Trailer brakes in the real world?

[Darwin Maring]

From The Virginia DMV Q & A:

I have a small trailer and I would like to know if it is required to be inspected.

It depends. If the "actual gross weight" is 3,000 pounds or more, it is required to have brakes and is required to be inspected. (The "actual gross weight" is the weight of the trailer plus the weight of any load that the trailer is carrying.) If the "actual gross weight" is less than 3,000 pounds, it is not required to be inspected; however, any trailer under 3,000 that is equipped with brakes is also required to be inspected.

[Darwin Maring]

Could a Scamp 13ft exceed the 3000 when loaded with all your stuff?

California King Bed, Hot tub, 75" HD 3D TV, outside grill, Washer and Dryer, Freezer and Fridg, Marble flooring, Cheff grade cook top and oven, 24000 BTU air conditioner, personal scooters, and of course the clothing and Beach and Mountain climbing equipment to include the mountain bikes?

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by Darwin Maring

Could a Scamp 13ft exceed the 3000 when loaded with all your stuff?

California King Bed, Hot tub, 75" HD 3D TV, outside grill, Washer and Dryer, Freezer and Fridg, Marble flooring, Cheff grade cook top and oven, 24000 BTU air conditioner, personal scooters, and of course the clothing and Beach and Mountain climbing equipment to include the mountain bikes?

Ideal "camping" gear...except you forgot the 10 cases of beer and a case of whiskey. And that's just for a week-end

[floyd]

Originally Posted by Darwin Maring

Could a Scamp 13ft exceed the 3000 when loaded with all your stuff?

California King Bed, Hot tub, 75" HD 3D TV, outside grill, Washer and Dryer, Freezer and Fridg, Marble flooring, Cheff grade cook top and oven, 24000 BTU air conditioner, personal scooters, and of course the clothing and Beach and Mountain climbing equipment to include the mountain bikes?

Still... nope!

[BCDave]

Originally Posted by Darwin Maring

Could a Scamp 13ft exceed the 3000 when loaded with all your stuff?

California King Bed, Hot tub, 75" HD 3D TV, outside grill, Washer and Dryer, Freezer and Fridg, Marble flooring, Cheff grade cook top and oven, 24000 BTU air conditioner, personal scooters, and of course the clothing and Beach and Mountain climbing equipment to include the mountain bikes?

I think it might depend on whether or not the California King is a water bed...

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Loren G. Hedahl

Your money will be well spent acquiring the Prodigy vs the Reese brake controller. (Don't ask me how I know!)

Loren, PLEASE tell us how you know!!! We all are here to learn and as you can see a the title of this thread is "Trailer Brakes In The Real World" so real world experiences are worth sharing.

[Darwin Maring]

Originally Posted by Loren G. Hedahl
Your money will be well spent acquiring the Prodigy vs the Reese brake controller.

Do yourself a favor and take the advice Even if it costs more just do it. It is a superior controller.

[gmw photos]

Originally Posted by Darrell O

<not allowed political commentary>
FiberglassRV.com Community Rules

That's a classic line ! That's so good, it just might possibly become a sig line for many folks in many places !!!! LOL

As for the brakes, and not being able to get good service, I'll say it again....these danged RV's are what I call, "some assembly required". And "best owned by someone who likes to tinker". We pretty much have to become our own expert on every system in them, from tow hitches, to brakes, plumbing and heating and air. And all the rest.

At least it's fun getting to use hand tools all the time !

geo

[Darrell O]

<comment removed>

Today we came back from a 24-hour vacation at Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park where I sat by the fire and pieced some of this issue together.

I noticed the town hitch specialist stocked Reese brake controllers only. All Reese controllers appear to be time based (dated technology) rather than the latest inertia or proportional systems.

From the recommendations given here, I'll try to get a Prodigy 2 or P3. Although with 10" trailer brakes on a lightweight trailer I'm sure I won't need the "Boost" function of the P3.

I located a controller outlet under the dash for a plug n play installation. There's also factory trailer prewiring near the back end of the van which will simplify wiring up a 7-way connector.

Many thanks for all your advice and encouragement.

[steve dunham]

Just installed Prodigy P2 in my new truck .Works well . Has boost

[kootenaigirl]

We just installed a P3 and really like it - our first time with a brake controller.

[Frederick L. Simson]

Please remember that politics is off limits here and that all members are expected to post in a collegial manner. We take the 'Be Nice" rule very seriously.

Here is a link to our community rules.

[john warren]

if you have them on your trailer, for the little it will cost to hook them up , use them.
with your tow you don't need them




uh,,wait,,,i am not an expert on these things,,,,i just play one on t.v.

