Unbraked trailer, towing limitations
Hey folks, I’m looking for a new tow vehicle for a rig coming in at 2700 lbs, loaded, per the scale. I decided to trade down to a more modest unibody suv like the highlander, telluride or similar wit...
Forum Discussion
mkirsch wrote:valhalla360 wrote:Grit dog wrote:
There’s a reason the law in many/ most states is 3klbs max with no brakes.
Probably dates back to the 1920s when 25-35mph speed limits were the norm.
Then all the old guys complained that they didn't want to pay to add brakes, so this was the compromise. Never been updated since then.
Do you have an historically accurate source to suggest why 3k lbs was chosen?
1920's? Motor vehicles BARELY had brakes in the 1920's, let alone trailers. The guy who invented trailer brakes wasn't even a glimmer in his father's eye in the 1920's, LOL (probably not really but you get what I mean).
Again, 95% of the time when you make up numbers, you look silly.
But you get what I mean, though it wouldn't surprise me to find it's from some time in the 1920-1940s range. I doubt anyone has looked at the 3k lb rule in decades and when they did, they likely didn't want the local good old boys upset, so they set it high enough that most of the good old boys wouldn't be impacted....then never looked at it again.
The idea put forth that someone actually made a systematic analysis with engineering and testing is ludacris.
