Brakes

[Roger C H]

I have a couple of things to speak about re brakes.

Laws are fine, but my owner's manual for my Subaru says that I can only tow above 1000# if the trailer has brakes. This may be looked at if I had an accident while towing, and an opposing lawyer, not to mention my own insurance company, would make an issue of this.

Brake Life. I see many drivers driving automatic transmissions accelerating while the brake lights are on. Apparently they are driving with the left foot on the brake and the right on the accelerator. This is not a good habit. One tends to 'rest' the left foot on the brake pedal without realizing it and with power brakes (is there any other kind?) applying the brakes. Also, in a panic situation, the tendency is to press down with both feet thus applying gas while trying to stop.

[murray in the bay]

Hi Roger. I agree with you on the trailer brakes. I have a 2003 Outback and the manual reads the same as yours- over 1000 lbs needs trailer brakes.Even if it didn't say that I would want trailer brakes anyway.

My wife and I have just recently purchased a 2006 Trillium 13 ft trailer. It originally had brakes but the previous owner removed them! I can't imagine why.

I have just started looking for brake assemblies for it but haven't found anything yet. Any ideas or info? Thanks. Murray.

[floyd]

Originally Posted by murray in the bay

Hi Roger. I agree with you on the trailer brakes. I have a 2003 Outback and the manual reads the same as yours- over 1000 lbs needs trailer brakes.Even if it didn't say that I would want trailer brakes anyway.

My wife and I have just recently purchased a 2006 Trillium 13 ft trailer. It originally had brakes but the previous owner removed them! I can't imagine why.

I have just started looking for brake assemblies for it but haven't found anything yet. Any ideas or info? Thanks. Murray.

There are basicly two brake set-ups... 7"&10" most 13ft trailers use 7" brakes. If yours have been removed, there should be a flange behind the spindle with 4 holes it to allow direct bolt on of the brake assembly.
You must also replace the hub assembly with a hub/drum assembly.
All parts are available from Dexter.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Roger C H

Brake Life. I see many drivers driving automatic transmissions accelerating while the brake lights are on. Apparently they are driving with the left foot on the brake and the right on the accelerator. This is not a good habit. One tends to 'rest' the left foot on the brake pedal without realizing it and with power brakes (is there any other kind?) applying the brakes. Also, in a panic situation, the tendency is to press down with both feet thus applying gas while trying to stop.

I also get a bit of a giggle when I see that happening and realize the party doing it probable did not learn to drive on a manual transmission.

As a side note & two footed driving aside, by nature cars with an automatic transmissions go through brakes faster than on a standard shift car. That was something I had never considered until I had my first car with automatic transmission and it went through a set of brakes *a lot* faster than any other car (all standards) I had ever owned- even of the same make and model. I thought at first they were faulty brake pads or perhaps my brake controller wasn't set up correctly, until I talked to a couple of local brake shops about it.

[Donna D.]

Driving with two feet is dangerous. At stop signs/lights, when hit from behind the driver has a tendency to push both feet and consequently the gas peddle gets shoved to the floor.... guess which one wins.

[Roger Kimble]

Originally Posted by Roger C H

I have a couple of things to speak about re brakes.

Laws are fine, but my owner's manual for my Subaru says that I can only tow above 1000# if the trailer has brakes. This may be looked at if I had an accident while towing, and an opposing lawyer, not to mention my own insurance company, would make an issue of this.

Brake Life. I see many drivers driving automatic transmissions accelerating while the brake lights are on. Apparently they are driving with the left foot on the brake and the right on the accelerator. This is not a good habit. One tends to 'rest' the left foot on the brake pedal without realizing it and with power brakes (is there any other kind?) applying the brakes. Also, in a panic situation, the tendency is to press down with both feet thus applying gas while trying to stop.

Brakes are very important, and a good idea

[floyd]

Originally Posted by Roger Kimble

Brakes are very important, and a good idea

On the TV too!

[shawn bertagnole]

I have a 13 scamp that I also pull with a Subaru, my question is how well do they work for you? Mine seem to do very little. They are almost new, have adjusted them several times, today so much that they started to burn but still do not seem to help very much. Ideas?

[Carol H]

I pull a 16' Scamp with a Subaru. I can tell you that even if my brake controller was not working when stopping its hard to feel an difference between towing and not towing - as the Subaru is very capable of stopping the trailer without any help - its on a steep hill that if there are no brakes on the trailer you are going to find you are having to use a lot more brake pressure to slow it down and you will feel the trailer pushing more than it should if the brake controller is not set correctly.

I always check my trailer brakes in the first mile of hooking up to make sure they a working correctly and adjust the controller if need be. If I set the controller to high when I put my foot on the brakes the trailer will start hopping up and down like a bunny rabbit!

If your trailer brakes are set to the point that they are burning and you cant feel the trailers brakes causing the trailer to hopping up and down when the controller is set high then something is not set up correctly on your brakes or maybe even your controller.

[floyd]

Originally Posted by shawn bertagnole

I have a 13 scamp that I also pull with a Subaru, my question is how well do they work for you? Mine seem to do very little. They are almost new, have adjusted them several times, today so much that they started to burn but still do not seem to help very much. Ideas?

The 7" brakes work fine for balanced braking, but they simply won't lock-up above 10-15 miles per hour, but that's ok since no car sold in the U.S. after 2008 can lock-up it's own brakes at any speed.
They work fine on my 13 Scamp/Ford Escape combo, and I don't get any noticeable push from the trailer. But anyone who thinks that speed is not a factor when towing needs to be reminded that the laws of physics are well thought out and always enforced. Trailer brakes are great but you can not expect the same results as driving the same TV when not towing.