towing - will I need trailer brakes

Benny · Mar 2, 2010

The determining factor here are your truck brakes; if they are good you will not have a problem. Just allow yourself extra distance to stop and when going dowhill shift to a lower gear to make use of engine braking and prevent the brakes from overheating. We regularly pull a Starwind 223 at close to 4000 lbs (Boat+Trailer) for long distances on a trailer with no brakes, our tow vehicle is rated for 7,000 lbs and we have had no problems. Make sure your shocks and springs are good to insure good handling both when towing and braking and inflate your tires to maximum rated psi. Being a pick up truck I would set tongue weight on the heavy side while maintaining inside the recommended range.

Adam P · Mar 2, 2010

I have a O Day 22 that I pull with no problem. It does not have trailer brakes, and I am driving a Escalade SUV. I am sure that your F150 is rated to handle much more weight than my SUV. So I would not worry about it. Usually the more a vehicle can haul, the heavier duty the brakes they put in it. You will know after your first trip if you would feel more comfortable with trailer brakes. Just drive safe. Congrats on the O Day! You will love it.

Sumner · Mar 2, 2010

Can you tow without brakes? Should you tow without brakes? Is it safe to tow without brakes?

Personally you are right about the place where I would add brakes when and if you can afford it. I'll bet you end up with a final weight of a little over 2000 lbs.

My teardrop above weighs about 1700 lbs. loaded and I've pulled it over 50,000 miles with that truck. The truck has a Camaro front end under it with large disc brakes and Camaro drums in the back and the pickup weighs just over 4000 lbs. The truck is the best stopping vehicle I've ever owned, yet in a panic stop it isn't that hard to lock the truck brakes up and have the trailer push the truck along. I will add brakes to the trailer, but don't really "have" to have them.

We pulled our Mac to Canada and back this past year without brakes on its trailer and didn't have an accident. Boat and trailer are around 3200-3500 lb. and we pull with one of the best tow vehicles out there a '99 Suburban. Was it safe? No. I stripped the trailer yesterday and today took it over to Colo. and had it media blasted. I'm adding a a second axle with surge disc brakes. We pull a long ways to any water and the trailer should have brakes. When they talk about tow ratings that is the weight you can pull and I'm sure on a 4000 lb trailer for instance they are assuming the trailer has its own brakes. There are also laws on at what weight brakes are required. Might be a way for the insurance company to get out of a claim if you were in violation of those laws. You should also be sure your insurance does cover you towing.

I'd challenge some of you guys pulling over 2000 lbs. to do a panic stop the next time you are out in a safe place. Now imagine doing that because a kid on a bike swerved in front of you, or a car misjudged and pulled out in front of you or you are following a car through a traffic light and the light changes and the car stomps on the brakes and you have to stop. No problem driving with no trailer brakes if you are the only one on the road, but unfortunately we share the road with people who can be very un-safe at times.

If I was towing a heavy boat just a couple miles to splash it I wouldn't worry much, but longer than that and I'd spend the money and put the brakes on. They aren't that expensive. To answer your question can you install brakes on your trailer. You should be able to. Take it by a welding shop and ask.

c ya,

Sum

Our Trips to Lake Powell, UT - Kootenay Lake, Canada - Priest Lake, ID

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r.oril · Mar 3, 2010

Trailer brakes, second axle, new tires..........what worries me the most is that "someone" that can't stop as quickly as I can. The back of our boats have no protection.

Joe11688 · Mar 3, 2010

I think that you can get away without trailer brakes Jimmy. Like Benny says, give yourself plenty of room to stop if you have to, and be extra careful when the roads are wet. I trailered my O'Day 222 long distances with a single axle trailer for years, and today I'm using a tandem axle trailer for a short distance to the club and back each year. Both trailers have no brakes. Of course like Sumner said, if you can afford brakes for your trailer your rig will be a whole lot safer on the road in the event that you ever need to make a quick stop and your truck brakes lock up. I've had this happen to me last year and I was fortunate that I didn't get into an accident with some fool who decided to back up in front of me as I was going through an intersection with my boat in tow. Luckily I was able to blow my horn and avoid hitting him while jacking up on my brakes. These things happen and you really need to be more vigilant when towing. Let me know how you make out Jimmy.
Joe

sailingdog · Mar 3, 2010

Actually, it depends... in some states trailer brakes are REQUIRED for trailers over a certain weight. That may be the case in your state. Also, if the trailer is a tandem axle trailer, it may require brakes on all four wheels..

Sumner · Mar 3, 2010

jimmyb said:
....I guess first I need to see if the trailer has backing plates to mount the brakes. If not a new axle would be in order. I was told hydrolic surge brakes are the norm for marine applications. I will have to price it out but I think the investment in saftey would be worth the money. If I were only towing twice a year I would gamble.

Thanks again guys... God Bless, jimmyb

I got Tie Down Surge Disc Brakes.......

http://www.blackbearsportinggoods.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=ELLTIED82101&CartID=1

from the guys in the link. There prices are the best I found, but seem to constantly change. When I first looked they were $427 for the kit. Then a week or so later when I was ready to order the price was down under $400. I got them delivered to me for a total of $417.00 which was way less than anyplace else I found. You might want to track their prices or call them and tell them a buddy got them delivered to Utah for $417 and would they match that offer.

On the backing plate. If your axle doesn't have one chances are a welding shop or you if you have a welder could weld those on. One problem with some of these boat trailers is they don't have a standard axle width. Not a real big deal as places will make them to any length you want, but it still will cost more than buying a stock length. In my case shipping kills me on heavy stuff to where we live. I had the welding shop here where I get my steel order in some stub spindles and I'll cut a tube the right length and weld them in. Hope to be doing this stuff in a couple days when I get rid of the cold I got.

