COBRA Anti-Sway Coupler

John DeRosa OHM Ω http://aviation.derosaweb.net wrote on 9/6/2020 6:43 AM:
On Saturday, September 5, 2020 at 3:54:38 PM UTC-5, Eric Greenwell wrote:
John DeRosa OHM Ω http://aviation.derosaweb.net wrote on 9/5/2020 1:33 PM:
I am all about two heavy duty crossed chains as a last line of defense. Had a glider trailer come off the ball in a patch of rough downtown Omaha construction zone (cause - underjaw not tight enough). The chains saved the day causing nothing more than a broken 4-flat cable.

I have heard that in Europe that chains are not required (not allowed?).. True? Something about saving the driver by getting rid of the trailer instead of tipping over the vehicle. While I get that concept I would much rather risk my own life than injure, or kill, an innocent person hit by my trailer.

The trailers have a "break-away" cable that activates the handbrake on a Cobra
trailers, so the trailer will slow and stop. It might be better to have a loose
trailer that is braking hard, than an out of control-car-sliding around with a
trailer attached. The crossed chains you and I use is the usual recommendation,
but I doubt it would keep the trailer stable at highway speeds, even behind a
heavy, stable vehicle; instead, it is likely to begin whipping widely until you
slowed down, the chains broke, or it hit something.


--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to email me)
- "A Guide to Self-Launching Sailplane Operation"
https://sites.google.com/site/motorg...ad-the-guide-1

Eric - While most modern glider trailers have a brake activation cable (Cobra in particular) my event was years ago while pulling a home built trailer which, unfortunately, did not have any brakes at all. I was probably going 60mph-ish (100kph-ish) when the trailer did a pretty wild dance shaking up my 2003 Nissan Pathfinder. I thought it was a flat tire. I let off on the gas (no braking initially) and coasted to a safe stop.

Maybe this is obvious but bears repeating - the point of the crossed chains is keeping the coupler off the ground. My newer Cobra trailer has a V shaped "stand" welded to the tongue's underside to also help keep the coupler off the ground. These features attempt to prevent the coupler from dragging on the pavement to avoid hitting a gap in the road's surface which can cause the trailer to come to a very abrupt stop, probably immediately severing the trailer/vehicle connection. Not good.

Still, am I right that trailer chains are not used in Europe?

I believe you are correct about chains, though I don't know if all the countries
in Europe are the same on this. The V shaped plate on Cobra trailers is definitely
there to protect the parking brake mechanism and to prevent the parking brake from
being released if the trailer disconnects and the tongue slides along the
pavement. It might also be intended to do as you suggest.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to email me)
- "A Guide to Self-Launching Sailplane Operation"
https://sites.google.com/site/motorg...ad-the-guide-1