Trailer Brakes Do I need it ?
 

I am posting this under modification because its exactly what I am thinking on doing. My Trailer Brakes are locking up again on a different hub this time.
The last time this happened the dealership replaced the entire hub/caliper hoses etc all under warranty.
When I cam back home from Boating last week it was so hot it was melting the grease and slinging it around the rim, what a mess ...
I am seriously thinking on removing all four disc brakes, I rinse and wash this crap and yet it acts up on me.
My fear is it will lock up, overheat the hub/rim and explode my tires and create havoc on the HWY.
My old trailer which was also a double axle no brakes was easier to haul.
Any DOT regulations I need to worry about? or I am doing something wrong?

ny. i am also in fl and i believe you are required to have brakes on anything over 3000lb. with brakes on ALL wheels. so far i have not seen a lot of enforcement and don't know of anybody getting a ticket. i also have a tandem axel with no brakes and would not consider putting them on unless they step up enforcement. my normal trailering is about 5 miles and speeds under 35 mph. i do trailer to the keys every 2 years and have been very lucky, it is a 12 hour drive with a very high pucker factor. i guess a lot of the decision is your normal route to the water.

X2, over 3K and legally you are required to have em. With that said I don't have em on any of my boat trailers, and probably never will. If you have a decent size tow vehicle then I say use your head and disconnect em. Just remember though, if you get into a bad accident without em, you could be found liable even if it wasn't your fault because you didn't have brakes.

A lot also depends on the tow vehicle. Legal considerations aside for the moment, the one thing you must consider is can you stop the trailer and the boat safely in an emergency? If you have a big tow vehicle like a full size pick up in the F150 class or above then you shouldn't need brakes on the trailer. But for lighter vehicles (even those with good braking systems) you have to have brakes on the trailer. In an emergency stop situation the mass and the inertia of the boat and trailer can literally push your car right into an accident.

As to the brakes themselves, I know that everyone in the industry says get disk brakes.... but I've been using drum brakes for tens of years with no problems... Just remember to clean them and do normal maintenace on them and they will last you as long as your trailer. Oh... and (IMHO) use surge brakes, not electric.. I've heard too many horror stories about electric systems.. Hydraulic surge brake systems are simple... and simple is usually better. Just my 2 cents :head:

I had never had brakes on a trailer before I got my new trailer last year for the V........now every timeI have to stop in a hurry I say, "man its nice to have trailer brakes".

Of course my trailer is new and not acting up yet.

Like the other say, if its a short slow tow and you have a big truck, and you can stand the liability, take em off.

I have never had them and never want them!! The ones on the Sea Ox were messing up when I got it and nw the drums are empty and I never filling them up again!

My trailer was brand new in 2005. The drum brakes were toast by 2007. I went to move the trailer one day and one side was locked. I love trailer brakes but salt really takes a toll on em. I just take it easy and remember to keep a good distance b/t other vehicles and start braking well before any stops and it doesn't seem to be a problem. I'm sure it wears out the brake pads on the Yukon much faster but its a trade-off.

They have flush kits you can install so that when you flush your engine you can just attach the hose to the kit and flush your brakes also. Gets the salt out.. Yes, they will still rust, like everything else that's made of metal.. but it really helps lenghten the service life of them. I figure a hundred dollars every 4-5 years is a sound investment vs the cost of a single lawsuit. :head:

My trailer had the flush kit from the factory. Flushed every time every time I took out of the salt. I spray the leaf springs at the car wash with freshwater immediately after taking out as well. Always put in at the lake when I get home which should help the trailer some too. The Yukon does a pretty good job stopping it so I'm not too worried about it. One less thing to maintain.

I don't own anything, except bills and they can have them!!

Are all disk brakes giving problems? Is it just one manufacturer? I installed a set of SS Kodiak Disks on one of the trailers. So far so good.

I've been using S.S Kodiak disc brakes on all my trailers, never had a problem of a lock up or not working, the only major break down i usually have is with the back up solenoid, which trailer companies had send me new one for free.

I have heard complaints on this site in the past about the Tie Down brand brake products.

Thanks guys all good ideas so far. Ridge its one hub at the moment starboard front , last time its was port front ! This trailer is brand new with less than 500 miles.
Here is the tag on the trailer I will call Shorelander in regards to the brand of brakes. I have no idea what brand or type it is.
My Dealer is useless, they are happy to bill Shorelander with all repairs, my issue is this should never happen something is wrong, it will create a disaster blowing out my tires etc on the highway, I just know it. The wheel was so hot it was frying the water off when I arrived home. I know something was wrong on my way home I refuse to believe the brakes were locking up again. Little did I know ...My that Chevy was hauling it with ease. I did notice the 3K on the RPM's ...Great one once said common sense is not so common :)

For the record I finally pull the Brakes off the front axle today. One less crap to worry about.

