Bring Casita home without an electric brake controller?

[tractors1]

Originally Posted by Borden

(should be light empty) light enough maybe but still like the idea of the wireless controller Matt in SV talked about. A fine may pay for the controler? again you may not get stopped. The truck may pull it fine stopping will require more space especially down hill.

I'm NOT a fan of wireless control where life/safety is involved. Spent decades in the EWRF (electronic warfare radio frequency) field in the military and very familiar with jamming of electronic signals (purposeful interference.) Happens to you every time your radio gets noisy.

Having the receiver for your trailer brakes not hear what your brake pedal transmitter says could make for a highly ungood day.

Just my opinion.......

Charlie Y

[Bob Miller]

Bottom line.... It's illegal (and unsafe) in CA (and most other states) to tow a trailer that heavy without trailer brakes working. Any decent RV shop can install a controller on your friends truck in a manner so that you can easily remove it for your own TV.

Year ago, with my late wife driving our 4wd Blazer pulling a 25' Airstream across Utah, a semi passed us fast enough and close enough to start the trailer swaying. She hit the service brakes first (Trailer brakes were manual back then) and that not ony made matters worse, it cause the entire rig to swap ends in the middle of a freeway at 55 MPH, a real E-ticket ride if ever there was one. We stopped facing south, in the northbound lanes.

Ruined all of the tires on both TV and trailer, tossed everything inside all over the place, but no injuries.

BTW: She never drove with the trailer hitched again, and we were only a month into a 10 month long tour..

Nuff Said ???

[Ice-breaker]

Originally Posted by tractors1

I'm NOT a fan of wireless control where life/safety is involved. Spent decades in the EWRF (electronic warfare radio frequency) field in the military and very familiar with jamming of electronic signals (purposeful interference.) Happens to you every time your radio gets noisy.

Having the receiver for your trailer brakes not hear what your brake pedal transmitter says could make for a highly ungood day.

Just my opinion.......

Charlie Y

The wireless controller from Tekonsha (Prodigy RF) has control box that is mounted on the front of your trailer, and which plugs into the trailer outlet on the back of your tow vehicle. The plug from your trailer then plugs into the Tekonsha controller. When you operate the brakes on your tow vehicle, the controller applies the brakes on your trailer, without any wireless communication. The only time that the brakes are applied through the wireless communication is when you manually press the brake button on the controller that is inside the cab of your vehicle.

Thus, 99% of the time, there would be no reliance on wireless communications.

[Francesca Knowles]

Originally Posted by Bob Miller

Nuff Said ???

Evidently not, except that if you're addressing the O.P:
Her problem was solved a year and a half ago!

O.P. Jane's post of February 2011:

Originally Posted by JaneM.

Problem solved (at least temporarily)! A friend offered to lend us her truck (with which she tows her trailer) and it has an electronic brake controller. Hopefully we'll be driving home with our new baby this weekend. I'll post an announcement if we do.

Thanks again for everyone's help! I now know what we need in a TV and feel much more informed in general!

Francesca

[Phillip M.]

In 1981 we purchased a 1972 13ft Boler, no brakes, and hitched it to our new Honda Civic 4dr station wagon. (Just under 1300cc engine, that's about the same as a Harley "74".) The car weighed about 1800 pounds dry and the Boler, dry, was 900 pounds. At the time it was legal in B.C. to tow a trailer with no brakes if it weighed less than have the weight of the tow vehicle. So we packed as much as possible, including two small kids, into the Honda, trying to maintain that 2:1 ratio. We traveled all over southern BC, including some very steep gravel roads north of Castlegar. Note: we put 365,000kms. on that car and never even had to add oil between 3000km changes right until we sold it. (My dad taught me, growing up in the sticks in Costa Rica in the '50s-'60s, an oil change is always good insurance and use common sense at all times. Still good advice but where can one find some common sense now?) Now we pull a 13ft Bigfoot with a Honda Pilot and I'm grateful for the trailer's brakes!