Van VS Pickup for towing?

[Bird]

Bill, the BrakeSmart is a new one to me. Sometimes us old folks' knowledge and experience is outdated. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif It certainly appears impressive; more work to install, but not too bad. I had very good experience with the old Reese, no bad experiences at all, but it was made before the days of antilock brakes and was not for use with with ABS because it moved more brake fluid. And of course that was before the days of everything being computerized. My experience with electric brakes was with travel trailers, so once the controller was properly adjusted, no further tinkering was required because the trailer weight did not vary much. With the kind of trailers we're talking about in this thread, re-adjustment would be necessary depending on the weight of the trailer; e.g., whether you have the tractor on it or whether it was empty. According to the link you provided, that's almost, if not completely, automatic with the BrakeSmart. So . . ., perhaps you have the right idea if the BrakeSmart works as advertised.

 

[Fungus]

The E350 makes a great tow vehicle. The only real problem is finding a place to mount that brake controller. I finally decided there was no easy place to mount it and hacked it into the lower dash panel (see attachment).

I’ve heard lots of good stuff about the BrakeSmart but it came out after I already installed a Prodigy. After a couple years using the Prodigy I find it gets the job done.

One thing to consider about a 7K/10K trailer is its weight. The heavier trailer reduces your actual carrying capacity. This could be significant if you’re limited to 7K and play it strictly by the book.

With my van I installed a transmission temperature gauge. I’ve found it not necessary to install any extra transmission cooling. However, one must be careful backing a heavy trailer up an incline. They can overheat quickly under the right conditions.

For my tractor I bought a 7K flatbed trailer. I’m now wishing I would have bought a 12K dump/equipment trailer instead.

 

[Egon]

The picture is from a website containg many unusal pictures of mishaps. If wished I can try and post the URL.

Egon

 

[Av8r3400]

Henro: I believe that controller has been discussed at length on the TDR (Turbo Diesel Register) and the conclusion has been that this unit is at the top of the list. Other than being a little expensive $200+ (?) and more difficult to install, the control and use is very transparent. If memory serves on the discussions, it works great with or without ABS.

 

[Egon]

<font class="small">Code:</font><hr /><pre> hacked it into the lower dash panel </pre><hr />

Nice HACK JOB.

Egon

 

[kennyd]

I stand corrected on the ABS thing.
I am still not sure how/where it picks up the pressure(I am on on a dial-up, so I did not download the manual) But if it taps into the brake lines, can it be un-done to factory specs in the event of vehicle sale or trade-in? I did read the site a little bit, and it does sound impressive.
But how often are you going going to tow? If I where retired and traveling the country with a TT or 5er, I may be able to justify that to myself.
But for the 1k-2k (if that!) miles a year I tow, the Jordan is perfect. Very simple design, no pendulems or accelarometers, no time dely...It operates on the K.I.S.S principle. No computers to be DOA (And at $110.00 a good value).

I am not trying to sell you one, I have no $$ interest in them. I am just a very satisfied customer who apprectiates a simple, well designed product at a fair price. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif


V8Dave:
I am sorry, but if a dealer for any procuct I bought said "It's kind of normal to have one DOA /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" I think I would find another product to buy. What if it decided to die on a 6% grade hauling 10K? I realize any product can fail at any time, but if they can't get them out of the factory working, what does that say about quality control /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif?
I don't meen to belittle your decision to purchase it, but that statement really struck a chord with me...

These are just my opinions, and they are worth what you paid for them! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[tawilson]

I have a dump trailer so my trailer weights are constantly changing. I went to Autozone and bought a $70 electronic brake 2 years and have been satisfied. An adjustment wheel on the bottom lets me quickly adjust the trailer brakes depending on the load. It has another adjustment to compensate for the controller not being level. I presume it has some kind of inertia gizmo in it to sense how much I am applying the brakes. I was in the travel trailer business for 25 years, and in my opinion tapping into the master cylinder is not necessary or recommended and old technology.

 

[BigEddy]

I'm going to go against the general flow (as usual) and recommend Surge brakes. Most people here seem to be completely against them, but I have them and have no issues with mine. To me they seem the best solution - completely self-contained, no concerns swapping vehicle to vehicle, braking is proportional to the stopping force and load - no adjustment required -, and they even have brakes when pulled by your tractor - for that trip down the hill loaded with firewood or the family hayride.
Backing up has been solved with the auto-freewheel hubs on all of them now. Only drawback is no braking in reverse, but I don't tend to back up very quickly!

Of course maintenance is a must, but the same goes for the truck brakes and electric brakes as well and they are no more complicated than either of those.

What am I missing?

 

[Bird]

I don't think you're actually "missing anything", Eddy. Surge brakes certainly have their place. I don't think they're quite as good as electric brakes, not as adjustable, can't be used independently of the towing vehicle brakes (with electric brakes, you can lock up the brakes on the trailer without touching the towing vehicle brakes, if necessary; rarely needed option, of course). In the event of swaying or fishtailing or crosswinds, electric brakes are great for keeping everything in a straight line. Of course if you have a vehicle without a brake controller, surge brakes are definitely better than nothing, and if you're going to back the trailer into water you don't want to use your electric brakes. So the most common, but certainly not only, use for surge brakes is rental trailers and boat trailers.

 

[v8dave]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( . . .
V8Dave:
I am sorry, but if a dealer for any procuct I bought said "It's kind of normal to have one DOA /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" I think I would find another product to buy. What if it decided to die on a 6% grade hauling 10K? I realize any product can fail at any time, but if they can't get them out of the factory working, what does that say about quality control /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif?
I don't meen to belittle your decision to purchase it, but that statement really struck a chord with me...
. . .)</font>

Fair comment. But, there are some parts I left out.

I bought the brake controler based on the recommendation from a friend. He has had absolutely no problems with his. I got the controller installed long before before I bought a trailer. The replacement unit off the dealers shelf worked no problem. And, the controller worked with my friend's trailer just fine. So I didn't know this was a "common" problem before I showed up at a different trailer dealer a year later.

It was the dealer I bought the trailer from that made the comment about the Prodigy--a year after it was already on my truck. He only made the comment because he was having trouble getting the trailer brakes to work when hooking up my new trailer. He was looking for something else to blame because it was taking so long to get the brakes working. Turned out it was his mechanic's problem not being able to figure out a color coded trailer harness. After I fixed his mis-wiring I've had no difficulties at all.

Maybe I shouldn't have posted the comment I did. Could have just been him looking to blame somebody else's product. He just said it with out knowing about my previous experience or that the controller worked before. But, his offhand comment about DOA units turned out to be right in my case--so, I passed the comment on.