:clap::clap::clap:

I know that there are people on this site that do not agree with me on this one, and I respect their opinions, but I still think that brakes are a necessity for boats of our size and larger. We're not talking about a little 14 foot rowboat with a 9.9 on it, we're talking about 4-5 thousand pounds of needed extra stopping power you're putting on your vehicles brakes. Somethings gonna give some day and I pray no one dies when it does. There's a reason that they put brakes on trailers... and it's not just to make extra money when they're sold. So respectfully, I disagree with anyone that says you don't need them. :head: IMHO

And if you're having problems with your disk brakes, then switch to drums.. Yes, they rust, and yes, you'll have to maintain them, but they've never locked up on me in all the years I've been boating. (and that's a loooooong time)

My 250 Sportsman's trailer does not have brakes. On a good day it does not cause an issue. But i am towing with a diesel 3500 srw. The only time i ever had trouble was on a rainy night a light changed on me and i hit the brakes right on top of a manhole cover after a few seconds of hopping it slowed right down. Thats the only problem i have had in the 4 years i have owned the boat.

In New Jersey you would be subject to a ticket and fine for towing like that. Our law states, and I quote: "If the GVWR (including load) is more than 3,000 lbs. or 40% of the towing vehicle's gross weight, the trailer must be equipped with brakes."

http://www.dmv-department-of-motor-v...r_vehicles.htm

(It's nice to have a wife that works for the DMV.. She knows where to find all the laws)

Since a V20 and trailer is over 3000 lbs, you're required to have brakes on your trailer.

Additionally, if you are in an accident, and your trailer doesn't have brakes and is required to have them, you leave yourself open to bigger lawsuits if the accident is deemed to have been caused by you, due to negligence on your part. If the accident isn't caused by you you still are open to a charge of contributory negligence due to the fact that you didn't have the required safety equipment.

To me, it's cheap money to have your trailer equiped with brakes.

I still have brakes on the rear axle, I only remove the front ones.
I use the SR528 which is the Autobahnen of Florida, legal at 70 MPH folks drive at 90 MPH with little or no enforcement and absolutely no shoulder to pull over in an emergency.
A very good friend of mine died on the Van Wick Expressway in NY 25 years ago changing a flat tire, and I never seem to forget the way it happened. I am scared to death been at the side of the road ever since.
When my Brakes locked up the wheel is literally on fire, this will eventuality explode the tires which in turn will take out my rear the rest will be obvious.
To prevent this is why I remove the front brakes so if a lock up happens it will be on the rear only and hopefully minimize damage.
I appreciated the warnings do get me wrong I would have love to keep it on all four wheels. But the lockups is driving me crazy. This is a relatively new trailer and this should not happen but it does.
The dealer replace the starboard front a while ago, now the port front locked up a few months back.
I was amazed at the corrosion around the brake cylinders when I removed them not a lot to cause the lockups as agreed by the dealer also. I am diligent about hosing this trailer down with fresh water after each trips.
Hopefully it works out I be on the SR528 this weekend hopefully no lockups on the rear !

Even 25 years later, I'm sorry to hear of your friends death. The Van Wick is a deadly road under the best of conditions.

NJ's law states that the trailer has to have brakes, not that all axels have them. So by having the rears still working on your trailer, you comply with the law up here.... and I know that all states have their own laws, so it's hit or miss sometimes.

The only way i've found to keep the corrosion at bay was to remove my drums and then hit the workings with my power washer. I figure that I get an extra 2-3 years out of my brakes that way. And since the drums themselves don't go bad, I only have to replace the backing plate and the inner works when doing a replacement. I like drums... much cheaper than disks, and they don't lock up like disks do.

Thanks, I will use the pressure washer going forward its an excellent idea. Hopefully the rear holds up if not I will replace with some good quality ones ...

The trailer I have came out from under a 26ft. Bayliner. I shortened it up and moved the axles and roller cradles forward to balance the weight. I removed the remains of four drum brakes and replaced the wheel bearings. The trailer is really heavy duty and galvanized so its really HEAVY! I pull it with a Toyota Tacoma 4x4 v6 automatic and only had trouble one time.
I was coming home from the Outer Banks behind 3 minivans full of folks from Maryland and the third time they slamed on brakes I locked the brakes up and it felt like it picked the rear end of my truck off the road. I came so damn close to hitting them, it wasn't funny. When I got home I ordered a new surge actuator and a set of Kodiak Stainless Steel Disc Brakes and installed them on the front axle. Now when I hit the brakes the boat trailer stops the truck. I love em!

