1977 beachcomber no brakes on my trailer.

[Lori-Ann]

hello everyone: we bought our 1977 beachcomber travel trailer last summer.

we have it for sale. we are buying a permanent trailer on a site.

my question for ontario law.

a fellow interested in the 1977 trailer said anything over 1000lbs is required to have brakes in ontario. this is the law.

is he right? if so why then when we bought it we never had to get a mechanical l slip to get a license for our 1977 beachcomber.
puzzled in ontario,
thank you all
lorraine

[Pete Dumbleton]

Guesses on my part:

1. The guy was wrong (or was trying to 'flaw' the price down).

2. The trailer was manufactured under an earlier law and has been grandfathered.

3. The trailer once had brakes and someone slipped up on the paperwork.

You can check the last by examining the back side of the hubs; if there are brake drums almost as big as the wheels (8" or 10"), then it had brakes. If the hub is small and you can see most of the wheel, then likely it didn't. Also, if you can see the brake mounting flange, a square piece of steel around the spindle with four holes in it, then it doesn't have brakes.

Googling reveals #1 above applies:

Ontario Trailer or semi-trailer - Every trailer or semi-trailer having a gross weight of 1,360 kilograms (3,000 Ibs) or more shall be equipped with brakes adequate to stop and to hold the vehicle.

http://www.rvda.ca/ProviBrakeReqts.asp

In fact, it appears that no CA province or territory has a requirement for brakes on a 1,000 lb trailer UNLESS it weighs more than 40-50% of the towing vehicle in some places.

[Brian B-P]

I think Pete's right on about the rules.

Also, provincial laws generally apply to what is operated on the highway, regardless of what was legal when it was built. The federal laws determine what is legal to build and sell, and don't matter to a used trailer. If earlier stuff is "grandfathered" in the provincial laws, that's usually explicit in the regulation.

In other words, the 1977 rules probably don't matter, and it probably doesn't matter to the current rules that the Beachcomber was built in 1977.

[Brian B-P]

...You can check the last by examining the back side of the hubs...
Also, if you can see the brake mounting flange, a square piece of steel around the spindle with four holes in it, then it doesn't have brakes.

You can see the mounting flanges on my Dexter-brake-equipped Boler: perhaps this should be "if you can see the brake mounting flange and there's nothing bolted to it, then it doesn't have brakes."

I'm assuming that by "examining the back side of the hubs" Pete means to look under the trailer at the back side of the wheel/hub area, without taking anything apart.

[Shawn Englehart]

I imported my Scamp in 2004 with no trailer brakes and was not required to add them. I am not sure what my utility trailer weighs, but it was not required here in Ontario or in New Brunswick where I purchased and first plated it, then moved to Ontario in 1997 with no requirement, both are rated as a class 1 trailer. I have to get both over to the scale for an empty weight measurement sometime, I do know it seems easier to move the scamp by hand then the utility trailer (surprises me for a big empty box). Searching the MTO I found this

Before using your trailer, make sure it is in safe operating condition. Inspect the lights, tires, brakes (if equipped), bearings, safety chains and hitch.. The law requires brakes on trailers that weigh 1360 kg (3000 lb) or more.

http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/saf...cs/trailer.htm

[Pete Dumbleton]

I'm not sure that brake requirements aren't grandfathered, because I presume other highway requirements are. For example, is it required to retrofit older vehicles with the third brake light in the rear center at eye level? Did a really old car with only one brake light have to add a second? And now a third? Are windshield washers required for older vehicle?

I dunno about CA law, but down here I believe the presumption is that grandfathering exists unless specified otherwise, even in criminal law. That doesn't mean that one can't get a citation, just that it may be successfully challenged.

BTW, yes, you can visually inspect the hubs from the back side to see if brakes exist or if it's possible to mount them without disassembling anything.

[Brian B-P]

I'm not sure that brake requirements aren't grandfathered, because I presume other highway requirements are. For example, is it required to retrofit older vehicles with the third brake light in the rear center at eye level? Did a really old car with only one brake light have to add a second? And now a third? Are windshield washers required for older vehicle?

No. Yes. No. Depends.

I believe that the Center High-Mounted Stop Light (CHMSL) rule is is federal: it applies to new vehicles, but the provinces (Alberta at least) do not even mention it, so once the vehicle is put on the road, it never needs to be retofitted.

Yes, a car in Alberta needs two brake lamps (section 18(1) of AR322 - Vehicle Equipment Regulation). Even the fenderless street rodders have two brake lights. I don't see any exemption, although an antique in a parade is forgiven all sorts of stuff.

Again, no need to retrofit the CHMSL (we have one car without one), so you need the second, but not the third.

In Alberta, section 62 requires wipers and washers, but specifically not on "antique motor vehicles". Section 63 says the antiques do need a wiper if you drive them in conditions requiring their use. This is an example of specific grandfathering, and applicability would depend on the official definition of "antique". I have not noticed any such provisions in the trailer rules.