I hook the chains and attach the emergency brake cable to a seperate anchor point in the truck bed.

http://www.towingworld.com/articles/TowingLaws.htm

Same here, since mine is a hauler bed I added another ring by where I hook my chains up to hook the brake wire too.  Not sure if its right or not, but I have my brake wire just a little shorter than my chains so if the trailer does come off the ball or ball breaks the brake wire will pull out and lock up before I get to the end of the chains.

I hook both chains and the breakaway cable to the hooks in the bed,and I also have cable slightly shorter than chain.I questioned the cable placement but could find nothing better.

                                Jerry

In our state chains are mandatory and expensive if you're caught without them. The safety wire should not be attached to the hitch. If it fails, you will have no "E" brakes.

Here's some previous discussions:

http://www.horsetrailerworld.com/forum/thread-view.asp?threadid=11962&start=1

 I read the other threads but I am confused about one thing.  On a gooseneck you attach the chains to the designated places on each side of the ball.  Do you not attach the emergency break away brake cable to one of those places?  Are you saying that you need a third anchor in the bed to attach that little cable to?

There is a lot of good information in those threads!

It may not be right,but,my husband does the hooking up and he has always put the cable loop over the ball hitch.I don't know where else we'd hook it because we're not going to install a separate place just for that cable.Some wind it around through one of the chains but it still has to be hooked in a manner that it would be activated if pulled,and just winding it through one of the chains doesn't seem as if it would do that.

It's the law in this state, if you're pulling a trailer of a certain weight, to have an emergency breakaway kit on it.It's the law if you're pulling any type of trailer behind a truck,no matter what it is,there must be safety chains.

I know why they are crossed on a BP,but,has anybody ever had one come off the ball hitch loaded and had those crossed chains to hold it? I had one come off when I pulled up into our driveway which was on a small hill,but there was nothing in it.I think we all know those chains wouldn't do squat on a steel 3H trailer that was loaded.But,it's the law.That's why I've always had breakaway kits installed on my BP trailers if they did not come with one.

Thanks jackbrat.

That's what I do and just wanted to make sure it was ok.  There are two rings sticking up through the truck bed, one on each side of the ball.  These are where I attach the chains and I attach the breakaway emergency brake cable to one of those and NOT to the chain itself. 

Thanks for clearing that up for me. 

sorry, didn't use spell-check!

Carabiner clip

Grade 70 3/8" chain has a breaking strength of 26,400 lbs.  Two chains = 52,800 lbs of breaking strength, I would think that will hold anything that gets loose behind a pickup.

Attaching the BREAK AWAY cable to the same point as the safety chains is wrong, and usually illegal.  If the trailer has 'broken away' from the pickup, it's a fair assumption some or all of the hitch went with it meaning the pin will not be pulled...... 

To answer the question;  Yes I use the chains, yes they will hold.  No the break away cable does not go around the ball, or anywhere near the chains, it goes to a seperate anchor point.

We use the chains on the eyebolts mounted on either side of the gn ball. We hook the breakaway up over to the side of the bed making sure it is shorter than the chains so the brakes are activated before the chains can grap hold.

To answer the question;  Yes I use the chains, yes they will hold.  No the break away cable does not go around the ball, or anywhere near the chains, it goes to a seperate anchor point.

Mine didn't.

The EB brake wire should be SHORTER than the chains. You want the brakes to engage before the trailer is hanging on the chains. Having the chains attached to your truck will enable you to guide it safely to a stop. Otherwise it is an unguided missile and can head in any direction. Do you want to see your horses head over the edge of the road, or slam head on into an oncoming vehicle filled with a family?

As previous posters have related, with the chains installed, they brought their trailers to a safe stop when they became unattached. Little damage occurred and no one was hurt. It would be a quite different scenario if the trailer were on its own at highway speeds.

OK then, I'll check into other options for anchoring the be cable for the gn.   I have a B & W Turnover Ball hitch.  It's not obvious where that would be and it is odd that there isn't a separate anchor point provided.   I'm interested to hear the ideas on the relative length of the be cable as well.  Is it illegal in some states, then, to connect the be cable to the chain anchor point on a B & W Tunronever Ball hitch?

Thanks!

It's easy on a bumper pull to fasten the be cable to a third anchor point so it is never an issue there. 

I wanted to add a question.  Is there a place to find this kind of law about pulling trailers in various states?  I've seen the sites that have the list of general trailer pulling laws, but this is a bit more specific than anything I've seen.  Thanks.