Amen!!!! ,

My Eureka moment came when I was trailering my 21' Cruisers with my Cherokee and we were going down a hill late at night. There was a light at the bottom of the hill that changed just before I got to it so I hit the brakes... and the boat pushed me about 5 -10 feet into the intersection. Thank God there were no vehicles coming from the sides, and no cops around to see me half run a red light. I've had brakes on my trailers ever since then. It's just plain good old horse sense to have them. :head:

I have been in the "brakes are worse than no brakes" camp since the 3rd year of owning my V20, when they locked up and smoked for the 3rd time with the boat on trailer. Forget about an empty trailer....skip to my lou....
I dock my boat so I trailer only a couple times a year and there are no hills.

BUT... the bearings are due for a proactive replacement and I'm thinking of putting on a brake kit. I'm in NJ and as Destroyer said, the law is the law. I don't worry about whether its safe, because it is, I worry about tickets and lawsuits.

still on the fence....anyone wanna talk about how trailer LIGHTS suck?

trailer brakes
 

I'm with the folks here that say they aren't worth the trouble, at least if you are in salt water..

How the heck does a cop know if you have trailer brakes without climbing under your trailer?

Just buy a bigger tow vehicle and no following too closely!

I have trailer brakes on my car hauler & love them (when they are working). But they don't go swimming.

Doug

For starters he can look at the hitch where it connects to your tow vehicle to see if you have surge type brakes, or he can glance at your dashboard to see if you have electric brakes.

In NJ, where most people trailering from the north part of the state to the shore use either the Turnpike or the Garden State Parkway I can guarentee you that the State Troopers that patrol these roads know exactly what to look for. I have a friend that's a Trooper and he told me that they have special classes that train them in these sorts of things.:bat:

Skunk, just go to Harbor Freight (There's one on rt 37 in Toms River I believe). Buy one of the Submersible LED trailer light sets they have. (Less than $40, and I've seen them on sale for $26) Make sure it's the rectangular lens submersible set and not just their non-submersible square lens trailer set. They work totally great, nice and bright day or night, they are sealed, you can dunk them with no problems, and the bulbs don't corrode in the sockets like incadescent bulbs do. Then, when you are mounting them, solder each one of your wires together before you wire nut them. (The nut acts as an insulator, not a connector) The lights will last you many years of trouble free trailering. Lights still SUCK, but much less this way. :beer:

hey Destroyer I got one that should get you fired up. At the marina I work at there are 6 trailers that we use for hauling boats. Only one, the biggest one, has brakes that work. Every fall and spring I haul almost 150 boats mostly to and from our inside storage facility which is over 7 miles from the marina. Usually if the boat is over 30' it goes on the trailer with brakes. But that trailer is also the tallest and we are restricted to 13'9" due to a low bridge close by. So sometimes even the 30'+ boats go on the trailer without brakes. I drive with common sense and keep plenty of room between me and the car in front of me. :laugh:

Ummm... well, that's good Pete, but I used to live in So. Toms River (right on the Beachwood border) and know a lot of
the streets in the general area. (I'm not a BENNY) They're filled with vacationers, kids, people walking their dogs, etc., and a lot of the streets don't have sidewalks, so ppl walk in the street. So the plenty of room you keep in front of you if fine... right up until the point that some kid darts into the street after a ball or something.

I've seen a lot of people pull trailers without breaks in my day in that area,
and truthfully I've pulled a lot of them myself. That didn't make it any safer for me than for anyone else.

But I think you misunderstand me here. I really don't get fired up about stuff like this. I'd like to think of it more in the vein of a teacher trying to teach a lesson for some of the younger guys that are just getting into boating and think they can pull a 2 1/2 ton load at 55 and stop on a dime without anything happening. The plain truth of the matter is that the laws of mass and inertia don't care what kind of a vehicle you are using to tow. It's still going to take a longer distance to stop then you would be able to normally. And braking distance aside, the brakes on a trailer help keep your trailer from fishtailing or jackknifing in a panic stop. Can you tow safely without brakes on a trailer? Of course you can.... if you keep a safe following distance, and are mindful of changing road conditions, etc.
The problem is, most people aren't, or they get lulled into a false sense of safety over the length of a long trip. To me, trailering without brakes is like going boating without any safety equipment aboard. Can you do it? Of course. But to me, knowing that I have life jackets, fire extinguishers, etc. on hand is well worth the piece of mind.

God forbid anyone here should get into a situation (and it only takes one) where they need to stop in a hurry and cannot. Is anyone here willing to risk the life of some kid because they felt that the upkeep of brakes on their trailer was just too much trouble? How do you face the parents of the kid you just killed and tell them it wasn't your fault? How do you live with yourself? Like I said, to me it's a no brainer.. brakes are simply a piece of safety equipment, just like life jackets, radios, flares, distress signals, etc etc etc. I won't go boating without any of them. :head:

PS.. for those that don't know what a BENNY is, see the BENNY post.

Geez Capt. buzzkill. I'm just messing with you. I understand the importance of brakes too. Being a Benny (which if you wern't born here you are) has nothing to do with it.

