Braking when over weight
Hey guy's. I posted a couple other threads here about weights and most responses were of the mind set that yes im over weight but it looks like you should be ok. Sooo how will this affect my breaking?...
Forum Discussion
ScottG wrote:
Imagine you've got a heavy trailer in tow and you have a panic stop. The massive weight transfer at that moment will have the front of the truck doing most of the braking for both rigs. The weight of both truck and trailer will push down and try to force the front wheels of the truck to keep turning while the brakes fight it back.
The front brakes of the truck will have tremendous impact on stopping the entire combination.
Scott, if the trailer brakes are doing their job properly there will not be a massive weight transfer to the truck front axle. If anything, the trailer should try to rotate around the trailer axles, so pin weight will increase and therefore downward force on the truck rear axle would be higher and therefore greater braking capability before ABS kicks in.
What you have described is what would happen if a solo truck was carrying a full cargo load or more, then a panic stop will shift more of the weight to the front axle and unload the truck's rear axle. If a solo truck is engineered and rated to carry a certain GVWR, then a truck that is at the same load while towing a trailer should have better balanced braking performance (if the trailer brakes are indeed stopping the trailer).
Very few of us do panic stops, but over the life of a truck, brake pad life should tell the same story. My last truck was used almost exclusively for towing and at 100k miles still had over 50% brake pad life on it's original brakes when I sold it. I doubt a solo truck operating at or near GVWR for 100k miles would have done as well.
If the truck is stopping trailer weight (beyond the pin weight), then the setup is incorrect and stopping distance is not the only risk with the trailer pushing the truck.
