Pajero before and after spare lift.

[Paikea]

Following are pics of the rear of my NT Pajero showing how far the rear door would open before the Spare Lift Bracket was fitted and afterwards.

The only thing that stops the door opening virtually all the way is the brake handle which just touches the bottom of the door. If I cut 15 mm of the handle it would clear completely stopping only when it touches the winch post.

Before fitting the lift plate.

After fitting the Lift Plate raising the spare 50 mm..

The brake lever just touched the door.

Cheers

Paikea

[chocolate]

Hope your not using that carabina style clip to hold the boat to the tow bar mount, It not rated , That's what it looks like .

[Welster]

Thanks for taking the trouble to show the pics. Accessing your winch power supply should be much easier.

I think I'd be shortening the handbrake or putting some foam or something on it to protect the car. Especially if your going to open the door on an incline.

[Paikea]

chocolate, on 09 May 2014 - 4:44 PM, said:

Hope your not using that carabina style clip to hold the boat to the tow bar mount, It not rated , That's what it looks like .

Hi Chocolate

Yes I am using the unrated Carabiners to attach the chains to the bar. I am not aware of any law that requires rated connections but if one does apply there are a lot of trailers and caravans breaking the law.

Your typical D shackle that is mostly used normally has a very loose thread making it the weakest link. Same on my rig, the Carabiner is connected to the chain with an unrated D shackle. However as the Carabiner is made from 10mm stainless steel I figure that the D shackle will pull apart long before the Carabiner straightens out.

As far as I know the purpose of the chains is to catch and hold the trailer if the coupling comes undone, the ball breaks or similar mishap. If that is correct should the weight on the chains not be similar to the down force of the A frame when all is connected? If the chains are intended to keep the van/trailer attached regardless of the forces at play would this not make for a very dangerous situation?

I have seen the results of some bad Caravan accidents and one Double D accident outback that sheared the connecting pin that holds the trailer to the rotating A frame. In that case the A Frame and wheels ended up 300 m down from where the prime mover ended up, on its side! The caravan accidents that I have seen invariably had the vans totally wiped out and coming to rest some distance from the tow vehicles.

Mt thoughts at the time were that if the trailer/vans had stayed connected to the towing vehicle the tow vehicle would likely have been damaged to a much greater extent.

So I guess my question is, firstly is their a law that requires the trailer to stay connected to the tow vehicle via the chains? If there is, why do the inspection stations not check the connections for compliance?

Secondly, if there is no such law, what are the circumstances that the chains are expected to deal with?

And why do some car manufacturers suggest different ways to attach the chains? My son in laws Jeep recommends crossing the chains over the top of the coupling whilst most recommend crossing under. Which is best/correct?

Finally. please don't think that I am having a go at you over your comment. You have raised a very important topic that I am sure many raiders would like to see cleared up.

Thanks for taking the trouble to show the pics. Accessing your winch power supply should be much easier.

Weist said; I think I'd be shortening the handbrake or putting some foam or something on it to protect the car. Especially if your going to open the door on an incline.

That is what I am going to do, cut 25 mm off the lever and cold gall the cut.

Cheers and thank you both for your responses.

Paikea

[chocolate]

Hi Chocolate

Yes I am using the unrated Carabiners to attach the chains to the bar. I am not aware of any law that requires rated connections but if one does apply there are a lot of trailers and caravans breaking the law.

Your typical D shackle that is mostly used normally has a very loose thread making it the weakest link. Same on my rig, the Carabiner is connected to the chain with an unrated D shackle. However as the Carabiner is made from 10mm stainless steel I figure that the D shackle will pull apart long before the Carabiner straightens out.

As far as I know the purpose of the chains is to catch and hold the trailer if the coupling comes undone, the ball breaks or similar mishap. If that is correct should the weight on the chains not be similar to the down force of the A frame when all is connected? If the chains are intended to keep the van/trailer attached regardless of the forces at play would this not make for a very dangerous situation?

I have seen the results of some bad Caravan accidents and one Double D accident outback that sheared the connecting pin that holds the trailer to the rotating A frame. In that case the A Frame and wheels ended up 300 m down from where the prime mover ended up, on its side! The caravan accidents that I have seen invariably had the vans totally wiped out and coming to rest some distance from the tow vehicles.

Mt thoughts at the time were that if the trailer/vans had stayed connected to the towing vehicle the tow vehicle would likely have been damaged to a much greater extent.

So I guess my question is, firstly is their a law that requires the trailer to stay connected to the tow vehicle via the chains? If there is, why do the inspection stations not check the connections for compliance?

Secondly, if there is no such law, what are the circumstances that the chains are expected to deal with?

And why do some car manufacturers suggest different ways to attach the chains? My son in laws Jeep recommends crossing the chains over the top of the coupling whilst most recommend crossing under. Which is best/correct?

Finally. please don't think that I am having a go at you over your comment. You have raised a very important topic that I am sure many raiders would like to see cleared up.

