Trailer Brakes?

[dreadlocks]

I gotta say my tandem dexter torsion axle is amazing off road, all four wheels being independent let it crawl over and through stuff without upsetting the trailer, makes it look effortless and its easier to pull through it.. on washboard dirt roads you dont get that compounding reverb thing that goes on with a tandem leaf springs all fighting each-other and turning all the beer to foam.. let alone the noise associated with it.

IMO the only thing better for offroad on a trailer would be a control arm setup w/springs and shocks, mostly for more range, durability and ability to do field repairs.. but complexity and cost are reflective of that.

Back onto trailer brakes, Im using a RedArc TowPro Elite and its the best I've ever driven with, and the ability to remote install it and a tiny control knob means nothing to bash your knees on under the dash and its within easy reach when you need to operate it manually in sketchy terrain.

 

[billiebob]

Trailer Brakes by state

https://drivinglaws.aaa.com/tag/trailer-brakes/

North Dakota has interesting wording.
Either trailer brakes, OR safety chains.

 

[4S50]

I am running a solid axle with leaf springs on my trailer, which is about 1400 lbs. Initially I ran without brakes but I did have an incident where I slid down a real steep, dusty, granite face with all four Jeep tires locked. When I got to the bottom the jeep stopped and the trailer kept pushing, lifting the rear wheels off the ground. I got off the brakes and drove out of it before it fell off sideways. I added Dexter drum brakes to my hubs and it did not change my width. Another thing I did was a put a dash mounted toggle switch inline in the wire from the Jeep brake switch to the trailer brake controller. This enables me to deactivate the trailer brakes when crawling and using the Jeep brakes.

 

[SoDakSooner]

Converted my M101 to electric. Still in progress, but got the 7 wire harness installed in the jeep and the Curt Spectrum knob mounted. Now just to hook up the module and rewire the trailer to actually hook the brakes up. Jeep handles it ok without but will sure be nice to get it all hooked up permanently.

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

I ran without brakes for a while. It was part of the plans but it was lower on the list of stuff to do. I seemed to of towed abd braked fine all that time. Then one day, I was coming down a hill and was on full brakes and wasn't doing well for slowing down. I was just happy the light at the bottom of the hill was green for me. Was a bit of a wake up call and have since installed brakes on the trailer and a controller in the truck.

 

[jwiereng]

Back onto trailer brakes, Im using a RedArc TowPro Elite and its the best I've ever driven with, and the ability to remote install it and a tiny control knob means nothing to bash your knees on under the dash and its within easy reach when you need to operate it manually in sketchy terrain

Is it possible to modulate the trailer brakes with that controller?

 

[dreadlocks]

Is it possible to modulate the trailer brakes with that controller?

Yes you can push it just like any other trailer brake controller and it'll engage trailer brakes, you can also take it out of auto mode where it uses a 3D gyro chip and put it into normal mode where its just a static bias if you want more predictability when on a trail at low speeds.

 

[Nd4SpdSe]

It's what I use as well. Mind you, it's my first actual trailer brake controller so I can't compare for performance but I do really like it I especially love the remote install.

 

[jwiereng]

Is there modulation capabilities?

When you push it, do the brakes come on 100%?

The conventional (shin banger) brake controllers i have used in the past have a slider switch, where a more slide is more voltage is send to the brakes

 

[jwiereng]

Is there modulation capabilities?

When you push it, do the brakes come on 100%.

The conventional (shin banger) brake controllers i have used in the past have a slider switch, where a more slide is more voltage is send to the brakes.

Thanks for the info.

 

[dreadlocks]

yes in either mode it does, here hopefully this will explain.. notice:

In both modes the braking force can be adjusted by turning the gain control knob, either higher or lower, even whilst applying the manual override brakes

 

[jays0n]

Thanks for the explanation of the Redarc controller, perfect timing as I'm ordering the parts to add brakes to my trailer soon and have been checking that one out. I too didn't think I needed brakes but had a few small incidents on a trip last summer that I think would have felt a lot more comfortable with if the trailer was helping to stop on it's own. Anxious to get it all installed and setup before our first trip for the year. I'll be sure to post some install photos in my trailer build thread when I get started with it all.

 

[bshinn]

Installed the Tow Pro Elite on my JK this past weekend. Love the install, had it done in under an hour, including running the factory Mopar 7-pin harness. Jury's still out on how it performs, ran out of time to hook the trailer up and take it for a spin.