[BCDave]

I ain't no expert nohow neither, but.....

If you have 'em - hook 'em up & use 'em

You MAY find that having brakes and not using them could potentially run you afoul of laws and or/ insurance policies

[melissab]

I have the Tekonsha Primus IQ with Boost from my Popup and it worked great. Trailer shop who installed it said I didnt need all the fancy features on the Prodigy models for such a small, lightweight trailer. A little less expensive but does e'thing I need w/o being complicated, lol. I prefer simple.

[Roy in TO]

Originally Posted by melissab

I didnt need all the fancy features on the Prodigy models for such a small, lightweight trailer. A little less expensive but does e'thing I need w/o being complicated...

For the little difference in price, I suggest buying up. You may not need it today, but you don't know what you might tow in the future.

[RogerDat]

Originally Posted by Darwin Maring

Could a Scamp 13ft exceed the 3000 when loaded with all your stuff?

Trailer Weights in the real world answers this for FGRV's pretty well http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...rld-43010.html

[Darrell O]

Originally Posted by Darrell O

<comment removed>

Today we came back from a 24-hour vacation at Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park where I sat by the fire and pieced some of this issue together.

I noticed the town hitch specialist stocked Reese brake controllers only. All Reese controllers appear to be time based (dated technology) rather than the latest inertia or proportional systems.

From the recommendations given here, I'll try to get a Prodigy 2 or P3. Although with 10" trailer brakes on a lightweight trailer I'm sure I won't need the "Boost" function of the P3.

I located a controller outlet under the dash for a plug n play installation. There's also factory trailer prewiring near the back end of the van which will simplify wiring up a 7-way connector.

Many thanks for all your advice and encouragement.

The conclusion of the matter:

I ordered Prodigy P2 and harness online from Carstairs RV in Alberta and plugged it in to the under dash connector and it powered up fine.

There is one other business, a general auto repair shop, advertising hitch installations in the local Yellow Pages.

I brought the TV there to have the 7-pin connector connected and installed. After a lot of searching for factory wiring, including removal of interior panels the mechanic could find no factory trailer wiring running to the back of the vehicle. This got resolved by connecting the blue (brake) wire directly from the new controller back to the bumperr and another wire (with breaker) off of the battery. The new 7-pin connector plugs into the existing 4-pin that I previously installed in the vehicle. I was charged for three hours, although the job took longer after the futile search for factory wiring.

However, with the P2 the braking system work great and has a unified feel to it as though you are stopping a single vehicle. The P2 has boost setting but I set the boost to "off" as the 10" brakes are capable of locking at higher settings. The specialist hadn't heard of inertia-based controllers and proportional braking.

The first hour of use went well but then the display on the controller started randomly flashing codes for not connected to standby and back to connected - but the brakes still functioned normally. After emailling a description of this to Tekonsha I got a phone call four days later and the tech representative said they had a recent run of units with software issues and offered to exchange it. But by this time however, I had already mailed it back to Alberta. So here's hoping the replacement isn't another of the affected units - at this point Tekonsha doesn't have the problem units identified to a particular range of serial numbers.

Holy doodle, making this brake controller thing happen sure turned into a mega-project!

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Darrell O

I brought the TV there to have the 7-pin connector connected and installed. After a lot of searching for factory wiring, including removal of interior panels the mechanic could find no factory trailer wiring running to the back of the vehicle. This got resolved by connecting the blue (brake) wire directly from the new controller back to the bumperr and another wire (with breaker) off of the battery. The new 7-pin connector plugs into the existing 4-pin that I previously installed in the vehicle. I was charged for three hours, although the job took longer after the futile search for factory wiring.

Holy doodle, making this brake controller thing happen sure turned into a mega-project!

Darrell I hope the new controller when it arrives works out better for you. I think you made the right decision to go with the one you did but agree its never fun when you waste a lot of time trying to install a product that doesn't actually work in the first place.

When you say there was no factory trailer wiring are you saying there was no hidden wiring connection for lights etc or just the brakes? You didnt indicate what tow vehicle you are using so no idea if they are one that you would have expected to find the basic trailer wiring pre installed - although you did indicate there was a wiring harness at the rear - I'm confused. If it was only the blue brake wire they couldnt find its pretty common even on tows that come with trailer wiring pre installed, a lot of manufactures dont include the brake line installed from the factory.

Hope you get it sorted and get out to enjoy your trailer soon.

[Kenny Strong]

I have spent a bit of time, putting new brake shoes with backing plates,on our 93' Bigfoot. I drove it up thru Canada and Alaska and was pleased. very noticeable when using or not using them!