I have an 06' Scew, and a 05' 6x12 enclosed utility trailer.
I hooked uped to the trailer for the first time with this truck just the other day, and I had one heck of a time hooking up the safty chains. I have the factory hitch, and it is way to hard to hook/unhhook my chains, it seems more like its in the design of the hiich. so now iam looking to buy some new chains. has anyone eles ran into this problem, and if so what did you do. I figure new chains with a smaller "hook" or even just do a clasp thing. comments suggestions ????
thanks all in advance

 

I just put "quick links" (the kind that have a threaded piece on them to close them) permanently on my hitch, then I hook the safety chains to them.

 

what kind of chains are they? cause i hook up my car trailor, and my 24' aluminum triple axle all the time and have never had that problem. Got any pics?

 

I also used the "Quick Links" for 7 years with no problems. My hooks were the large cast hooks that came with my travel trailer. I would prefer not to use the lighter bent metal rod hooks..........

 

I got an 05 with factory hitch I haven't towed with it yet but the holes look small for chains to go into I'll find out when ever I will get a chance to tow with it.

 

I just bought a 7X16 enclosed trailer and was struggling with the chains as well. The guy at the dealership showed me a trick to them, and it was to have the clip straight up and down, lift it so it faces down while pressing the clip in, and it slides right out. It's a breeze to get them on and off now after learning how to do it right. It is probably hard to explain without showing hands on, but try to rotate the bottom end up while pressing the clip in and see if you can't get it to work better. The clip was always verticle, never angled or horizontal. Give that a try and see if that works for you.

 

You are right about those holes in the factory hitch being hard to put the chain hook into. I go through a bit of a struggle putting my TT hooks in, I feel OK using them as is though. If they are hard to put in maybe they will be less likely to fall off.

 

thanks guys for all the feedback, i ended up just going to the hardware store and picking up a set of the quick links as mentioned, they work great!
05Roush, Ill try that trick this weekend when i hook up again, i will have some time to play around with it! thanks again!

 

I had a problem with my snap hooks on my car trailer's safety chains. They fit on my old Suburban fine but they were too small for my F150. So I replaced them with larger ones.