towing a 13' burro with a Subaru Forester

[Pamela H]

Okay...I heard the forester is great for towing 13' trailers. We need to outfit the car with a hitch, and can only find class II's, but I would really like to have brakes. We are replacing tires, and took off one wheel, didn't see a brake assembly, however the burro has a 6 or 7 pin connector which is typical for brakes. Does your burro have brakes? Can I add brakes without switching axles? I am familiar with brakes on cars/trucks, but not on trailers. Is there a different look or assembly for trailers?

[weldon freeman]

Pamela, I have owned two different Burro 13's, and I never needed brakes on either one of them.
They are around 1000 lbs with your stuff in them, and I just never had any need for a brake on either one of them I have owned and I pulled one across country with a small truck and also a full size truck and I had no issues with needs for brakes on this size trailer. The Burro will track steady on the road and even when 18 wheelers pass you, they are rock steady and stable.
You probably will hardly know it is behind you. Take it on a short trip around the area and get the feel of it, before you go on a long trip.....

Weldon

[Roy in TO]

Can I add brakes without switching axles?

Typically axles that are premade for brakes have what they call a brake flange or square piece of metal on the axle behind the wheel with four holes in it to attach the brake drum to.

If you have one you can add brakes, if not, you probably need to switch axles. Kevin61 provides a link to his flicker pictures showing his brake addition here:

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/in...howtopic=29377

He adds brakes to an axle that did not have any. You can see the flange in the pictures.

[Booker B.]

Hi Pamela,

We are pulling a Trillium 13 with our Subaru Forester and it's an awesome combination. We bought our trailer with electric brakes and I had a Tekonsha Prodigy brake controller installed on the Subaru. We just did a trip through the Rockies to Alberta and back and I HIGHLY recommend the brakes on your trailer. The Subaru does not have the mass of our Toyota 4x4 and I really felt the trailer pushing the Subaru during hard braking without the brakes. Honestly, with the brakes the rig stops better then the car without the trailer on it.

Our 13' trailer loaded was pushing 1800lbs - I had a lot of tools in case of something going wrong plus a bike rack with 2 kids bikes. Sorry Weldon, but from what I have read and from the scales I have been on I doubt any 13' trailer with Fridge/Furnace/Propane/battery and loaded for camping will be less then 1500lbs.

If you can't see brake flanges on your axle then it sounds like you need to get a new axle with electric brake mounts. When I was looking around for our 1972 it was $600 - $800 CDN to get an axle with brakes - generally they can pull it off without removing the body. My 1972 had a 7 pin but it did not have electric brakes - the previous owner had 7 pin on his TV so just had one added to the trailer.

[Pamela H]

If you can't see brake flanges on your axle then it sounds like you need to get a new axle with electric brake mounts. When I was looking around for our 1972 it was $600 - $800 CDN to get an axle with brakes - generally they can pull it off without removing the body. My 1972 had a 7 pin but it did not have electric brakes - the previous owner had 7 pin on his TV so just had one added to the trailer.

Unfortunately, I don't know what brake flanges look like...could someone point them out in one of the pictures? This trailer does have a 7 pin conductor, however the mating plug was cut off. I have not traced the wires yet, so it is a mystery as to how it was wired.

Pam

[Pamela H]

Typically axles that are premade for brakes have what they call a brake flange or square piece of metal on the axle behind the wheel with four holes in it to attach the brake drum to.

After taking both wheels off again, and taking close up pictures, we did indeed find brake flanges, with the four holes. Thanks for such a great description...Where is the best place to find them? How are they installed?

Thanks!

Pam