Towing BX24 200 miles with Jeep Grand Cherokee

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1*Congrats on the BX24.
You will like it.
Did you get a price on having it delivered from anyone?
2*I just bought a BX1500 and the delivery charge was only 200.
At that price I couldn't see fooling with it myself.

The trailer and truck are free, my buddy owns a Taylor Rental store (I take care of his computers). It only costs my time. I didn't want to borrow the truck unless I needed it. These are not normally rented he uses them to make deliveries. So I didn't want to borrow the truck too unless really needed.

It would be $900.00 to deliver it the whole way 500 miles (each way !). I'm meeting them part way to save quite a few bucks.

 

[LBrown59]

It would be $900.00 to deliver it the whole way 500 miles (each way !). I'm meeting them part way to save quite a few bucks.

Sounds like a plan in your case.

I was hesitant to buy because of a $400 Shipping Charge.
But when I offered to by 2 tractors I got a discount on the tractor package and the delivery charge was reduced to $200.

 

[rdsaustintx]

I didn't know all electric break systems have to be controlled by a controller (accelerometer only) rather than a simple on/off circuit triggered by break lights. I understand why but I didn't know they controlled the amount of breaking electrically (by pulsing or voltage or current). I thought Electric breaks were full on or off (and designed to not totally lock, similar to surge breaks).

Wrong a couple of places.

Surge brakes will lock-up if you stomp the tow vehicle hard enough. But they are actuated by inertia (using a piston on the hitch) so they just chatter a little. They actually let go if you jack-knife, not much help there.

There may be some high-end controllers with accelerometers, but most just use a progressive increase, limited by a manual adjustment. They have a knob or a slider you adjust based on trial and error with the trailer loaded. That is what determines the maximum braking force. Ironically (in this thread anyway), they actually are triggered by the brake light circuit. They also usually have a button to manually turn on the brakes, so you can slow down using the trailer only (and the brake lights come on).

Electric breaks get exposed to as much water on a rainy day as they would at the boat launch. They get exposed to road salt too. So I don't buy the reason boats tend to have surge breaks is because of launching.

I do. Take apart an electric brake sometime. They look like drum brakes on the outside, but use an electromagnet coil to drag the shoe on the side of the rotor. It's pretty well protected from road spray, but would totally fill with water if submerged. The coil and wiring is REALLY cheap, at least in my trailers.

I think surge breaks are more novice proof. It's pretty hard to screw it up.

Definitely. They are inherently self-adjusting. But they require maintenance, you can't actuate them remotely, and they tend to be a PitA on uneven roads or going down hills (on-off-on-off-on...).

Russell in Texas

 

[rdsaustintx]

After thinking about it, the electric brakes grab the inner side of the rotor, then pull on scissor links to spread drum shoes. Been awhile since I took one apart.

RDnT

 

[SnowRidge]

There may be some high-end controllers with accelerometers, but most just use a progressive increase, limited by a manual adjustment. They have a knob or a slider you adjust based on trial and error with the trailer loaded. That is what determines the maximum braking force. Ironically (in this thread anyway), they actually are triggered by the brake light circuit. They also usually have a button to manually turn on the brakes, so you can slow down using the trailer only (and the brake lights come on).

From all the posts here and on other forums, the Tekonsha Prodigy is far and away the most popylar brake controller out there. It is controlled by an accelerometer (decelerometer), as are several others.

I personally don't see any irony with the non-accelerometer controllers. There is a vast difference between applying juice from the brake light circuit directly to the electric brakes, as the OP alluded to, and using the brake light circuit to trigger the electronics in the controller. Nothing ironic about that.

 

[escavader]

I pull my bx-23 with loaded tires,on a tandem with brakes ,with my 98 cherokee [not the grand type] staight 6 auto.
Jeep will do fine,brakes are a must have.If you ever decide to haul it occasionally get a weigh distribution hitch.I went the first year without,and also hauled multiple atvs etc.Had to replace the rear springs ,wdh will put alot of the weight up front and on the trailer wheels.If you could borrow one for the trip,that would be great too.as said dont tow in od,instead of D i use 2.i hope you have a reese hitch too.
ALAN

 

[mswlogo]

Wrong a couple of places.

Surge brakes will lock-up if you stomp the tow vehicle hard enough. But they are actuated by inertia (using a piston on the hitch) so they just chatter a little. They actually let go if you jack-knife, not much help there.

There may be some high-end controllers with accelerometers, but most just use a progressive increase, limited by a manual adjustment. They have a knob or a slider you adjust based on trial and error with the trailer loaded. That is what determines the maximum braking force. Ironically (in this thread anyway), they actually are triggered by the brake light circuit. They also usually have a button to manually turn on the brakes, so you can slow down using the trailer only (and the brake lights come on).



I do. Take apart an electric brake sometime. They look like drum brakes on the outside, but use an electromagnet coil to drag the shoe on the side of the rotor. It's pretty well protected from road spray, but would totally fill with water if submerged. The coil and wiring is REALLY cheap, at least in my trailers.



Definitely. They are inherently self-adjusting. But they require maintenance, you can't actuate them remotely, and they tend to be a PitA on uneven roads or going down hills (on-off-on-off-on...).

Russell in Texas

If there is no accelerometer (on some controllers) what makes it progressive?

 

[Skyco]

The faster (harder) the tow vehicle is decelerating (negative acceleration?) the more output to the brakes on an accelerometer type. Others are timer based, the longer you hold the brakes the more they apply. The accelerometer types are sometimes ok or in the case of the Prodigy, which I've never used, supposedly very good. Stay away from the timer based controllers at all costs, they really *draw a vacuum*

I've towed many trailers with surge brakes and I've never had one that will lock up the brakes.
IMO the BEST controller is the Jordan 2020, but alas you can't buy them anymore. It has a cable that attaches directly to the brake pedal arm, the more you put on the tow vehicle brakes the more it applies the trailer brakes and has an ammeter and front adjust knob. Simply wonderful, I even know where to set the current knob on each of my several electric brake trailers without experimenting each time.

 

[mswlogo]

Ok, I had a further talk with my buddy. He said he had all his trailers specially wired so that he could just plug them into light socket for breaks. He said it cost him $600.00 per trailer to get this set up this way. He wanted any vehicle with standard trailer hookup (minus) controller to be able to tow one of his trailers. Sounds like he had the controller basically mounted on the trailers. Don't know if they are the dumb timer based or not.

So I'm gonna go with the Jeep and he has a load leveling hitch I can use too.

 

[mswlogo]

In case anyone was concerned with this setup, I just picked it up. It's pretty slick. The controller is on the trailer including it's own small motorcycle battery to power it. He also has a wireless controller for the driver to set the gain and monitor the system. He also loaned me a load leveling hitch. So I should be in good shape.

By the way he was on some panel for the state that basically supported allowing surge breaks to be legal in MA under 10,000lbs. It's only very recently that they are now legal again (in MA anyway). He said surge breaks are slower reacting than electric but they are extremely reliable and simple.