Trillium Retired

[Wanderer]

In two of the three senses- We are retired, the Trillium has new tires. Had it a couple of years and have done a lot of work on it- and still doing it. I've been looking at the posts re brakes, and must mention our trailer has surge brakes. They work perfectly well, and have been tested on trans-Rockies trips, but I am wondering about converting to electrics, a reasonably simple job, after rounding up either the parts at Princess or a complete kit, maybe from Outback or. . . ? Main reason for conversion, (maybe some of you can voice other reasons!) is to get rid of the brake line and make my project to design a spare wheel carrier under the front frame easier. Should mention that our trailer has a high lift axle beam, increasing ground clearance and providing sufficient clearance for the spare. Hopefully we will see some of you people on the road or in the Washington State Parks we frequent.

[Donna D.]

Hi Kenneth, welcome to FiberglassRV... we're glad you are here. I'll leave it to others to answer the surge brake question... they're certainly better qualified than I !!

I just wanted to welcome you

[mary and bob]

If the brakes work good, I'd leave them alone. With the surge brakes you don't need a brake controller, and the trailer brakes work with any tow vehicle. If the spare issue is only with a brake line, the line can be replaced with a longer line and rerouted.

[Wanderer]

Thank you for your welcome. Re the surge brakes, my neighbour also feels we could lengthen/move the brake line, but he is also in favour of electric brakes- principally because he fitted them to his Triple E and has them on his much larger trailer, but also because you can use them gently part way through a curve without inducing jack-knifing or skidding. With me it is as I said, but also a bit of monkey see monkey do. Thank you for your comments.

[Roger C H]

Hmmm. I check that my electric brakes are working by applying them when stopped on a slight downgrade, say at a stop light. I let the rig just start rolling and then apply the brakes. If they stop the roll, they work. Couldn't do that with surge brakes. I was surprised by the number of discussions about the comparison:

Just Google: surge brakes vs electric brakes

BTW: Welcome to FGRV. I see by your post, you will be an asset to this blog.

Maybe we will meet up. Several BC'ers attend Taidnapam...and we attend the Good Sam gathering in Lynden, WA.

[Dudley]

can't say much about the differences between the 2 types of brakes, but I can tell you that Princess Auto is over priced for their brake components. They charge about $80 a side for the brake assembly without the drums and I was able to get the same assembly for $38 at City Spring here in Edmonton. Check out local truck and trailer suppliers first!
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...kes-46776.html

[Wanderer]

Thanks Dudley, I'll get my Calgary based son onto this!

[Wanderer]

UPDATE!!!!!
Well, I didn't get my son in Calgary to check into "this" but a year and a half later, I can report that I went with Princess Auto for all the parts, and have completed the electric brake install. It was rather easy, the least exciting part being stripping out the hydraulic system, but all that junk is lying in a pile in the courtyard waiting to be taken to the recycler. And yes, I carefully drained and collected the hydraulic fluid and it also will be recycled. The biggest part of the enterprise was the grinding, cutting, drilling related to installing a new coupler and jack post, and getting some good quality welding done, but I found a welder, who came over, hooked my trailer onto his truck (I had a temporary bolt fastening and a couple of C clamps) and then towed it a few kms to his welding shop. Any fears I had of not getting a good welding job done vanished when I saw the tug boat he is currently building for a customer! I waited while he welded, and hooked up the Trillium to my Tacoma and towed it back home sans brakes. All I have to do now is join the Prodigy2 cable to the Tacoma one that came in the glovebox of my truck, and plug in both ends to their sockets, mount the Prodigy 2 in one of the supplied brackets, adjust for initial set-up, and I'm good to go. Not sure just where in the cab I'll put the mounting bracket, but I'll figure that out /follow one of the suggestions from Tacoma forum guys. Was it worth it? Of course! My Trillium looks like all the others now. . .

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by Wanderer

Was it worth it? Of course! My Trillium looks like all the others now. . .

