Brakes on Lil Snooze

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by rabbit

The torsion arm housing on my old Henschen doesn't look like that. Is it an arrangement allowing painless spindle replacement?

Carl provided the manufacturer (Tiedown) and confirmed that the spindle is removable for repair. The rest of the hardware (other end of the spindle, bearings, hub) is completely conventional. They're not the only company to use removable spindles, but I don't know of any other specific brands of independent rubber-sprung designs built this way.

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

......... They're not the only company to use removable spindles, but I don't know of any other specific brands of independent rubber-sprung designs built this way.

Probably not relevant to the OP, but the UHauls had / have a bolt on spindle / integrated bearing unit. I converted mine to just a bolt on spindle so that I could add off the shelf brake parts.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Thomas G.

Probably not relevant to the OP, but the UHauls had / have a bolt on spindle / integrated bearing unit.

Excellent point. Although I was thinking of bare spindles for conventional bearings, the integrated spindle/bearings/hub units are bolt-on and offer a comparable serviceability advantage. Although U-Haul is the only manufacturer I can think of to use these in an independent rubber suspension on a travel trailer, similar configurations are used on other trailers and on tow dollies.

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

........... similar configurations are used on other trailers and on tow dollies.

Yes, in fact some of them use the exact same hub.

[Flharleycop]

I would like to hear from LiL Snoozy owners on this one, I am looking at a LS and the brakes are an area I would like to hear about. Have any of you actual OWNERS who have towed your LS in a mountain area had any experience with the surge brakes? How did they handle etc. I am going to see what it would cost to order one with electric brakes if the opinions here would support it.

Thanks

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by Flharleycop

I would like to hear from LiL Snoozy owners on this one, I am looking at a LS and the brakes are an area I would like to hear about. Have any of you actual OWNERS who have towed your LS in a mountain area had any experience with the surge brakes? How did they handle etc. I am going to see what it would cost to order one with electric brakes if the opinions here would support it.

Thanks

You might get more information on towing with surge brakes from a boating forum, as surge brakes are widely used on boat trailers due to the wheel dunking when unloading.

[Flharleycop]

Originally Posted by Thomas G.

You might get more information on towing with surge brakes from a boating forum, as surge brakes are widely used on boat trailers due to the wheel dunking when unloading.

Yea I have towed many boats with surge brakes just never in a mountain pass. In my regular travels with a 28 foot cabin boat the surges worked fine but it was always flat.

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by Flharleycop

Yea I have towed many boats with surge brakes just never in a mountain pass. In my regular travels with a 28 foot cabin boat the surges worked fine but it was always flat.

Right, but other boaters may have mountain driving experience with surge brakes. For fiberglass campers, surge brakes are rare.

[Brian B-P]

Same for rental cargo trailers - lots of us have towed them with surge brakes through mountains - in my case the Okanagan valley to the Edmonton area. I didn't have any problem, but I didn't check their temperature. I don't think they were as effective as my Boler's electric brakes, but that might just have been wear and maintenance (rental U-Haul equipment tends to have lots of wear and little maintenance).

[Flharleycop]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

Same for rental cargo trailers - lots of us have towed them with surge brakes through mountains - in my case the Okanagan valley to the Edmonton area. I didn't have any problem, but I didn't check their temperature. I don't think they were as effective as my Boler's electric brakes, but that might just have been wear and maintenance (rental U-Haul equipment tends to have lots of wear and little maintenance).

I towed a Uhaul with my daughters furniture from S. Fl to Colorado and we went through the Ozarks to do some scenic routes. That trailed fine but I don’t recall if it had brakes or not. It was a double axel Uhaul.

[MCDenny]

I towed my LS 9000 miles last winter, twice through the high hills - low mountains going thru Tenn on I65. Not exactly the Rockies but the trailer was zero problem.

I'm perfectly comfortable with surge brakes. They don't give you the ability to work them independently on the car but are idiot proof as you don't have to do anything. No electrical components either.

I thought the surge brakes were a plus feature. I had a trailer built awhile ago (not snoozy) and the builder wanted an extra $250 for upgrading from electric to surge. If you are paying someone to install a brake controller in your car you are probably looking at another $200.

[carlkeigley]

9000 miles............time for an oil change.

[SusieinNC]

We have had our Snoozy 9 months and have not had any problems with the surge brakes. We have traveled through several states with mountains, but not as much as McDenny.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Flharleycop

I towed a Uhaul...
That trailed fine but I don’t recall if it had brakes or not. It was a double axel Uhaul.

Among recent U-Haul trailers, particularly the enclosed cargo trailers, single axle trailers are under 3000 lb GVWR and do not have brakes, while tandem (double) axle trailers are over 3000 lb GVWR and have surge brakes... so that one likely had surge brakes.

[Flharleycop]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

Among recent U-Haul trailers, particularly the enclosed cargo trailers, single axle trailers are under 3000 lb GVWR and do not have brakes, while tandem (double) axle trailers are over 3000 lb GVWR and have surge brakes... so that one likely had surge brakes.

Thanks

[Flharleycop]

Great info thanks

[Melanie B in NC]

Let me turn turn this brake question aside a bit from the Snoozy - can some of you who have other brands (Park Liner, Casita, Scamp, etc.) tell us what kind of brakes (electric vs surge) are standard on your campers? I guess every manufacturer has made a determination what they want to use and I would be interested to see what they decided. Thanks.

[honda03842]

Melanie,

Parlkliner, Scamp, Casita, Escape and Eggcamper all use electric brakes. The one advantage of electric brakes is the driver of the tow vehicle can operate just the trailer's brakes, a potentially valuable ability in an emergency.

The primary advantage of surge brakes is they do not require a brake controller, in my view an incrementally small cost.

[Brian B-P]

Essentially every North American travel trailer with brakes has electric brakes, except for units built for rental use. I've never heard of hydraulic surge brakes on a non-rental travel trailer, except the Lil Snoozy. The T@b had (may still have?) mechanical surge brakes, using European "overrun" type hardware, because it is a European design (although built in the U.S.). Overrun brakes are the standard for recreational trailers in Europe.

Since electric brake wiring is common in North American tugs, and the portion of the brake system on the trailer is much cheaper and simpler in the electric version, the choice is obvious for trailer manufacturers. Some large high-end units use disk brakes, which are not available in electric, so they use hydraulic brakes and an electric-to-hydraulic converter mounted on the trailer.

[Jared J]

We pulled a car trailer with surge brakes through the mountains. We almost got down from the mountain a hell of a lot quicker than we planned on. I had to buy my buddy a set of brakes after that. Never again. I remember the horrid of trying to back another surge brake trailer uphill. I had to back one over a curb and couldn't lock it out, had to take a 20 mph run at it to do it, because the brakes locked up solid going slow.

Also, keep in mind you should change brake fluid every 2-3 years, hoses every 5-10, and then there's the master cylinder and wheel cylinders to possibly deal with. Electric brakes…4 bolts, 2 wires, and a $30 loaded backing plate.

With the exception of trailers that get submerged, and rentals towed by idiots, I see zero benefit to surge brakes.

Out of curiosity, what does the little snoozy frame look like? Is there any chance it IS a boat trailer?