Good luck,

Sum

Our Trips to Lake Powell, UT - Kootenay Lake, Canada - Priest Lake, ID

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dscribner · Mar 10, 2010

Jimmy my old forum Buddy!,

To Brake or not to Brake? Definitely check your state requirements first.

My story, remember the idiot non-sailor with a boat, no trailer, no truck and no sailing experience? I'm back. I bought the boat then scrambled around for a trailer and found a dual axle Easyloader for fairly short money. The reason . . . no brakes but I didn't know that when I bought it! I got the boat home. The trailer and my ocean mistress weigh in at around 5000 lbs. We got her home using a Dakota with no problems but local laws require brakes on anything over 3000 lbs, regardless of the tow vehicle. After a few weeks of surfing the net and cruising Ebay, I found a complete set of Tiedown components: coupler, actuator, brake lines, spindles and drums with free-backing plates (very important) for $351 shipped! Later, after all the lug bolts stripped out of one of the orignal hubs, leaving me stranded at the ramp wtih three tires, I went back and replaced the remaining two hubs. If you're just a little bit handy, both jobs were very easy to do and took a couple of hours. Well worth the money.

The trailer was built for a smokepot so I had to raise the roller assemblies to meet the hull. In order to insure launchability, I built a roller bed that allows the shoal keel to roll up onto the trailer in shallower water. I'm not sure if I have ever really needed that.

Attached you'll see Phoenix as she is now and a photo of the trailer when I brought it home.

Don

dscribner · Mar 10, 2010

Is Jimmy a "fisher of men?"

Rick Webb · Mar 10, 2010

Your Determining Factor Will not Be Just Weight

Down here if yout trailer is capable of more than #3500 it must have brakes.

So it may be the case that even though you may not need the you must have them.

Sumner · Mar 10, 2010

dscribner said:
J...............Attached you'll see Phoenix as she is now and a photo of the trailer when I brought it home....Don

Nice looking boat and trailer............you did good

:dance: ,

Sum

RichBone · Mar 11, 2010

Good job on the trailer and the boat looks good sitting on it.

Just wondering. With the trailer winch so far below the bow eye, how do you winch the boat all the way forward?

Rich

dscribner · Mar 11, 2010

Rbone,

The eye is just below the boot stripe so it's actually in line with the top of the winch. If you've followed my story, you know I'm clueless and open to suggestion. Would moving the winch up make loading easier? I've considered moving the two guide wheels down under the hull to help with rocking on the road and replace them with a rubber bow chock instead.

petersea · Mar 11, 2010

OK here is my suggestion. You will be close to 2500 pound at a minimum. I know that in my home state of CT. brakes are required if the trailer is registered at over 3000 pounds gross weight. You are planning on trailer two to three hours at a times so I would definitely want brakes. While maybe not legally required ( but check you state laws) you will be glad you got trailer brakes towing that kind of time and distance. And to answer your question about adding brakes......yes they can be retrofitted if needed.

biorapper · May 6, 2010

I have traveled from conneticut to key west. Pensacola area 4 times, charleston about 10 times, and most lakes in the south east numerous times for over 5 years. Many thousands of miles with a toyota v4. It is rated at 3k...my load was about 2.5k. No trailer brakes, no problems.

Though defensive driving is always a great idea and I leave extra room ahead, you should be more than fine.

OldCat · May 6, 2010

Check this link:

Check this link from Boat US. It is a list of trailer brake laws by state. I am pretty sure that you need to be legal for each state that you tow into, not just where you live. http://www.boatus.com/trailerclub/laws.asp .

If the 1/2 ton truck is in good condition - especially its brakes - then I would tow a 2k load without trailer brakes. This would be legal in my home state. I would NOT tow a trailer in any state if they required brakes and I did not have them. I can imagine way too many legal risks for my comfort. Especially if an accident happened...

OC

Sumner · May 6, 2010

OldCat said:
Check this link from Boat US. It is a list of trailer brake laws by state. I am pretty sure that you need to be legal for each state that you tow into, not just where you live. http://www.boatus.com/trailerclub/laws.asp .

If the 1/2 ton truck is in good condition - especially its brakes - then I would tow a 2k load without trailer brakes. This would be legal in my home state. I would NOT tow a trailer in any state if they required brakes and I did not have them. I can imagine way too many legal risks for my comfort. Especially if an accident happened...

OC

Thanks for the link. There sure is a wide range of weights from 1500 to 4500 or no weight limit, with 2000 and 3000 being quoted the most.

I love our Mac, but I can't see where the factory trailer was ever legal anywhere with the long boat overhang in the back and no proper clearance lights. I'm fixing all of that now.

I'm a very defensive driver and have only been in one accident in 50 years of driving when someone ran a light and hit me in an intersection. Driving defensively only gets you so far though and can still leave you in situations that you have no control over.

When I'm towing I always increase the distance between our vehicle and the next, but that doesn't always work especially when on interstates in and around large cities. You move back and someone just jumps in and fills the hole and some of these interstates like around LA have a lot of sudden stopping of all lanes.

I think $400-$500 spent on brakes is a very wise investment and as I said before when you are in a safe situation just do one panic stop and see if you are comfortable with the outcome,

Sum

Our Trips to Lake Powell, UT - Kootenay Lake, Canada - Priest Lake, ID

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towing - will I need trailer brakes

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