, so you say... now I wanna see

[Wanderer]

I do not know how to post images, Donna! I do not think images of my new coupler are particularly exciting, either. Presently, my new coupler jack ends in simply the jack tube end, and I'd like to modify it by adding a jockey wheel so I can remove the ugly old side mounted jack and steel jockey wheel, but I've not seen any Trilliums with a good fat jockey wheel. We push our Trillium around in the courtyard to park it where it is convenient, and that means rotating it 180 degrees to re-couple it to the truck. Maybe I'll have to design a jockey wheel fitting. Maybe I'll have to start a new thread titled "Jockey Wheels" and gt ideas from other members.

[Wanderer]

The Prodigy2 cable is mated to the Toyota trailer kit that came with the truck and is plugged in. The mount is installed and the trailer is ready to go, but still sits in the courtyard, as it has since I finished the install, waiting for my wife to come back from her bike trip in Ireland.
Is there anyone out there using the Prodigy 2 with a Tacoma sized tow vehicle? Do you find the boost control superfluous, and what control settings have you found to be best?

[Carol H]

Kenneth I pull a 16' and with an Outback and have never needed to use the boost function. Although I believe the brakes on my trailer are larger than what may be on your Trillium, I would be surprised if you needed the boost feature. The big thing is to make sure you have the trailer brakes adjusted correctly (I do a check of the brake adjustment on the trailer a couple of times of year if I have been putting a lot of miles on the trailer) and follow the instructions for set up the Prodigy came with for checking and setting. Best if you can do that on a road without any traffic. Although I now know what the reading on my controller is best normally set at I still do a test of the breaks each time I start out and adjust the controller as needed. For example what I need the controller to be set up can change just a little due to whether I am traveling with water in the tanks or not

[Wanderer]

Carol, thanks for your reply. I suspected I'd not need the boost function with the Trillium and the Tacoma-probably not with the Tacoma until I changed up to a new Airstream Bambi!( And that will not be happening unless I win a Lotto!) Yes, I realize that one has to set up the controller sensitivity on the road, I was more concerned about this boost feature.The brakes on the Trillium are 10" diameter, The Tacoma is good for 6400 lbs, of towed trailer/load, so I have to keep reminding it that it has a little trailer on behind!

[Joe at Outback]

Hi, there I just wanted to touch base and let you know that we are a Trillium manufacturing company in Calgary. If there is anything you need that your Calgary based son can get for you don't hesitate to call us or send an e-mail to ttm@moderndigital.net 403 398-8732
good luck and it looks like you are getting alot of great advise out there.

[Thinh]

Originally Posted by Wanderer

I do not know how to post images, Donna! I do not think images of my new coupler are particularly exciting, either. Presently, my new coupler jack ends in simply the jack tube end, and I'd like to modify it by adding a jockey wheel so I can remove the ugly old side mounted jack and steel jockey wheel, but I've not seen any Trilliums with a good fat jockey wheel. We push our Trillium around in the courtyard to park it where it is convenient, and that means rotating it 180 degrees to re-couple it to the truck. Maybe I'll have to design a jockey wheel fitting. Maybe I'll have to start a new thread titled "Jockey Wheels" and gt ideas from other members.

...."..to design a spare wheel carrier under the front frame easier. Should mention that our trailer has a high lift axle beam,...". Here are my photos of Trillium:...Front jack with lock-able wheel and diy grease fitting, 1 front handle and 2 corner front handles for tight moving manually. Spare wheel under-neath rear frame with it's housing...Share with you some of the options...

[Thinh]

Originally Posted by Wanderer

Carol, thanks for your reply. I suspected I'd not need the boost function with the Trillium and the Tacoma-probably not with the Tacoma until I changed up to a new Airstream Bambi!( And that will not be happening unless I win a Lotto!) Yes, I realize that one has to set up the controller sensitivity on the road, I was more concerned about this boost feature.The brakes on the Trillium are 10" diameter, The Tacoma is good for 6400 lbs, of towed trailer/load, so I have to keep reminding it that it has a little trailer on behind!

