Brakes on Lil Snooze

[Civilguy]

Originally Posted by Raspy

The simplicity of them is appealing, but the real world function leaves a lot to be desired. Electric brakes are a much better choice for a travel trailer.

Surge brakes are better for industrial trailers where they are being towed by all different trucks that are not setup for a particular trailer or don't have a brake controller. Or for boat trailers that get dipped into water a lot. It seems like Snoozy frames are really modified boat trailers. I remember the owner of Snoozy talking about this, where he gets his frames and that they are galvanized. Snoozy and boat trailers are a good match, except for the surge brakes.

Alan Smoak started Smoakin Concepts Composites to build the Lil Snoozy trailer in 2009. He had been getting ready to retire and sell his pool business, Alaglas Pools. Alaglas specializes in fiberglass inground pools, so Alan had worked with fiberglass and composites through the years. He was also a pilot and came up with the Little Snoozy to combine the benefits of molded fiberglass with what he considered an aerodynamic shape.

That much is documented online. Now I will go out on a limb here and speculate a bit. I think he went to a local vendor that built boat trailers and basically said "yeah, that will be fine". I think he was primarily focused on his molded fiberglass cabin and wasn't necessarily looking to get too deeply engaged with a business that he started when he was already on the pathway to retirement.

Little Snoozy never outfitted their trailers with propane appliances, (although I understand they would do some preparation for completion by others), and they never offered electric brakes on their trailers. I think it was a case where he was interested in the business, but not that interested. Maybe he also had some preconceptions which lead him in the direction of surge brakes and all-electric appliances, but I think there was also some attraction to the simplicity of getting something going and then leaving "good enough" alone.

We were pretty taken by the Little Snoozy when my wife and I started looking a few years ago. The Snoozy definitely had some features we liked. One thing we especially like is the option to have two large swing-up windows over the long countertop.

Bottom line, though, I am not able to immediately think of another travel trailer which uses surge brakes on this side of the Atlantic, and I don't think it's necessarily because they are cheaper. One clear downside is that you cannot separately actuate hydraulic trailer brakes when a trailer starts swaying.

[Civilguy]

Originally Posted by Air Doug

Update on the surge brake issue.

I took the Snoozy to a brake shop (Woolsey's in Helena, Montana - super nice folks). The brakes were way out of adjustment. They heat up a bit now when braking on short grades. We had one panic stop and they locked up on asphalt - so they work.

I suspect that they have been out of adjustment since new based on the performance now. I just didn't notice because the 4Runner has pretty big brakes and I drive pretty conservatively. I should have learned how to test them when I got them and made sure they worked. Testing isn't too hard, You just need a big flat-blade screw driver and a jack.

I would prefer to be able to test them on the fly, like you can with electric brakes, but not enough to convert right now.

One other issue: Woolsey's agreed with me that the hydraulic line is pulled way too tightly around a 90 degree bend as it exits the main beam of the trailer frame. It will eventually fail if not relieved.

Doug,

Thanks for the follow-up. It's always nice to hear what the issue turned out to be after people post concerning a problem.

While changing out to electric brakes would be relatively expensive, it would seem (?) that changing out the flexible hydraulic lines for longer ones would be a relatively inexpensive measure. Did the shop give you a quote or some council regarding how important they considered it to relieve the stressed lines?

[Mike Magee]

Smoak started the biz so his son would have a good living. Then the son decided to work elsewhere, so Alan sold out.

[mary and bob]

[QUOTE=Civilguy;



Bottom line, though, I am not able to immediately think of another travel trailer which uses surge brakes on this side of the Atlantic, and I don't think it's necessarily because they are cheaper. One clear downside is that you cannot separately actuate hydraulic trailer brakes when a trailer starts swaying.[/QUOTE]

Uhaul used surge brakes on their larger camper, the VT model. But that was in a rental situation so makes sense to do that. Long out of production of course, so it doesn't really count.

[Civilguy]

Originally Posted by Mike Magee

Smoak started the biz so his son would have a good living. Then the son decided to work elsewhere, so Alan sold out.

Originally Posted by mary and bob

Uhaul used surge brakes on their larger camper, the VT model. But that was in a rental situation so makes sense to do that. Long out of production of course, so it doesn't really count.

That's good information. It's amazing how much information is out there.

I'm always fascinated to see how much people pick up once they get interested in a subject.

[Air Doug]

Originally Posted by Civilguy

Doug,

Did the shop give you a quote or some council regarding how important they considered it to relieve the stressed lines?

We looked at the rubber hydraulic line together and determined that there was probably enough slack in the line along the side frame rail before the split to the two sides to relieve the tight turn. I just need to go under and do it. That was what I had figured I needed to do before I went to the brake shop. It was good to get confirmation from an expert. If it turns out that there is not enough slack, I will change out the existing line with a longer one or take it to a shop to have it done. It is definitely not a condition that I can tolerate long term.

As an aside, Lil Snoozy does the same thing with a bunch of there electric wires. There are numerous places where they are tightly wound around supports or zip ties. It is incomprehensible to me why they do that. I fix them when I have time.