RE: Trailering and Electric Brakes

RE: Trailering and Electric Brakes

hey guys,
looking real hard at a 6by14 enclosed aluminum trailer.
trying to figure out out the load limits and if brakes are required.
i will be towing it with a 2009 Yukon 4by4 (5.3L), i think it already has an Integrated Trailer Brake Control System, have to wait for my wife to get home so i can check.
The trailer itself has a curb weight of 1250, the contents of the trailer could be up to 2 sport bikes (lets say 425*2=850), plus maybe 500 lbs of gear, giving the trailer and contents a total of around 2600.

in my case would getting electric brakes on the trailer be a must?
in the case our GMC Yukon doesn't have the Trailer Brake Control System, approximately how much do you think an aftermarket one would be? i quickly scanned on ebay, dodge systems look like they go for around 250, does that sound about right? just not 100% sure if i am looking at the right product.

thanks in advance,
Jason

Re: Trailering and Electric Brakes

Call U haul they can give you the specs if your vehicle can tow that, (No reason why it shouldn't), it is much more important to look at tongue weights than the total weight being towed, and make sure you have the proper tongue weight rating on your vehicle. As for aftermarket brake controllers CDN tire and Princess auto both carry them.

Punisher said:

hey guys,
looking real hard at a 6by14 enclosed aluminum trailer.
trying to figure out out the load limits and if brakes are required.
i will be towing it with a 2009 Yukon 4by4 (5.3L), i think it already has an Integrated Trailer Brake Control System, have to wait for my wife to get home so i can check.
The trailer itself has a curb weight of 1250, the contents of the trailer could be up to 2 sport bikes (lets say 425*2=850), plus maybe 500 lbs of gear, giving the trailer and contents a total of around 2600.

in my case would getting electric brakes on the trailer be a must?
in the case our GMC Yukon doesn't have the Trailer Brake Control System, approximately how much do you think an aftermarket one would be? i quickly scanned on ebay, dodge systems look like they go for around 250, does that sound about right? just not 100% sure if i am looking at the right product.

thanks in advance,
Jason

Click to expand...

Re: Trailering and Electric Brakes

How do the integrated controllers work? Can you control brake pressure? Can you manually activate the trailer brakes? Personally if I am bothering with trailer brakes, I am installing a controller that I can manually modulate if I need to, I am not interested in flipping through menus on a display to try to adjust something if things aren't going well.

I would be amazed if the Yukon had trouble with 2600 lbs. My wifes crappy old Santa Fe is rated to tow more than that (hell, IIRC with trailer brakes Euro golfs were rated at 2500 or 3000 lbs). Under 3000 lbs I am not normally concerned about brakes (although they never hurt).

Edit:
I have found with these big cubes that the effects of wind are much worse than the weight. It is a hard pull forward and obviously crosswind can cause you grief. It is very important to get the tongue weight right.

Re: Trailering and Electric Brakes

i pull trailers at least that big with no brakes behind a 4.3L Astro/Safari no problem. I pulled a Super Stock drag car all over Canada with a Safari, total trailer weight around 5000#.
I don't want trailer brakes on a single axle trailer (trailer brakes screw up A LOT[BE sure your trailer isn't grounding through the ball], so on a single axle trailer when one side fails, you hit the brakes and the trailer turns cuz the brakes only grab on one side. No fun at all).
Multiple axle trailers pull A LOT easier, and require A LOT more maintenance.
There are laws governing when the trailer needs brakes ( a 7'x14' single axle doesn't).
I paid less than $100 for the controller, that I installed. I think your '09 Yukon is pre-wired, just missing the controller.
If you are worried about cross winds get a load equalizer
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-...itches/towing-weight-distribution-systems.htm

Re: Trailering and Electric Brakes

Can't say for all brake controllers, But I know the Reese one I had from Crappy tire for my 95 F-150 pulling a duel axle 5' X 18' flatbed I could adjust the controller so that when I braked the trailer was braking slightly more than the vehicle, but not so much that only if I slammed on the brakes would the trailer wheels lock up. Even the old ford was prewired for the controller so I suspect the OP's Yukon is as well, (if not already equipped).

I have never towed a single axle with brakes.

GreyGhost said:

How do the integrated controllers work? Can you control brake pressure? Can you manually activate the trailer brakes? Personally if I am bothering with trailer brakes, I am installing a controller that I can manually modulate if I need to, I am not interested in flipping through menus on a display to try to adjust something if things aren't going well.

I would be amazed if the Yukon had trouble with 2600 lbs. My wifes crappy old Santa Fe is rated to tow more than that (hell, IIRC with trailer brakes Euro golfs were rated at 2500 or 3000 lbs). Under 3000 lbs I am not normally concerned about brakes (although they never hurt).

Edit:
I have found with these big cubes that the effects of wind are much worse than the weight. It is a hard pull forward and obviously crosswind can cause you grief. It is very important to get the tongue weight right.

Click to expand...

Re: Trailering and Electric Brakes

I believe the trailer brake requirements are:
Trailer over 3000 lbs GVWR, or
Double axle has to have brakes on at least one axle, or
As specified by the tow vehicle's ratings, or
As specified by local laws, which may vary.

Re: Trailering and Electric Brakes

It doesn't matter what the weight you intend to carry is. If the trailer is rated for 3000lbs gross or more you must have working brakes. They look at what it's rated for not what you're currently carrying.

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Re: Trailering and Electric Brakes

hedo2002 said:

Can't say for all brake controllers, But I know the Reese one I had from Crappy tire for my 95 F-150 pulling a duel axle 5' X 18' flatbed I could adjust the controller so that when I braked the trailer was braking slightly more than the vehicle, but not so much that only if I slammed on the brakes would the trailer wheels lock up. Even the old ford was prewired for the controller so I suspect the OP's Yukon is as well, (if not already equipped).
.

