I give up, what's the right way to do this.
Extensive perusing through catalogues and online keeps turning up a short length of chain with an open ended "S" hook that presumeably engages a hole in heavy steel flat stock or a heavy steel hoop of some sort, on the bumper of the towing vehicle.
I can't believe the "S" hooks on the end of the safety chain is it. What retains the S hook to the hole or hoop? I also have a hard time believing an S hook wouldn't just get straightened out (and let go) if it got seriously yanked on by a heavy enough unhitched trailer.
There has got to be something off the shelf better than this? Combined with other research I've done on the subject these past several days, I can't help but conclude that every trailer safety chain installation is something "custom cobbled" by each individual who tows a trailer, this in the absence of anything that looks like a universally approved and accepted safety chain "system" (chain, connection and connection receptacle) that would instill confidence at a glance. Perhaps this is because 99% of the time a trailer doesn't become unhitched and it's irrelavent that the secondary system is (near) useless?
I dunno, but for that 1 % occurance seems like you'd want something near as reliable as the primary system.
I realize the question is not exactly metal working but I figure I'm legal in asking here on account of I need to incorporate proper safety chain connections for an RV bumper I just built and I'm not happy with anything I've found "store bought" that I can configure a connection for.
Besides, I bet there are a bunch of you here that have had first hand experience (good and BAD) with this very situation.
Have I just been looking in the wrong catalogues and websites or is safety chain technology "state of art" as lacking as it looks?
Any insight on the subject would be most appreciated.
Dennis van Dam