Electric Brakes on Camper Trailer

goodday
as a caravan owner i love the electric brakes as they can be adjusted to condititions
imo yes i would go for electric

steve

Birdy,
My camper weighs similar to yours loaded and I'm glad I have electric brakes. Get the controller inside the car (prodigy) or similar. Some manufacturers supply trailers with the controller on the draw bar. Get the electric brakes up front, should be cheaper when made as well.

If you can upgrade to electric prior to taking delivery then to my mind there is no question that you will be better off in the long run.
For a lot of the time you will wonder why you bothered but when the chips are down and you need a controlled stop in poor conditions then the extra cost will suddenly seem a non issue.
Downhill slope. Pea gravel surface. 85km. Slight lefthand bend with wrong camber. A mob of 20km per hour emus came from nowhere and decided to use the road as a means of changing locality. I love electric brakes. I'm also glad I spent those hours practising emergency stopping on wet/gravel/sandy roads before we headed out.

Kevin J

Many moons ago I was persuaded by my Better Half's father to tow a rented car trailer loaded with a little Fergusen Tractor from Sydney to Jervis Bay.

What a bloody nightmare. A couple of times I needed to make hard stops and the trailer ran onto the override, locked the brakes on the trailer making it lag then the tow coupling took up with a jerk snatching back at the car and pulling the trailer forward to repeat all over again.

When I got to Mount Ousley to drop from the escarpment to sea level I played safe and engaged 2nd low on the auto, the weight had the engine over revving so pulled up and went to 1st low which I had to back up with the brakes from time to time.
By the time we got down near the Fairy Meadow turnoff I had definite wisps of smoke from the trailer brakes. I believe the weight of the trailer against the car had the brakes engaged all the way down Mount Ousley. I know they were definitely next to useless for the rest of the trip.

O.K! I'm prepared to accept that the override brakes were not properly adjusted.
It was all driver error.
The trailer was overloaded.
The tow vehicle was under sized.
It was immediately prior a full moon.
I was driving on a day with an R in it.

Suffice to say that I had no qualms when ordering my Hall's Camper Trailer to specify Electric Brakes and have never regretted it.

Override brakes? In my book they will be ideal if Moses returns with wheels on his ark.

Ian

Electric all they way. Apart from the issues raised by Ian with respect to towing down steep hills, electric brakes with a good controller (Prodogy for eg) can be adjusted to meet needs as they arise. With override brakes, reversing engages the trailer brakes unless you get out and flip over the catch to prevent this.

For an extended trip, I wouldn't go with anything other than elec brakes. Also, I'll bet you end up towing close to the 1300KG limit of your trailer. It is amazing how much weight you accumulate on a trip.

Was reading some previous posts and few people were saying the electric brakes can play havoc when doing some pretty hard 4wdriving - is this the case.

A mechanic I spoke to today stated that he reckons having no brakes on the trailer would possibly be better - less to go wrong he reckons and the 80 series will pull up fine without them.

The electric brake option sounds like it may be a bit of stuffing around to get it set up right where as the mechanical brakes may just be a pain off road

All a little confusing to me as will be doing bitumen driving aswell as all types of
4wdriving - certailnly a bit different to towing a caravan on road

confused...

I think I am pretty convinced on the electric brakes, especially as safety is very important to us as we will have our little one with us on the trip.

What type of electric brakes do you guys use and recommend ?

Thanks again

I would not hesitate in having it converted to electric brakes, They take all the stress out of the trip once you understand how to adjust the braking for the road surface you are on.

i have a trak shack ct with same weight specs as yours they come standard with both electric and over ride brakes, i removed the electric side as when doing a lot of off road work the magnets on the brake shoes flog out on their mounting point and you can have problems with one wheel locking up and its very hard to adjust out, i have never had any problems with the overide system in stoping under any conditions, my way of thinking keep things simple and less things to go wrong. Col

g'day,

as far as i know, the only major differences are the size and the magnets. talk to your ct manufacturer about whether you need or can upgrade the size. 10" slimline bearing, landcruiser is a good choice for your application I believe. I think there are some magnets specifically designed for more rugged than normal off-road use, could be wrong. Don't bother talking to Alko, try Couplemate (they have a good web site) or All States trailer spares, don't remember who is good in WA. Should cost you around $400.00 for parts.

The main talking point is the controller itself. Most people will rate Tekonsha Prodigy as the duck's guts, Tekonsha Voyager will suit others. There is a new generation of Prodigy coming to Australia shortly but you should be able to pick up a Prodigy for around $200.00, less if you ring around. Try Camec or ebay.