Cutting Brakes on a trailer?

[Metal Twister]

Is there ever a time while towing off road that it would be an advantage to control the brakes Independently? Just wondering?

 

[Martyn]

Is there ever a time while towing off road that it would be an advantage to control the brakes Independently? Just wondering?

Yes.

If the tire on the trailer is rolling and it encounters an obstacle it will tend to want to climb over it.

If the trailer tires are locked, not rotating, the tire will contact the obstacle and deflect the trailer around it.

If you suspect you are on ice, you can apply the brakes to the trailer and see if the tires on the trailer skid or if the trailer just slows down as normal. If they skid you know you are on ice and need to be careful slowing down.

Mostly for on road, if the trailer starts to sway from side to side the brakes can be applied to the trailer as you hit the gas on the tow vehicle.

 

[gabepari]

Martyn, I think he was talking about braking each wheel independently, right versus left. There was a thread a while back about this, IIRC there was some testing where each wheel was given it's own brake controller and it didn't seem to make much of a difference.

 

[Metal Twister]

Martyn, I think he was talking about braking each wheel independently, right versus left. There was a thread a while back about this, IIRC there was some testing where each wheel was given it's own brake controller and it didn't seem to make much of a difference.

IIRC? Id like to look into that testing if you wouldnt mind pointing me in the right direction?

 

[Martyn]

Martyn, I think he was talking about braking each wheel independently, right versus left. There was a thread a while back about this, IIRC there was some testing where each wheel was given it's own brake controller and it didn't seem to make much of a difference.

Now I see, independent from each other rather than independent from the tow vehicle.

I can see how it may help turning when reversing, as the trailer would pivot around the coupler.

Moving forwards it wouldn't have much effect, if you've ever towed a trailer with one brake working it makes the trailer pull slightly to one side. The movement isn't enough to make it something useful.

Am I on the right track this time?

 

[jcbrandon]

The M101 military trailers have split parking brakes. Probably others have this as well. Seems like this would be very useful in maneuvering a trailer to park it in a tight spot, especially when disconnected from the truck.

 

[bftank]

could be very helpful in backing into tight spaces but remember you aren't going to have the same ability to manuever when you pull it back out.

 

[trail-explorer]

... if you've ever towed a trailer with one brake working it makes the trailer pull slightly to one side. The movement isn't enough to make it something useful.

Am I on the right track this time?

Been there, done that, and the smaller the tow vehicle, the more impact the pull to one side will be.... on a shorter wheelbase vehicle, if you have one wheel braking more then the other, it will pull the tow vehicle to one side, typically the direction of pull will be to the opposite side of the stronger wheel brake.

running two brake controllers, you would surely encounter that. I can see it would be very time consuming trying to get both trailer brake controllers dialed in so they both provided even braking