When do you need brakes in Mass.?

LOL Pete. I love to turn tables on ppl. Looks like you're the one that got fired up. I'm just messing with you also. It's all good. :booty:

I totally disagree with you on the Benny qualifications though. To me anyone that lives in that area, buys a house and raises 2 kids through high school while there qualifies as a local. It's true, I'm a Benny now, since I don't live down there anymore, (Gotta go where the business and the jobs take you <sigh>) but I'd move back in a heartbeat if I could. I love that area, even with the Benny invasion every summer. You could find me at Betty & Nicks or the North jetty almost every night and at about 4am on most any weekend. God I miss it. :sad:

I'm a little late in this thread. So I'll give my opinion. I have yet to see a set of drum brakes that will last down here, even with flushing every time, for more than one season. I used to work at the local SeaRay dealership, we had so many problems(40-50 a year) with easy loader trailers having the brakes lock up, we switched to shorelander with disc. If your drum brakes aren't locking up, then they probably aren't applying. We had over 30 yard trailers to handle anything from a 14' Sea Raider, to 40' Sundacer(fun loading that one at the ramp). We took the brakes off of every trailer that had drum brakes. The only way you can fix drum brakes in salt is with a torch, just cut em off. BTW, most brake manufactures offer no warranty if you are using them in salt water.The disc didn't have that much problem, they will lock up with no load on them, if your brakes are too big for the load or your using too small of a tire, they can lock up, also check you axle weight if you have a tandem. we had some that the piston would stick, but we were usually able to break it loose and get it rolling. If you have repeated issues with a single wheel locking up, even after replacing the caliper, check the brake lines, I've seen them fail, allowing fluid to apply, but letting it bleed off. Don't use hard brake line, use hte flexable, the hard line can get dented or creased, acting like a check valve. Make sure your master cylinder is functioning properlly as well. As far as legalities go, some states outlaw surge type brakes of any type, all trailer brakes must be controlable inside the tow vehicle, can you imagine electric brakes in salt? I've seen a bunch in freash water and they are bad enough

HAHAHAHA ...you're from Wayne....YOU ARE A BENNY!!!!:booty:

Ummmm...didn't I just say that? Quote: "It's true, I'm a Benny now, since I don't live down there anymore" unquote

LOL...The difference, Skunk, is that when I was living down there I was a poor to moderate income local, now I'm a moderate to upper middle class benny. Truthfully, I do miss the shore, but I don't miss not having enough money to pay my bills. Not for one split second. :butt:

I was once told by an old timer that would frequent a marina that I used to work at who was told by Charles Hankins himself that if you are not born on the shore then you are never a local. I personally am not as strict. If that were the case than even I being born and raised in Freehold but living in Toms River since 1996 would be a benny. I consider a benny anyone who does not currently live on the jersey shore. Not that I put you in the same category as "snookie" or "the situation". They are the real bennys. But you are still one too,just a little less of one.

My Fred Flintstone brakes work great, even in saltwater.

http://grandrants.files.wordpress.co...pg?w=210&h=162

I completely agree with you and your implied defination. I believe that anyone that owns a house and lives in it there at the shore for any length of time is a local. To me, Benny's are ppl that vacation at the shore during the summer. I lived in STR from 1969 to 1980. While I was there I considered myself a local. When I moved from there (even thought I still owned the house in STR) I became a Benny again since I no longer lived there. My comment about not being a Benny was in the context of implying that I knew the back roads, the general condition of same and who and what you could expect to find on them at any given time of the day or night.

I have a brain, so I don't watch snookie or the situation (whatever that is). Reality TV isn't. It's staged, poorly scripted, poorly acted melo-drama. In short, it's evening soap opera and I have better things to do with my time. :beer:

By the way, I haven't been in that area for a while. Do you know, did they ever find a new place for the museum for Mr. Hankins boats and displays?

Update , I went Boating this weekend, Low and behold on our way back on the SR 528 two accidents, Pathfinder rolled over and another car ended up in the bushes.
FHP decided the block the road as I was approaching, I was driving along flowing with traffic at yea close to 65 MPH but in the process of slowing down.
Traffic came to a abrupt halt as he step out to shutdown the highway, needless to say I forced to apply my Brakes to avoid a collision.
SUV directly behind tires were smoking before it came to a stop. The Trooper and him was exchanging words from the looks of it it was not kind words.
My Truck, 5 Adults and lord knows the load in the bed came to a graceful stop. I felt the trailer brakes working perfectly like it should.
I think I have adequate brakes..My nickname is not REDUNDANT~SEA for nothing...

I will keep my eyes on the current ones if excessive corrosion I will replace with a better quality in the future.
I am using my pressure washer to clean her up also after my trip.

:clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap: Glad you made it back safely... Well done sailor