Quote:
Originally Posted by paul
THE HITCH DID NOT HAVE HOOKS FOR SAFETY CHAINS.
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European towing practices for light trailers do not include the use of safety chains, so that's not surprising. Since North American rules (in most jurisdictions) require the use of safety chains, this is one reason that auto manufacturers do not endorse or support the use of Euro equipment in North America.
Since this omission may seem strange or even reckless, I'll note that in the typical North American removable ball mount system, the trailer could be hitched up and towed (for a while) with the pin (which retains the ball mount in the receiver) not secured or even entirely missing. With the vertical socket system shown in John's link (a typical design for premium removable goosenecks in Europe) if the removable component is not secured it falls down and the trailer can't be hitched up... so no surprise disconnection later due to missing a pin.
If all of the limits of the equipment and rules regarding their use are followed (meaning Euro rules, not North American rules and practices applied to Euro equipment and ratings), this doesn't seem to be a problem... unless someone knows of a big problem with runaway trailers in Europe.
Disclaimer: I do not know enough specifically about Paul's incident to know if the hitch system limits and operating rules were followed, and I am neither assuming that limits were exceeded nor assuming that rules were not followed. Of course, that also means I don't know of any reason to be concerned about Westfalia hitches.