Electric brakes - standard on a 17' Burro? - Fiberglass RV
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Old 09-19-2012, 04:17 PM   #1
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Name: Chris & T.J.
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Electric brakes - standard on a 17' Burro?

Were electric brakes standard equipment on 1993 17' Burro campers? The Burro website lists electric brakes under options, but then in parentheses says (14'), which leads me to believe they were an option for the smaller ones, but standard on the big boys. I would like some confirmation of that though, which I cannot seem to find.

Anybody know for sure?
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Old 09-19-2012, 06:10 PM   #2
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Wondering if inertia brakes (or maybe called surge brakes) are on the 17' trailers.

If there is four-way wiring, does that mean there is no braking system?

We're getting uncertain answers from the seller, he doesn't really know, and is just flipping it.

We are trying to figure out if when we get a hitch installed whether we need to get the electric brake hook up with seven-way wiring and then install brakes on the trailer, since our car's specifications require brakes on any load over 1,000 lbs.

Of course, we don't want to spend the extra money if we don't need to, nor do we want to crash in the mountains...
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Old 09-19-2012, 08:02 PM   #3
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If it has electric brakes the seller should be able to confirm it by simple looking on the underside at the wheels to see if there are any brake wires coming from the hub.

what would scare me a little is if the guy has had the trailer for a while and doesnt know if it has brakes or not that tells me he has never done any maintenance on his wheels - such as repacking or replacing the wheel bearings.
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Old 09-20-2012, 06:22 AM   #4
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Thanks, Carol.

Yeah, this guy just picked it up to flip it-- not his family camper.

We'll get a visual inspection to find out for sure, and get it serviced before we drive it home.
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Old 09-20-2012, 10:08 AM   #5
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Chris just a word of warning - if it doesnt have brakes do not assume you can just add them - the axle needs to have a flange? on it for mounting the brakes - some of the old trailers that didnt come with brakes originally dont have the type of axle on them that you can just add brakes to without changing the whole axle. As said an easy way to tell if it does have brakes is to look for the wires coming from the hub or better still pull a wheel off of it - some people have discovered that that the trailer had the wires but the pads had been removed long ago. If missing the pads or the brakes are just not connected thats an easy fix - a new brake hub is not that expensive and worth doing anyways on an old trailer.
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Old 09-20-2012, 11:38 AM   #6
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oh, good grief. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
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Old 09-20-2012, 01:53 PM   #7
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If the trailer has a flat-4 plug then you won't have electric brakes. Would be best to look at the trailer for presence of brake drums and wiring behind them. You never know if the trailer's been modified or something has been cut or removed. If you wire your vehicle for 7 blade round you'll be set, it's the most common socket, and you can get adapters from that to pretty much anything else.
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Old 09-20-2012, 01:59 PM   #8
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Also I've never heard of a torsion axle supporting surge brakes, I would seriously doubt the Burro has surge brakes. Again you can tell by looking at the trailer tongue, there will be sliding mechanism and master cylinder if it has surge brakes.
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Old 09-20-2012, 02:28 PM   #9
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Also I've never heard of a torsion axle supporting surge brakes, ...........
UHaul 16 foot VT series has a torsion axle with surge brakes.
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Old 09-20-2012, 09:56 PM   #10
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My 17' WB Burro has electric brakes. It is an '85 and it seems unlikely to be an add-on since it has the 13" wheels (I think) and the torsion axle is rated so low (1500 pds.) per a technician. It has the 7 pin connector, which I would also guess to not be original. But I don't know . . . does this give any one else any ideas?
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Old 09-21-2012, 08:26 AM   #11
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The surge mechanism is heavy and weight in the wrong place but it's on the rental U-Hauls for a very good reason.

jack
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Old 09-21-2012, 04:13 PM   #12
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Well, most likely we're going to need brakes, and maybe an axle. We got a ballpark estimate from a local RV repair shop in TN, so it'll probably cost less than I feared.

Also, my hubby found a handy resource for trailer brake laws for the US and Canada, which took the sting out of the whole brake conundrum. Turns out brakes will be necessary in our home state and where we're headed, CA, and a few states in between.

Trailer Brakes | AAA/CAA Digest of Motor Laws
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Old 09-22-2012, 12:50 AM   #13
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Chris, if your car specs call for them on trailers over 1000lbs you will not at all be sorry for getting them regardless of the state laws.
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Old 09-22-2012, 09:03 AM   #14
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Carol, no doubt. I was just hoping that it was already equipped with brakes. This has been a strange experience purchasing a trailer sight unseen, with my parents filling is proxy. But it is a done deal as of this morning! So we are very happy and working to get everything taken care of to have a safe trip home.
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Old 09-22-2012, 09:10 AM   #15
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Congrats Chris! Once you get the trailers brakes set up and your car wired for them and a brake controller installed. I suspect after you have enjoied your first camping trip you will think that it was all worth it!! Hope you have lots of great adventures. Have fun with it!
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Old 09-22-2012, 10:58 AM   #16
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Must be a heck of a buy if you are willng to tow it from TN to CA. I saw an Amerigo out that way a month ago and the cost to go after it was prohibitive, not to mention any fixing needed on-site. I would guess that you could get a hefyt bill from an RV shop. Adding or fixing brakes and/or repacking wheel bearings $150-$1000, new tires $200, rewiring/repairing the trailers lights $100, And does the propane refrigerator work?

Personally I would find and pay a local RV tech $100 to take a look at what's there first. And ferget anything the seller is telling you and, be sure to get it titled in your name in TN. By the time you get to CA with a 3rd party title/or worse yet, a Bill of Sale, you may be in deep-doo-doo trying to get it titled and registered.

I once bought an Airstream Bambi with a flakey title that turned out to be stolen out of a storage facility by the seller, who owned the storage lot.....
I was lucky, I got my money back, and the seller got a free stay in the X-bar Hotel.



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Old 09-22-2012, 05:13 PM   #17
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Bob, we live in FL, but are planning a trip to CA, hence the desire for the rv. If my parents weren't able to look at it in my stead I wouldn't have been interested in buying out of state. Yikes about your Bambi experience, glad to hear you lucked out.
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Old 09-27-2012, 02:14 PM   #18
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Trailer Barkes AAA/CAA Digest of Motor Laws

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Originally Posted by Wander Weekes View Post
Thank you for that link! Our 1975 Boler 1300 has no brakes but thus far is still under the lowest allowable weight for trailers without brakes found in the link you provided (1,500lbs or 680 kg). Believe we have a four-pin connector but need to check when we pick up the trailer on Tuesday. We're stopping on the way home from the repairman's to have it weighed. Hopefully we can keep it under 1,500 for now as we hadn't budgeted to replace the axle!
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