How do you really judge TV adequacy anymore?
I've spent a lot of time looking at the ever-changing capabilities of pick-ups, and a separate thread earlier today really go me thinking about the uselessness of truck categories. The 1/2, 3/4 and 1...
Forum Discussion
I have always felt that most people put too much emphasis on towing ability and not enough on stopping ability. With any vehicle that has a GVWR 3 or more times its GCWR it is obvious that you are not going to be able to stop in a hurry without good trailer brakes. Good tow vehicle brakes are good but without good trailer brakes you will never be able to stop properly. I have been towing over 40 years and have never had a case where my life depended on forward progress but have had many cases where being able to stop was vital.
This is one area where class 6 and up vehicles have a clear advantage. Generally they are much heavier, have a lot of the trailer weight on the tow vehicle adding traction and have less horse power so that they can't be hotrodded so much. One the other hand, my experience with non-commercial trailer brakes has been disappointing and sometimes scary. On my heaviest trailer I gave up on electric drum brakes and bought a new one with electric over hydraulic disc brakes (at a considerable expense). They are much better but still suffer from a short delay and depend on a link to the tow vehicle that could fail without warning. I feel like we need to pause our examination of tow vehicles and take a good look trailer brake systems, especially considering how highway speeds have increased the past 30 years. For starters all new trailers with an axle rating over 2,000lbs should at least come with brake mounting plates so that brakes can easily be added. All trailers with an axle rating over 3,000lbs should come with brakes, not just de-rated to 2,990lbs so that technically they are exempt. And this especially includes rental tow dollys that are fully expected to go way over 3,000lbs when the payload is included.
Let's look at the big picture instead of beating one issue senseless on a regular basis.
This is one area where class 6 and up vehicles have a clear advantage. Generally they are much heavier, have a lot of the trailer weight on the tow vehicle adding traction and have less horse power so that they can't be hotrodded so much. One the other hand, my experience with non-commercial trailer brakes has been disappointing and sometimes scary. On my heaviest trailer I gave up on electric drum brakes and bought a new one with electric over hydraulic disc brakes (at a considerable expense). They are much better but still suffer from a short delay and depend on a link to the tow vehicle that could fail without warning. I feel like we need to pause our examination of tow vehicles and take a good look trailer brake systems, especially considering how highway speeds have increased the past 30 years. For starters all new trailers with an axle rating over 2,000lbs should at least come with brake mounting plates so that brakes can easily be added. All trailers with an axle rating over 3,000lbs should come with brakes, not just de-rated to 2,990lbs so that technically they are exempt. And this especially includes rental tow dollys that are fully expected to go way over 3,000lbs when the payload is included.
Let's look at the big picture instead of beating one issue senseless on a regular basis.
