolts?
 
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smokeonthewater

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IMHO it is far preferable to attach your safety chains to the frame or hitch frame than to the ball but I do have an peice like you describe.
It came to me years ago on a truck I bought and I used it to support the middle of long chains on a lifted truck with a long drop drawbar.

If you still want but can't find one to buy, the one I have would be fairly easy to copy if you choose... 1 peice of 1/4" flatbar, drill 3 holes and bend wings down after bolting it down with the ball.

Let me know if you want pics.
 
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smokeonthewater

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I missed your pic the first time I looked... Is that your truck? Are there no hooks under it for the chains?

Maybe a pic from underneath showing us what you're working with.
 

gm280

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I would look for possible places under the bumper to hook the safety chains as well. But one other thing sticks out to me. You stated that your setup was a mere 475lbs and tongue weight was 10lbs. That is wrong. You need to slide everything forward on the trailer to increase the tongue weight. If not, the trailer will wobble at very low speeds and make it near impossible to drive. You need at least 10% tongue weight, but I would go for 75 maybe even 100lbs with that little trailer. JMHO!
 

thumpar

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gm280 is right. You need tongue weight. Without it the trailer is going to try to throw the vehicle around.
 

ondarvr

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While not ideal, I doubt a 475 trailer is going to create a huge problem even if the tongue weight isn't perfect.
 

smokeonthewater

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Agree... With one exception... It may actually tow just fine as is but you could get really bad behavior out of it at the worst possible time when you have to do an emergency maneuver.

Another thought occurred to me... If the bumper has loops but they are difficult to get at you could attach a big split link to each one making them much easier to hook.
 

tws

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Sep 17, 2008
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thanks everyone for your welcomed replies...

yes i think i'll modify the bracket i attached or make one myself (drill hole in center)... there are no safety chain loops anywhere on my wifes toyota tacoma... the truck i tow my skiff with is a 2WD 1995 nissan pickup and it handles the tow well... since it is so very light i find i have no problems what so ever... i dont' leave my honda 9.9 on the skiff when i tow... if i did there would be no tongue weight AT ALL! i have a dolly for the outboard and it rest just over my drive axle in the back of the pickup... since i only fish the high mountain lakes of the oregon cascade range i find the extra weight over the axle is better than having the outboard hanging on the back of the skiff... moreover, many roads i drive on are extremely bumpy... plus the outboard weight over the axle gives me extra traction on snow and ice...

since my truck is pretty old i wanted my wifes truck to be fitted with a ball hitch in case i break down she can come and rescue me... be awful to not have the truck ready to tow in case i need it...

thanks again for your thoughts.

tws
 

smokeonthewater

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Ya know... A single short peice of angle iron would work too... One hole in one leg for the ball shank and two on the other leg for the chains
 

naturelover

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Strange that it wouldn't have places to hook the chains already. My Ranger has a couple of holes beneath the license plate in the backside of the bumper, hard to see if don't know they are there.
 
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