Towing no more than 3000#s

[fusseli]

I am now towing a 77" x 10' utility trailer with a Polaris RZR and a Kawasaki dirt bike. With the RZR being only 50" wide, they fit side-by-side on the trailer. I am probably @ 2500 lbs fully loaded and I can definitely tell that the stopping distance has increased. This was towing it on flat ground, I have not pulled it through the mountains yet. I am thinking it may be time to purchase an electric brake kit from eTrailer. I already have the RedArc brake controller installed. My trailer has the Dexter EZ Lube axle with the brake flanges. Probably looking at @ $500 in parts to do it myself. May be money well spent since I will be pulling this trailer through the AZ mountains.

Do it!

mine is also a Dexter EZ Lube. It really is a piece of cake to flush and regrease the hubs. Look up the axle user manual. This axle is also water submersible for water crossings if it matters to you.

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[JimG_AZ]

Do it!

mine is also a Dexter EZ Lube. It really is a piece of cake to flush and regrease the hubs. Look up the axle user manual. This axle is also water submersible for water crossings if it matters to you.

Yes, I will probably do it this soon. I just seems like a good idea, ! I should have done this a few months ago when I purchased the trailer used. One of my hubs was running quite worm/hot to the touch and had some play in it, so I swapped that hub with a new pre-packed hub. Probably should have gone to brakes then.

I was just pricing everything out on eTrailer.com. It will be @ $450 to get the left and right self-adjusting electric drum brake assemblies, (2) EZ Lube compatible hub and drum assemblies, the 7 pin plug and harness, and bearing grease. I can also go cheaper on Amazon but I am somewhat skeptical about that.

 

[Superspirit]

Yes, I will probably do it this soon. I just seems like a good idea, ! I should have done this a few months ago when I purchased the trailer used. One of my hubs was running quite worm/hot to the touch and had some play in it, so I swapped that hub with a new pre-packed hub. Probably should have gone to brakes then.

I was just pricing everything out on eTrailer.com. It will be @ $450 to get the left and right self-adjusting electric drum brake assemblies, (2) EZ Lube compatible hub and drum assemblies, the 7 pin plug and harness, and bearing grease. I can also go cheaper on Amazon but I am somewhat skeptical about that.

I purchased an electric brake kit from Amazon several years ago installed it on a 77"x12' utility trailer that I hauled a teryx around on. Still have the trailer and the brakes still work great.

 

[JimG_AZ]

I just completed the electric brake install on my utility trailer this evening. It was a pretty easy install, but it did take some time. Running the wires to the drums and converting the trailer from a 4 pin to a 7 pin plug was the most time consuming part of the installation. Hope to do a test tow in 2 to 3 weeks.

 

[subquark]

Pull a 2000-3000 lb trailer without brakes and slam on the truck brakes, or tow in rain/wet road surface and hit your truck brakes hard and see what happens.......
I guarantee you will be changing your undies....
Panic stop or wet road surface even hitting vehicle brakes you still have the weight of 2000-3000 lbs "pushing" you forward. You will either hit whatever is in front of you, or the trailer will fishtail, taking the truck with it.
It is just not worth the risk to tow without a control IF the trailer has brakes that require one.

As far as expense, you do not need to go the high dollar Ford unit. For around $100 get a Tekonsha Prodigy P2 tie it into the underdash factory wires and your done.

This!

I did add the Redarc Liberty and what a pain to do the wires. They are very short, and I am very short and old, contorting to make the connections was unpleasant. I wish I had gone this route.

Grumpaw even told me, at the time, to go with his setup.

Now he tows, he really and truly tows! He knows towing!

And now, the main thing I tow almost weekly is a tiny boat trailer that weighs around 900 pounds and doesn't have any brakes. So my contorting was for nothing. I mean, if I ever tow something with brakes, I'll be set, but the same would be true with a Tekonsha.

Safety wise, if it has brakes, even surge brakes, they're good at most any weight for poor conditions.

I'm not worried about my tiny setup but having brakes would stop any trailer sway, if caught immediately.

 

[JimG_AZ]

...I'm not worried about my tiny setup but having brakes would stop any trailer sway, if caught immediately.

Interesting point. I am not sure having trailer brakes would stop any trailer sway, but they would certainly help put the rig under control. Not sure what would happen if you were to lock the trailer brakes up and create a skid situation. That may not good. In a trailer sway situation, the trailer is moving faster than the tow vehicle. So, your options are (1) slow the trailer up, or (2) speed the tow vehicle up. If the conditions allow for it, speeding the tow vehicle up usually works. I have seen a few people on the highway recover for what I would call dangerous sway conditions by doing this. They probably had a skid mark in the underwear too after doing it, but they did save their trailer.

 

[JohnnyO]

Given that I’m never going to tow more than 2500-3000 pounds, much less most of the time, do I need to bother with a Brake Controller?

Check the towing laws in your state. It varies by state but most require trailer brakes of some sort (either surge or electric) once you're over 2000 lb.
I got a Curt Echo, $176 on Amazon, because I don't own a trailer but I rented one. Works via Bluetooth. I can use it because my truck has the tow package with a 7-pin plug.
Normally I just tow my jet ski which doesn't have brakes or need them. Truck doesn't even know it's back there.

 

[ControlNode]

Interesting point. I am not sure having trailer brakes would stop any trailer sway, but they would certainly help put the rig under control. Not sure what would happen if you were to lock the trailer brakes up and create a skid situation. That may not good. In a trailer sway situation, the trailer is moving faster than the tow vehicle. So, your options are (1) slow the trailer up, or (2) speed the tow vehicle up. If the conditions allow for it, speeding the tow vehicle up usually works. I have seen a few people on the highway recover for what I would call dangerous sway conditions by doing this. They probably had a skid mark in the underwear too after doing it, but they did save their trailer.

If the trailer is starting to sway, it's best to manually apply the trailer brakes, not the truck's brakes. Doing this will normally cause enough drag to pull the trailer straight behind the tow vehicle so you can regain control. If the manual application of the trailer brakes is locking the tires up, it's set too high and needs to be reduced. If set right, you can even tell if a tire on a dual axle loses its air pressure because that flat tire will lock up. I've had a road gator smack a valve stem before breaking it and I noticed as soon as I was stopping at a gas station and it locked up. Put the spare on and drove to destination and got a new stem installed.

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