Trailer brakes - Pros & Cons of each type?

[leachy_9 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close leachy_9]

I'm looking at getting a custom offroad 7 x 4 trailer built.
Thus far I have been told just about every combination of disk / drum / electiric / mechanical / hydraulic brake system is best.

So what are PP member's experiences / opinions?

- If anyone knows a good custom trailer builder in Perth, let me know.

Leachy

[jeff s Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close jeff s]

Cant help with the builder, But there is a guy down here that has some nice units in his yard.
And I can only talk from my experience. Hydraulic over ride drums.
They work, they are simple. (but i got a siezed cylinder our last trip due to NO maintenance) and cheap.

Boat trailer has cable over-ride discs. ..... But dont fancy cables dangling underneath an off roader....just mentioned that as another option out there.

[MattWhite Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close MattWhite]

Prefer hydraulic largely because I understand it better than the back of my hand. I understand with electric you can brake a bigger trailer or van indepentently to stop sway etc but am not a huge fan of electric drums themselves.
Personally, drum hydraulic but due partly to the price of the camper.(same as Jeff) Brother in law has hydraulic disc and works well. Would have to trap less mud etc and easier to spot something going wrong.

[rally1 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close rally1]

Hi all
I'am on my 2nd camper trailer . The first had cable operated disc's
they were not very effective at all unless you have a very heavy trailer
or a very light spring in you coupling as there did'nt seem to be enough
weight in the camper to activate them properly .My new new trailer has
hydraulic disc's which are great less maintenence and are very responsive
But having towed car trailers with electric brakes i think i would prefer
electric still but thats only my opinion

cheers

[mototrim Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close mototrim]

I went for hydraulic for the simplicity but keep in mind you need to keep the resevoir below the hight of your rear door not like mine its a bugger :evil:

[andrewh Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close andrewh]

My last camper trailer had electric brakes which worked very well. When I upgraded to my current camper it had cable override brakes. I had them changed to electric which I am again very happy with.
There are two problems with override as I see it. The first is that if you happen to get into a jack-knife situation, you really need the brakes. Override brakes just don't actuate properly in this situation. The second problem is that they only work properly going forwards. While not all electric brake controllers work in reverse, there are several that will. That can be a big plus off-road.

[S.W Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close S.W]

The problem with any type of override brakes (in my opinion) is the time delay between the cars brakes being applied and the trailer brakes being applied. This is becasue there must be a speed differential (very small I know) between car and trailer for the trailer to gain ground on the car and apply hydraulic pressure or cable tension to apply the brakes.

On heavier trailers (car trailers, heavy wrok trailers, caravans, horse floats etc) this can give the feeling that your being pushed and then "hit from behind" (that's how it feels to me) when the trailer starts to slow down.

You also get better brake modulation from electric brakes too.

There are disadvantages though. Electric brakes are (naturally) not that happy when they get wet (or muddy). There are marinised verisions around and these are the wiset choice for off roaders

Hope that helps

[Kevin Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Kevin]

I have electric brakes on my camper trailer with a prodigy controller and on a recent trip I did up to Lake Tinaroo I found the ability to control the sensitivity of the trailer brakes on the move very useful, particularly when changing for bitumen to gravel and back.

Cheers,
Kevin

[Llamaboy Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Llamaboy]

leachy_9,
I am keen to hear about your design, I too am looking at a new trailer. Here are some point that I must have on my trailer

I am after a 7ft x 4ft OFF-ROAD TRAILER, here is a provider in the NT
http://www.promotortrailers.com.au/Gall ... le_01.html

I need to confrim that the trailer contains the following:
1)The trailer is an OFF ROAD trailer is not the Box Garden trailer with big wheels and slipper springs.
2)The A frame is made out of box section or RHS not angle iron.
3)The heavy duty leaf springs they should rear shackles not slippers.
4)The bearings should be the large type and the axle at least 50mm, the parallel axles are better than the tapered type (all bearings are the same size).
5) breaks (same problem are your self which type)
6)The track of the trailer should be the same as the Prado (close too)
7) Long draw bar
8) Ability to cary two spare tyres
9) Aluminium water tank
10) Rock shield to stop rocks flicking up and smashing the back window of the prado
11) Jerry Can holders for fuel x2 and primus gas bottle holder x2
12) Hight of trailer sides to be 2ft

Again keen to hear about your design and requirments

[leachy_9 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close leachy_9]

Llamaboy,

The main requirements for my trailer are:
Ability to carry 2 x 4.5m kayaks.
Maximum off road ability and durability.
Secure, weather proof storage.
Ability to easily add a camper top in the future.

I've placed an order for a trailer with a builder here in Perth. The specs are:
7'x 4'
2000mm draw bar.
500mm sides.
Draw bar and frame made from RHS.
Duragal Frame.
Galvanised body.
1.5 tonne independent, coil spring and shock suspension. I was originally looking at eye to eye leaf springs but the independent suspension gets the frame another 100mm off the ground an I intend taking this as far off road as I can get it.
Fully welded and sealed.
17" x 8" P30 offset (Prado) wheels, with wheel track to match the Prado.
Very large weather proof box at front.
Space for 4 x jerry cans between trailer and front box.
Area in front and behind mud guards filled and made into lockable, weather proof boxes (One of these will be vented and house 2 x 4kg gas bottles).
Boat rack.
Lockable and weather proof gas strutted lid. This will become the base for a camper in the future.
Swing out, sealed tail gate.
60L underslug water tank.
As for brakes; I think that on the road electric perform the best, but as I want to do a lot of off road I've opted hydraulic disks for their off road durability.
Treg hitch
Rock shield, with mud flaps to protect brakes.
1 x spare ( I only opted for I spare as I will have the same wheels and spare o the Prado).

Your specifications look good. The only things I would suggest are greasable suspension shackles and if you plan on travelling lots of corrugated roads maybe add shocks to the leaf suspension. Make sure you go and look at any trailer builder’s work before committing. I found a large difference in the quality of work between different builders. In the end the builder I went with was one of the more expensive, but his quality and attention to detail was a lot better than any of the others.

The last decision I need to make is what tyres to put on the trailer. The choice is either MTZ to match my play wheels/tyres or some type of AT to match the daily tyres on the Prado once I've replaced the Grandtreks. At the moment I'm leaning towards the MTZs because If I'm in terrain that has caused me to get multiple punctures, it is most likely I'd have the MTZs on the Prado.

Leachy

[Llamaboy Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Llamaboy]

have alook at this trailer
http://vividadventures.com.au/TrailerShow/