You are worried too much about trailer brake, Buddy. I am not sure if you have Trillium 1300. Mine is Trillium 1300, axle rated at 3500lbs. I also install ebrake of 10 inches. My towing vehicle is also a ..Toyota, but not a Tacoma pick-up, but a little wagon Matrix 1.8liter, 4 cylinder engine. I install a cheap brake controller under the dash of T.V. It pulls like a champ, not mention ab all of my toys inside the Trillium, including 4 bicycles, sometimes 5 of them...Not mention about cargo on the floor of Trillium...If you track down my posts of "exterior paint job" or" show your rig" in this forum, just look at my water-resistant laminate floor with all kinds of brackets and wire mess, you would know what I meant.....Just a share...

[Wanderer]

Thank you for your ideas and pix. I'm going to go with the front mount for the spare. I'll visit a wrecker and buy a pick up spare winch mount, and weld it to a bracket in front, which will let me carry the spare under the front frame and assure me that the Trillium will not pull off the hitch from too much weight in the rear. I adn=mire your corner handles- every trailer we saw in Europe had these as standard. With handles like yours and a dolly wheel, the trailers were easily managed in the small European sites.

[Cypherian]

Originally Posted by Wanderer

Carol, thanks for your reply. I suspected I'd not need the boost function with the Trillium and the Tacoma-probably not with the Tacoma until I changed up to a new Airstream Bambi!( And that will not be happening unless I win a Lotto!) Yes, I realize that one has to set up the controller sensitivity on the road, I was more concerned about this boost feature.The brakes on the Trillium are 10" diameter, The Tacoma is good for 6400 lbs, of towed trailer/load, so I have to keep reminding it that it has a little trailer on behind!

Hey,

Even If you win the lottery rethink the bambi I was heading in that direction with my Tacoma but the weight and lack of getting things the way I want with out paying through the nose and a few other orifices I passed. I also went out to the factory in Ohio I was not impressed with the under the skin / frame work. I spent 23 years working on aircraft they tout it as built in the same sense umm NO WAY. Myself and another guy who was also Air Craft structural / air frame mechanic were laughing to each other looking at their riveting and stringer / frame cut placement etc etc . Not a one I looked at would have passed an inspection unless the Quality Assurance guy was blind. I could give you the technical aspects of it but that is it in a nutshell. They have a nice product with a very long life span but the upkeep and corrosion issues they have since they do not do a coating system which they could since they order directly from Alcoa is odd but oh well . I did like the idea and the lay out and having the ability to repair it on my own but for the price and weight I said no. I went with an Escape 19 used I bought from a member here, though I was going to order one with all the things I wanted the way I wanted and pay less even for brand new. Trust me fiberglass is much easier to work with and learn for the layman then metal working not to mention the tools needed for metal work are expensive. Just my opinion.

Cypher

[papa-t]

Kenneth welcome to the forum

[Wanderer]

Thank you, papa-t, for your welcome; and thank you, Cypherian, for your eye-opener re the Bambi (all Airstreams?) I guess it is to be expected that any company will cut corners to stay in the market. It is an incredibly tight market, and I do not know how the present slab of beef trailers can be produced for the ridiculously low prices offered today, be they "light", "ultra-light" or "regular." And they are manufactured in North America. Unlike the sail boat industry, trailers will never be produced cheaper in Asia! Pity that Airstream are what they are under the skin. What about ten to twenty year old small Airstreams- was there a time when they were better built (ignoring the plywood floors which have always rotted?) Are the old Avions any better? We live about 20 miles from the Escape factory here in the Fraser Valley of BC, and I have looked at and into each of the present offerings, with the exception of their new and largest model. Escape built me the doors for the oak cabinets I fitted into my Trillium, and sold me some other equipment. Really nice people up there in Chilliwack.