Want to tow 3200 miles, but no trailer brakes?

[jagman_xjs]

When I buy new trailers I pay the extra $200 per axle for brakes. My reason is simple my deductible is $500 and if those trailer brakes help me NOT to have a accident then I have just made my money back. People get stupid when they see someone towing. Trailer brakes are VERY cheap insurance. I do not care what the trailer weight is brakes are on my trailers.

 

[Dean2]

When I buy new trailers I pay the extra $200 per axle for brakes. My reason is simple my deductible is $500 and if those trailer help me NOT to have a accident then I have just made my money back. People get stupid when they see someone towing trailer brakes are VERY cheap insurance. I do not care what the trailer weight is brakes are on my trailers.

No idea when you bought your last trailer, but a 3500 lb single axle Cargo trailer with disk brakes vs one without is $1,000 more in price on a trailer that only costs $3,000 to start with. That is not insignificant on a cheap trailer that isn't packing much weight around.

Up here, all single axle trailers under 6000 lbs come standard with no brakes, they are optionally available at time of order. To add a set after you get the trailer is nearly $2,000. I have never checked what GVW on a tandem comes with brakes as standard equipment.

 

[Utah]

I just hauled a 3500 lb utility trailer 2000 miles with no trailer brakes with a 2019 Ford Ranger 2.3 turbo engine. You should always have the trucks trailer tow mode on as the engine and transmission work to slow you down. Worked really well but you have to be careful of crazy drivers who think it’s ok to pull in front of you and stop really fast. It’s the lousy drivers that cause the problems.

 

[Venture]

You can always get a trailer equipped with surge brakes and won’t have to install electric brake controls on your truck

 

[scotchult]

Something I haven't seen mentioned, get the trailer you want/need, and if it doesn't have brakes, you can always add them. Fairly simple install, if your mechanically inclined.

 

[nlambert182]

No idea when you bought your last trailer, but a 3500 lb single axle Cargo trailer with disk brakes vs one without is $1,000 more in price on a trailer that only costs $3,000 to start with. That is not insignificant on a cheap trailer that isn't packing much weight around.

Up here, all single axle trailers under 6000 lbs come standard with no brakes, they are optionally available at time of order. To add a set after you get the trailer is nearly $2,000. I have never checked what GVW on a tandem comes with brakes as standard equipment.

You can install trailer brakes much cheaper than $2k. On a small trailer I don't think they're necessary either, but if one were so inclined they could absolutely do it for under a few hundred bucks.

 

[Dean2]

You can install trailer brakes much cheaper than $2k. On a small trailer I don't think they're necessary either, but if one were so inclined they could absolutely do it for under a few hundred bucks.

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Drums are cheap, but I would never use them when disk is available. Drums are far too hard to keep adjusted and balanced. One drum grabbing even a little harder than the other is WAY worse than no brakes at all.

 

[inuyasha-rules]

One thing no one has mentioned, downshift when going down grade. I barely use my brakes going over steep mountain passes with just my vehicle, while everyone else is getting hard on the brakes. And it's even worse if hauling. Hot brakes don't stop

 

[nlambert182]

Drums work fine. Sure, discs are better but not a requirement. A quality set of self-adjusting drum brakes are cheap and easy to install to put brakes on a trailer that otherwise doesn't have them. My main point is that one can do this for far less than $2k.

The drum brakes on my travel trailer and the previous ones on my fifth wheels have never given any issues. I do a 10 minute inspection twice a year and make sure they adjusted and then move on.

 

[Jim welsh]

when traveling a few thousand miles I will jack up one side of trailer spin wheel maybe make a little adjustment or not that simple

 

[Snowchief]

It wouldn’t bother me any as long as my Trucks brakes are decent, keep load towards the hitch to give slight squat on truck, gear down on grades if needed and give yourself space.

 

[nlambert182]

The load needs to be balanced, not necessarily towards the hitch. Squat doesn't equal stability.

There needs to be ~12-15% tongue weight on the truck. More than that and it can get as dangerous as having too little.

 

[Ratman6161]

Another consideration that depends on state law. In MN where i live a trailer under 3000# is not required to have brakes...but it's also not required to have a license plate. Instead it gets a permanent registration sticker. So no annual renewals.

I have a 16x7 enclosed snowmobile trailer with GVWR 2995, single axle and no brakes. With two snowmobiles in it, it's about 2600#. Before we got a travel trailer and needed a 3/4 ton, I towed this trailer for years with a 2013 Nissan Frontier and later a 2019 GMC Canyon. Both of those mid sized trucks pulled it very well. A 1500 is really not going to have a problem with this size and weight of trailer.

 

[68PowerWagon]

Back in my younger days I did plenty of pulling trailers with no brakes. What I found is if you do a lot of it, you likely are going to wear out & warp you truck brakes pretty quickly. Even hauling 3-4,000 pounds I never felt I was unsafe but a few hard brakes with that kind of weight & my drums & rotors would warp. Back then it didn't cost very much to get them turned down but you can only do that 1 or 2 times because it makes the linings even thinner which makes them warp just that much sooner.

 

[olyelr]

I never got the notion of trying to save a few bucks in exchange for longer stopping distances.

When I was younger and much poorer, the cost/risk benefit was less clear…..lol

Sounds to me like hes not trying to just save a few bucks. Hes worried about the trailers that come with brakes adding too much payload to his truck.