Click to expand...

Ok, those are the ones I'm used to. I thought they were talking about integrated as in the cars computer controls the trailer brakes too, not just prewired for you to easily add a controller.

Re: Trailering and Electric Brakes

I have electric breaks on my 12' (box length) pop up camper that I pull with my Caravan. I have the adjustable unit mounted on the dash and it has a manual button to apply the breaks to test the amount of break force you've set on the trailer so you can test whether you have them set to strong or not strong enough. I think it has been a VERY worthy investment. You have much more control stopping, especially on a hill and it helps to reduce wear and tear on the breaking system of the vehicle. I could be wrong, but someone told me that electric breaks are mandatory on trailers in Quebec, but that might just be for campers. I think for the hitch bought and installed, tongue, ball, lock set and electric break unit bought and installed was $1000.

Re: Trailering and Electric Brakes

thanks for the feedback everyone!
i figure i might as well get the trailer installed with the electric brakes as it is only about 250.00, and to do it later might be a pain in the ***.
also just checked my wifes yukon, and it does have a small physical Trailer Brake Control Panel by the steering column, and i do see some Trailer Brake info in the DIC Display, hopefully that means i still don't need to buy the module, but i did call Canadian Tire and they had a Reese model (someone mentioned earlier) it goes for around 100$ so thats to bad.

Now when it comes to balancing out the load in the Trailer and getting the weight at the trailer tongue, can you buy a scale for that, or can you take it somewhere where they might provide that service?
sounds likes my max at the tongue since i have a Weight carrying Hitch is 600lbs.


Thanks again!
jason

Re: Trailering and Electric Brakes

The proper tongue weight for a trailer that size is within range of a bathroom scale.

Scale on the ground, chunk of wood as a spacer to get the tongue to somewhere near the correct height (doesn't have to be precise), chock the wheels when doing this, lower the tongue onto the chunk of wood which is in turn on the scale, and measure the tongue weight. Presumably your trailer has a foot on the tongue with a crank on it so you don't have to break your back when hitching it up.

Normally, once you figure out where the bike has to be positioned inside the trailer to get the tongue weight right, you can set your wheel chock in place and forget about it from that point on. The tongue weight needs to be in the right range but it does not have to be set precisely (unless you are pushing the limits, which it doesn't look like you are).

Most enclosed trailers have the axle well back of the actual centerline of the box; the usual problem isn't not enough tongue weight, but rather way too much.

Re: Trailering and Electric Brakes

Iceman said:

It doesn't matter what the weight you intend to carry is. If the trailer is rated for 3000lbs gross or more you must have working brakes. They look at what it's rated for not what you're currently carrying.

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Click to expand...

This is correct - a trailer does not need (by law) brakes until it's placarded GVWR is over 3000#. Most trailer manufacturers don't by default install them up until that mandatory required point either, so to get them on a lighter trailer you may have to special order it, or add them yourself IF the manufacturer installed an axle with backing plate mounting hardware.

As for towing that sort of weight with a Yukon without brakes...it won't be a huge deal (but you will feel it back there when stopping), but then again, from a safety perspective it's never a bad idea to have brakes if they're an option...so if your truck already has an ITBC, go for it for sure.

Punisher said:

thanks for the feedback everyone!
i figure i might as well get the trailer installed with the electric brakes as it is only about 250.00, and to do it later might be a pain in the ***.
also just checked my wifes yukon, and it does have a small physical Trailer Brake Control Panel by the steering column, and i do see some Trailer Brake info in the DIC Display, hopefully that means i still don't need to buy the module, but i did call Canadian Tire and they had a Reese model (someone mentioned earlier) it goes for around 100$ so thats to bad.

Click to expand...

If your tow vehicle has an ITBC, use it, always. They are almost always far superior to anything aftermarket as they are (as by definition) "integrated" far more than a standalone controller and modulate the trailer brakes not only by deceleration force, but brake pedal pressure as well, so it results in a better trailer braking experience. A quality standalone controller will only brake based on inertia - the only connection they have to the brake pedal is a single wire sensing when you've pressed the brake pedal (they connect to the stop lights wire) that tells the controller to "wake up" and apply a tiny float voltage to the trailer to get the magnets working and have the trailer brakes lead the tow vehicle ever so slightly. Beyond that they rely 100% on an inertial sensor.

Whatever you do if you (or anyone else) buys an aftermarket brake controller, DO NOT BUY A CHEAP NON INERTIAL BASED BRAKE CONTROLLER. The Reese one a few have mentioned at Canadian Tire is a "Timer" based model vs an inertia based model. Timer based models are garbage that result in herky-jerky braking and are potentially dangerous in an emergency braking situation as they do not apply trailer brakes depending on how fast you're trying to stop, they only apply brakes based on a timer that ramps up the brakes to a maximum setting, and that's it - regardless of if you're trying to make a gentle stop, or an emergency stop.

If you want to read more on the technicalities behind junk timer based controllers vs a quality proportional/inertial based controller, read this FAQ I wrote at another forum long ago.

Quality inertial based brake controllers can be had for not much, or in some cases, virtually the same amount of money as many cheap timer based models, but they can be the difference between stopping safely in an emergency stop, or wrecking. But as mentioned, if your vehicle has an ITBC already, by all means, use it first - they are really quite good and are already there, so no extra cost.

Re: Trailering and Electric Brakes

Thanks again for your feedback everyone, i ordered my trailer yesterday, with the Brake package. hopefully there will be no issues with the Yukon ITBC, but will find a way to make it work.
Summer cant come soon enough, looking forward to lots of Tracks days with my friends and Dirt Bike days up in Barrie with my boys.

regards,
jason