Thanks for taking the trouble to show the pics. Accessing your winch power supply should be much easier.

Weist said; I think I'd be shortening the handbrake or putting some foam or something on it to protect the car. Especially if your going to open the door on an incline.

That is what I am going to do, cut 25 mm off the lever and cold gall the cut.

Cheers and thank you both for your responses.

Paikea

Hello Paikea, I don't think there this a law for these tow bar connection, But for example you don't want go down the highway and say the trailer comes of the tow ball if your got a shit/ cheap d shackle with the weight and motion the will break / snap / stretch , and disconnect then if at speed your trailer will go anywhere. You want it to stay connected. That's why everything has to be rated , proply, You see now with these new 4wd;s that the tow bar has d shackles on both sides at the bottom there painted yellow and there the proper rated d shackles. If you are to connect trailer to car then you need these to be again d shackle that are rated. You cant put just any cheap shackle on your trailer cause under weight they wont hold. And I don't think INSURANCE will tell you this until its to late , THEN SORRY THEY SAY YOU HAVE NOT THE RIGHT RATED CONNECTIONS. I myself have a big boat and one day, I broke down up the coast , the towie put my car on the tilt tray and boat he towed home , on the way home this truckie pulled up next to us and talking on the CB he said is that you towing the boat , Yes it is . What happened is cause of bounce in the road the d shackle that held the boat down on trailer on the front could not handle the load so the boat was bouncing around on the trailer the only thing holding the boat was the strap on the back, SHIT I WAS LUCKY. So that's my point, there are lots of people out there who don't connect to there trailers proply. It is a touchy subject which I don't think many people take much care about until its to late. And I don't take offence about at your comments SAFTY FIRST that's why where here for taking advise and listen to others and there views. But I think everyone should take NOTICE and check there trailers.

[Paikea]

Thanks Choc, where do I get the rated shackles and what size should I get?

Also, how should the chains be connected, under or over the coupling?

My boat is held onto the trailer by two straps to the transom, one strap over the boat about 600 from the transom, the bow is held by the (electric) winch rope.((the special rope sold for that purpose) and a yachting fitting (the type that has a right and left thread so that you can tighten the connection) that is connected to the boat and the winch post via D shackles. Guess I will need to change them also.

Thanks for the info, maintaining insurance is the big incentive I think. Never thought of that before you mentioned it.

Cheers

Paikea

[chocolate]

Thanks Choc, where do I get the rated shackles and what size should I get?

Also, how should the chains be connected, under or over the coupling?

My boat is held onto the trailer by two straps to the transom, one strap over the boat about 600 from the transom, the bow is held by the (electric) winch rope.((the special rope sold for that purpose) and a yachting fitting (the type that has a right and left thread so that you can tighten the connection) that is connected to the boat and the winch post via D shackles. Guess I will need to change them also.

Thanks for the info, maintaining insurance is the big incentive I think. Never thought of that before you mentioned it.

Hello Paikea , Got to be honest I have never bought them , they fell of the back of the truck LOL. I guess from 4wd shops or people who supply tow bars. As for size could not tell you with out looking but I think there rated at 2500kg to 3500kg rating. For example my boat weight is 2800kg to 3000kg when in transport, one strap over back with 2500kg loaded strap rating, And at the front of the boat because of what happened last time I got Crane chain which is bolted to the frame next to the winch, which is connected to the boat with a stainless steel rated carabena at 3500kg. Also because of the incident I welded a extra bracket between the tow ball and the winch on the trailer which then I also put another 2500kg strap which is connected to the boat, This is on an angle when you look at it.

My chains go under and cross ways and connected with 2 stainless carabeanas rated at 3500kg each. Edited May 10, 2014 by chocolate

[Fab1]

Keep in mind shackles are only as strong as the chains and attachment points used.

You can buy shackles/carabiners like these ones I have from places like whitworths/blackwoods etc.

Get ones rated higher than your bmt when fully loaded by a few hundred kg.

I prefer bow shackles, high tensile chain and strengthened anchor points on vechicles/trailers than the ones supplied.

Sent from my GT-I8730T using Tapatalk

[chocolate]

Keep in mind shackles are only as strong as the chains and attachment points used.

You can buy shackles/carabiners like these ones I have from places like whitworths/blackwoods etc.

Get ones rated higher than your bmt when fully loaded by a few hundred kg.

I prefer bow shackles, high tensile chain and strengthened anchor points on vechicles/trailers than the ones supplied.

Sent from my GT-I8730T using Tapatalk

fab1, love your work.

[antonywardle]

is it a single chain or is there one one each side?

If there is one on each side, I prefer to cross them under

the drawbar, what way, if your trailer "falls off", you have a

better chance of lifting it back up to get the jockey wheel

down.

I'd never considered the d-shackles needing to be rated either.

Mine are usually bigger than the chain so I'm guessing that

the weld/chain/anchor point on the car is the weak link?