[ODE] tips on stablizing chain links?

[vincent ngai]

Hi, I've to lift a body connected by two chains all made of universal joints
   o
  /  \
/      \
::::::::::

which looks like my crude ascii diagram. The way I've arranged it is a
long loop of linked bodies, with the middle one being the body that
connects to the cable(simple slider joint).
The simulation is  stable without the addition of the chains, after
adding the chains, the simulation sorta becomes weird. The chain
joints are not stablizing well, and there appear to be high torque at
various joints.

Are there any tips to creating stable chain links of say 10> joints? 

-- 
Regards,
Vincent