Breakaway cable length

Ours feeds through a hole in a cross member that prevents if reaching the floor.

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Actually that's not true. Alko make the cable for their chassis and hitch, so that will be the same for everyone, then we learn that the regulation for the attachment point is within 10cm of the ball, which is the same for everyone. So there's no question of too long for some, too short for another.

It might be that not everyone has a regulation attachment point .....  . it could even be a new(ish) caravan on the back of a pre 97 car with a none type approved towbar 

On my Lunar (which is an Alko chassis/hitch) there is a hole in the end of the chassis rails (where the hitch head attaches) through which the cable passed.This keeps the cable off the floor.

The cable is fairly rigid and with van attached, both the original and replacement cable appears a little too long for my set-up (Witter fixed towbar with connection hole immediately behind the tow ball)

I have not done anything with this cable but on the previous van I made a small loop in the cable close to the hand-brake attachment and held it in place with a couple of very light weight cable ties. Engineer never commented on it when servicing the van.

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Weve looped ours near the handbrake attachment too. Except we used tape not cable ties to hold it. It seems like a bit of a bodge to me when Alko should be making the cable shorter.

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Actually that's not true. Alko make the cable for their chassis and hitch, so that will be the same for everyone, then we learn that the regulation for the attachment point is within 10cm of the ball, which is the same for everyone. So there's no question of too long for some, too short for another.

It might be that not everyone has a regulation attachment point .....  . it could even be a new(ish) caravan on the back of a pre 97 car with a none type approved towbar 

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People with older tow bars need to use the alternative cable with a weaker clip, and loop it around the towball. It's the later tow bar spec with direct connection that I'm posting about.

Sounds like I should be looking at the stronger clip for my tow bar (it has a hole for a clip) but I am struggling to work up any great enthusiasm to replace the existing one 

Sounds like I should be looking at the stronger clip for my tow bar (it has a hole for a clip) but I am struggling to work up any great enthusiasm to replace the existing one 

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I sympathise. There was a very active thread, culminating with "ask an expert" on the whole subject recently. The conclusion was that direct fixing required a stronger clip. As the correct cable only cost us about £6, my OH bought and fitted the "best practice" one. It took less than 10 mins to fit, the biggest part of the job being to close the hook at one end into a loop. As caravan breakaways are rare, but perhaps life threatening when they do occur, we decided to lash out the £6 for a replacement. In reality I think that you'd be very unlucky to have a breakaway and a cable failure and a fatality. But how would you feel if such a tragedy occurred and you might have done more to prevent it?

 ..... It's the later tow bar spec with direct connection that I'm posting about.

I know what you're talking about, but there's nothing to stop you clipping your newer caravan to your older towcar using one of these http://www.towsure.com/towbar-breakaway-cable-bracket I made my own & rightly or wrongly clipped directly to my car ..... I never liked the idea of looping the cable over the towball - just seems half baked to me.

Ask ALKO to make you a special short(er) one ..... they might catch on 

 ..... It's the later tow bar spec with direct connection that I'm posting about.

I know what you're talking about, but there's nothing to stop you clipping your newer caravan to your older towcar using one of these http://www.towsure.com/towbar-breakaway-cable-bracket I made my own & rightly or wrongly clipped directly to my car ..... I never liked the idea of looping the cable over the towball - just seems half baked to me.

Ask ALKO to make you a special short(er) one ..... they might catch on 

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That was an interesting link to Towsure who, clearly and I believe incorrectly, print that it is now "illegal" to loop around the tow ball. However if you fitted their bracket you, like us, would need a shorter cable. I think I'll write to Alko because I think that everyone with a purpose built attachment point on a current tow bar needs a shorter cable.

Sounds like I should be looking at the stronger clip for my tow bar (it has a hole for a clip) but I am struggling to work up any great enthusiasm to replace the existing one 

Write your comments here...

I sympathise. There was a very active thread, culminating with "ask an expert" on the whole subject recently. The conclusion was that direct fixing required a stronger clip. As the correct cable only cost us about £6, my OH bought and fitted the "best practice" one. It took less than 10 mins to fit, the biggest part of the job being to close the hook at one end into a loop. As caravan breakaways are rare, but perhaps life threatening when they do occur, we decided to lash out the £6 for a replacement. In reality I think that you'd be very unlucky to have a breakaway and a cable failure and a fatality. But how would you feel if such a tragedy occurred and you might have done more to prevent it?

Do you have to bend the clip jenny? I wonder if that weakens it defeating the object. Certainly the mountain type carabineer has to pass various stress tests and if bent has to be thrown away. 

Seems alko have made about as good a job with all this as they have with their spare wheel carrier 

Do you have to bend the clip jenny? I wonder if that weakens it defeating the object. Certainly the mountain type carabineer has to pass various stress tests and if bent has to be thrown away. 

Seems alko have made about as good a job with all this as they have with their spare wheel carrier 

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Its not the caribina which needs bending, it's the other end where it attaches to the bottom of the handbrake. It's sold with a hook shaped end made from hard steel. If it isn't closed it is likely to fall off the large, heavy duty, key ring style of coupling with the handbrake, which was part of the van when supplied new.