eHow launches Android app: Get the best of eHow on the go.
Summary: Safety chains on truck trailers hook up to the receiver tubes. Secure a truck trailer with safety chains by using tips from a custom car repairman in this free auto maintenance video.
Kirby Witt has been involved in the auto industry for many years. His grandfather had a Mobil Service Station for 60 years. At age 17, Kirby started his first auto body shop in South...read more
"Next we're going to hook the safety chains to the vehicle; these are just a short piece of chain, they're equal length on each side and what they're going to do is hook right onto the receiver tube here; and you want to make sure whenever these are hooked up that's don't hang down too long and drag on the ground. Sometimes you may have to cross them or sometimes you can turn them to shorten them up before you attach them; what these are going to do in the event the trailer would come unhooked from your vehicle for any reason they're going to keep the trailer with you which is not going to be fun but it's going to be a lot better then having a trailer cross the lane in oncoming traffic and go down the ditch and flip. But it's going to keep the trailer with your vehicle and give you an opportunity to slow the trailer down, and come to a stop more safely then without them."
eHow Article: Connecting Truck Trailer Safety Chains