Yes. The break-away switch should only active IF the trailer gets completely free of the tow vehicle. It's to slow it down in the event it becomes free.

 Yes, if the ball were to break, or the coupler, the safety chains SHOULD not let go, and you would have a rough ride slowing down the rig while it's dragging on the ground, but that's the way it is designed.

 Yes, the chains can in fact break as well!!! All it would take is someone T-boning your vehicle and trailer at the hitch itself. A 3500+ pound vehicle could easily break the hitch and chains, and the safety switch would engage the trailer brakes to slow it down.

Keep it up and you folks are going to coerce me into telling my full embarrassing story....

I do know that the runaway e-brake cable does work when connected to the receiver chains hook up place, but IMO it's better looped over the ball.  

When my pod came off it did work, but it caught on the little wire flap things on the runaway chain and bent out that and pulled off and dragged on the road, but not before locking up the brakes thus saving the rpod (and my tailgate)-- all at about 15mph from six miles down the road from where I hooked up and then somehow drove at 65 mph into town with an unhooked hitch.  Cripes.  Duh. 

It all screeched to a slow speed halt, thank you God, no damage save the bottom of the jack stand ground down a bit because I didn't have my chains crossed and tightened/twisted up properly.  Learned that lesson in spades. 

A nice pedestrian nearby ran over and we picked up the tongue and set it back on the ball and I rapidly escaped the ridicule that was no doubt occurring with the other observers.    

The  hitch on my pod has now done that to me three times since then, but it was always caught during my new hook up procedure. 

I now always drop the trailer on the ball, hitch it up and then again raise the jack to see for sure if she's on.  It better lift the pickup when I jack it up.   And I now also grease the ball. 

It's just a crappy cheap hitch compared to all the others I've used.   Unlike the Bulldog hitch.   

Three other times I found it should have been shut, it appeared safe, the pin went in and the clip went down, but then I could crank  it up off of  the ball.  Too much paint on the new hitch is one cause, and frankly it's not a very good hitch. 

A "friend" of mine used to sneak up and jerk on my gooseneck horse trailer runaway cable hitch when the opportunity presented itself as a joke to lock up the brakes and keep me behind him on the road.....so be aware of that too.  If your brakes are locked up check the pin on the runaway unit to see if some clown has tripped it. 

I now loop the runaway over the ball  , and have for several years with no problemo. 

Happy travels. 

 The wire cable attaching it should be just long enough  to be clipped into the receiver like the safety chains. It should be free from the safety chains , sway bar, weight distributing hitch, or any other obstructions.  Good Luck!

The cable or wire that attaches to the plastic plug that, when pulled out, activates the emergency brake, was turned over to me at the dealership intertwined in one of the safety chains, and was never attached to anything, nor was I instructed to connect it to the TV.  I questioned that in my mind, but being a novice, I thought, "Oh well, they must know what they're doing."

When the plug came out, the brakes locked and ultimately burst into flames, I put the fire out and then looked at the plastic plug. It was dangling, completely loose from its socket.

I'm concerned that if it came loose once for no apparent reason, it could do it again.  Of course, this time I'd recognize that it wasn't the truck causing the problem, but the brakes locking on wet pavement could cause a problem.  

Thanks again!

David

I've never heard of looping the end over the ball but it would work.  I would worry about it getting jammed up into the assembly, though.  I attach mine with a spring clip to the hitch where the chains attach.

 The breakaway cable is design to pull out IF the trailer actually "breaks away" from the tow vehicle. it slows down the trailer in the event of a wreck and the trailer breaks loose.

 If the selling dealer didn't explain how to connect the break away safety cable , shame on them.

Sorry to hear of your problems, but I am a bit confused---Are you talking about the little wire cable that activates the emergency brake lock-up switch?  It is a thin cable with a loop in one end.  The loop should go over the hitch ball before the trailer is lowered down and in the event of the trailer coming off the ball as the trailer goes back it tugs on the cable and thereby locks up the brakes.  It's an important safety feature for yourself, and for others.   

Having the plastic trailer connector plug come out should not cause your brakes to lock up unless it tugs on the emergency cable somehow.  

Odd situation either way. 

Your dealer shouldhave walked you thru all of that on what goes where and how to hook it up.  Bad on 'em if they didn't. 

Hope you've used up all your camper trailer bad luck and it's happy towing from here on.   

My question to the group is:  how is the e-brake (nomenclature?) supposed to be routed and where does it connect?  The dealer delivered it to me with the e-brake cable intertwined in one of the safety chains and connected to nothing, so that's the way I was pulling the trailer.  Is this correct?  Where would I find an authoritative answer to how the cable should be routed?

Any suppositions on how it came out and how to prevent a recurrence?

Thanks much,

David

I tend to cause even more damage when I try to fix things myself, so I'll probably bite the bullet and take it back to Camping World.  The smoke was coming from the wheels, but the flames, I believe, were in the wiring to the brakes.  Seems like we were warned during orientation that disconnecting the kill switch for more than a few seconds with the power on would cause damage.

Here's to better experiences in the future!

Just then a car pulled along side us and a man yelled, "Your trailer's on fire!"  I pulled over, jumped out, disconnected the power, grabbed the fire extinguisher, and dowsed the flames coming from around the wheels.

We somehow made it 80 miles home, but when I would apply the truck brakes, the trailer's brakes would seem to lock, and the slower I was going when I applied them, the worse it was.  I thought of disconnecting the power, but I didn't want to pull an RV with no brake lights or turn signals.

My question is - and I was getting to a question - how much damage do you think I've done to the trailer? Are the brakes just toast, or will it go deeper than that?

Nice to have met all of you.  And happy camping.