Quote:
Frederick,
Although I can't see why improper trailer brake adjustment would kill your front brakes, unless it was over a long peroid of time.
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Pete, when you stop a car, the
weight shifts to the front
axle for braking, and the front brake pads/shoes take the brunt of the wear. That's why you usually go through two sets of front pads for ever set of rear pads or shoes. When you are trying to stop the car AND a 2500lbs trailer, that additional
weight is transferred to the front
brakes as well if the trailer isn't braking for itself. The amount of time that the pads are in contact with the rotors and the pressure used on the brake pads to the rotors both increase on each stop you make. If those stops are from freeway speeds, or on long down-hills as you'd find in the mountains, each stop significantly puts more stress and wear on those pads. Frederick took at least one long cross-country trip with the
Fiberstream in tow. It is possible under those circumstances to put some serious wear on a set of front brake pads.
WITH trailer
brakes, the trailer
weight is stopped by it's own brakes and if the controller is set properly, the trailer brakes will actually begin to stop the tow vehicle before the tow vehicle's brakes are applied to any great extent which limits the weight shift to the front of the tow vehicle. I suppose that it's possible that towing a trailer with properly set up brakes could actually extend the life of your tow vehicle's front brakes by wearing your trailer brakes first!
Roger