Hydraulic brakes....

[JoeinTX]

I've been looking at 16' trailers (rail and car hauler) but I don't see any new ones equipped with hydraulic tongue brakes..........only electric. Does anyone know of a trailer like this being made with them or as an option?


I've looked at the possibility of buying a hydro hitch and converting the brakes over but if anyone is making them that would save the trouble.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Very few have Hydraulic Surge Brakes but I have seen them. The reason electric brakes are used is they are much cheaper and in the long run much less maintenance. I deal with hydraulic surge brakes on a weekly basis in my marine business and while they work good in this application the electric brakes are much better for the reason of maintenance, will allow you to have brakes backing up, and just plain more common. I am seeing electric brakes more and more on boat aplications along with the dreaded electric over hydraulic setup which uses a electric brake controller in the truck with a electric hydraulic pump on the trailers tongue with hydraulic brakes the rest of the way back. Hate them, 2 systems to now maintain.

Chris

 

[Soundguy]

You want surge brakes? yuck!

buy an old uhaul trailer... they got those yucky brakes on them...

soundguy

 

[LBrown59]

* I've been looking at 16' trailers (rail and car hauler) but I don't see any new ones equipped with hydraulic tongue brakes..........only electric. Does anyone know of a trailer like this being made with them or as an option?


I've looked at the possibility of buying a hydro hitch and converting the brakes over but if anyone is making them that would save the trouble.

Two thots.
A*Why would you want Hyd. brakes?
B*Make sure Rails are removable /not fixed.

 

[Renze]

You want surge brakes? yuck!

In Europe, they say the same thing about electric brakes... bowden cable operated surge brakes are standard here.
It all depends on the knowledge and experience of the serviceman i guess.

 

[gordyy]

worked for a uhaul dealer in the 70s we did a lot of service on the hydralic brakes
I actually think they are better than electric BUT like said above they have to be maintained and maintained right.
I think half of them we seviced had shoddy work done on them before making them useless
but the nice thing about them is the electrical connection never fails

 

[Soundguy]

Even if my electric controller dies.. I can make my electric brakes, in an emergency, work with a piece of wire and a cig ligher plug..... can't say that on hyd brakes...

soundguy

 

[Diamondpilot]

I deal with hydraulic brakes 75% of the time I tow which is about 45-50 different trailers per year about 5,000 miles or more, could be as much as 10,000 miles some years and I have no problems. Now that being said I have electric brakes on my car haul trailer I use about 1,000 miles per year. While I have never had any problems with them either I do believe they are more prone to having problems but the maintenance is more do-it-yourself freindly.

Both have the good and the bad.

Electric:

Cheap
Work in Reverse
Wiring problems are common

Hydraulic:
More water proof
Less prone to problems(No wiring connections to go bad)
Cost much much more than electric
Can be used with any vehicle
Longer maintenance intervals (5 years on average)

Chris

 

[Soundguy]

While I have never had any problems with them either I do believe they are more prone to having problems but the maintenance is more do-it-yourself freindly.
Chris

Hey man.. you should run for office with a double-talk statement like that.

I've never had problems with electric brakes.. but i believe they are prone to have problems..

soundguy

( i can fix a oose wire onthe side of the road with a pocket knife and e-tape.. I can't fix a split hyd line ont e sid eof the road with a pocket knife and e-tape! )

 

[mwb]

Electric controllers have come a long way so today's comparision probably should favor them over hydraulic. I believe that the hydraulic was far superior to electric for proportional breaking 20 years ago but the new electrics with accelerometers and smarts do a better job of emulating the hydraulic ones.

One downside to hydraulic is that they 'work' in reverse; if you try backing up a hill the brakes come on. There might be an override to disable them but then they don't work at all.