Surge breaks on a dolly

FWIW, U-Haul car dollys can top out over 4000lbs, and do not have brakes.

90% of the time you would be OK without brakes on the dolly. The first time someone pulls out in front of you at highway speed you would be glad you had them.

rjstractor wrote:

JRscooby wrote:

rjstractor wrote:
Class A motorhomes come in a vast range of weights and braking abilities. A small 12000 lb motorhome towing 4000 lbs of unbraked load will take a lot longer to stop. On a 50000 lb tandem axle motorhome, the weight difference and the stopping distance difference will be much less. It's never a bad idea to have brakes on the towed load, but it becomes a much better idea as the weight differential increases.

Brakes on any vehicle are designed to stop the GVWR, with a margin for safety. If the 50,000 lb MH in your example has a GVWR of 52,000 lbs, and you hang a 4,000 lbs un-braked on the back you are 2000 lbs into that safety margin. You would not want your kid in front of that rig. Why would you want to put somebodies else's kids there?

I don't disagree. But my point stands- a 4000 lb unbraked load will have a much greater effect on a 12000 lb tow vehicle versus a 50000 lb tow vehicle. IMO, it would be almost impossible to dial in a toad braking system on a 4K load behind a 50K motorhome to have a substantial effect on stopping distance without frying the toad vehicle brakes. It would be like putting electric brakes on an 800 lb Harbor Freight trailer behind a 1 ton pickup- you would probably fry the tires and brakes on the trailer before you would significantly shorten the stopping distance of the combination. Now , granted the breakaway protection makes a toad braking system a good addition to any toad, regardless of weight.

If that 12,000 GVW MH has GVWR of 16,000 lbs he is below the safety margin. Now will still have the issue of that load not staying in a straight line in a hard stop.
And no brakes on a 4000 lb load behind that 50000 MH can compound a stopping issues on slick roads. And you are right, a loaded truck/MT trailer is real easy to slide the trailer tires. But if the trailer is loaded much less of a issue.
But the OP is asking about surge brakes. The surge system working right, pretty well solves your "dial in" problems. If the towed load starts to slow faster than the TV, reduce pressure on coupler/master cylinder, and reduces braking.

JRscooby wrote:

rjstractor wrote:
Class A motorhomes come in a vast range of weights and braking abilities. A small 12000 lb motorhome towing 4000 lbs of unbraked load will take a lot longer to stop. On a 50000 lb tandem axle motorhome, the weight difference and the stopping distance difference will be much less. It's never a bad idea to have brakes on the towed load, but it becomes a much better idea as the weight differential increases.

Brakes on any vehicle are designed to stop the GVWR, with a margin for safety. If the 50,000 lb MH in your example has a GVWR of 52,000 lbs, and you hang a 4,000 lbs un-braked on the back you are 2000 lbs into that safety margin. You would not want your kid in front of that rig. Why would you want to put somebodies else's kids there?

I don't disagree. But my point stands- a 4000 lb unbraked load will have a much greater effect on a 12000 lb tow vehicle versus a 50000 lb tow vehicle. IMO, it would be almost impossible to dial in a toad braking system on a 4K load behind a 50K motorhome to have a substantial effect on stopping distance without frying the toad vehicle brakes. It would be like putting electric brakes on an 800 lb Harbor Freight trailer behind a 1 ton pickup- you would probably fry the tires and brakes on the trailer before you would significantly shorten the stopping distance of the combination. Now , granted the breakaway protection makes a toad braking system a good addition to any toad, regardless of weight.

Lwiddis wrote:
Your A’s brakes aren’t designed for an extra 4 to 5000 pounds.

Clairvoyant today?

JRscooby wrote:

rjstractor wrote:
Class A motorhomes come in a vast range of weights and braking abilities. A small 12000 lb motorhome towing 4000 lbs of unbraked load will take a lot longer to stop. On a 50000 lb tandem axle motorhome, the weight difference and the stopping distance difference will be much less. It's never a bad idea to have brakes on the towed load, but it becomes a much better idea as the weight differential increases.

Brakes on any vehicle are designed to stop the GVWR, with a margin for safety. If the 50,000 lb MH in your example has a GVWR of 52,000 lbs, and you hang a 4,000 lbs un-braked on the back you are 2000 lbs into that safety margin. You would not want your kid in front of that rig. Why would you want to put somebodies else's kids there?

I am curious if there are any folks who will play the weight rating game, GVWR, etc. to avoid spending a few bucks on dolly brakes a true safety factor, and then in another thread spend funds to change clearance lights to LEDs which affect nothing, and stop lights which will cut a few seconds off of light activation time.
bumpy

rjstractor wrote:
Class A motorhomes come in a vast range of weights and braking abilities. A small 12000 lb motorhome towing 4000 lbs of unbraked load will take a lot longer to stop. On a 50000 lb tandem axle motorhome, the weight difference and the stopping distance difference will be much less. It's never a bad idea to have brakes on the towed load, but it becomes a much better idea as the weight differential increases.

Brakes on any vehicle are designed to stop the GVWR, with a margin for safety. If the 50,000 lb MH in your example has a GVWR of 52,000 lbs, and you hang a 4,000 lbs un-braked on the back you are 2000 lbs into that safety margin. You would not want your kid in front of that rig. Why would you want to put somebodies else's kids there?

Class A motorhomes come in a vast range of weights and braking abilities. A small 12000 lb motorhome towing 4000 lbs of unbraked load will take a lot longer to stop. On a 50000 lb tandem axle motorhome, the weight difference and the stopping distance difference will be much less. It's never a bad idea to have brakes on the towed load, but it becomes a much better idea as the weight differential increases.

When I had my dp motorhome I pulled an ACME dolly with surge brakes. You had to leave the steering wheel unlocked to keep from scrubbing the tires. I ran it about 10000 miles before I went to a four down car. I never had any issues with the dolly tires or anything like that. I think the ACME use inverted steering to avoid the scrub. If I was to go back to any type of dolly now, it would me an ACME.

I get it now. Thanks! Wasn't thinking straight this morning.
Also forgot to move it. Moving now.:o
Barney