Trailer brakes - Electric or Surge?

[CountryBumkin]

What kind of trailer brakes are best for a small 14 or 16 foot tandem trailer to haul a BX with FEL (which is about 2,000Lbs equipment weight).

My SUV has a 3,500lb towing capacity with a 400Lb tongue weight. I'm thinking of buying a 14 or 16 ft. trailer to move the little tractor (occasionally) but mostly to haul building materials and misc. small stuff.

Should I get electric trailer brakes or mechanical (surge) brakes?
Thanks

 

[Daren Todd]

Surge brages have there advantages and disadvantages like electric brakes. I'll list the pros and cons of both.

Surge brakes. They are handy if you don't have a brake controller in your truck. No wiring or batteries to worry about. They will engage though when backing up. Have to keep the actuator greased on the front end. Take two people to bleed the brakes. No adjustments on how sensitive they are. If you have to stop quick you can end up with flat spots in the tires. There isn't anyway to to engage just the trailer brakes (ie, slippery slope and the trailer is trying to pass you or hill starts)

Electric brakes, require a brake controller in the tow vehicle, have another battery to maintain, electrical wiring to deal with. You can adjust how sensitive for your load, you can back up without them engaging. You can engage the brakes at any moment. Which is handy on hill starts or icy conditions.

 

[skeets]

I can only talk about electrics since that what we had on the horse trailers,, one nice thing is you can use the controller in the cab to slow you down a bit while still having control of the steering wheels

 

[CountryBumkin]

I appreciate the feedback.

We had surge brakes on some equipment trailers where I worked. I never drove with the trailers with equipment loaded so I don't know how smooth they worked, but I recall (maybe incorrectly) that you could adjust their sensitivity by adjusting the tension on the compression spring in the trailer's coupler-to-master cylinder connection. So you can tailor the normal stopping braking effort somewhat.

I never operated with electric trailer brakes either. How easy is it to adjust the normal braking force for the load?
Is there a knob (like a rheostat or such for adjustment) - or do the electric brakes just apply fully when ever the brake light's electric signal is sent to the trailer?

 

[Grouse Feathers]

Electric brakes are not connected to the brake lights, they are connected to the brake hydraulic system. The electrical signal to the trailer brakes is proportional to the pressure in the brake system (how hard you are pushing on the brake pedal). There is usually a knob to adjust the brake pressure to electrical signal. This is the con to electrical brakes you have to tie the brake hydraulic to electrical unit into the vehicle brake system. Not a big deal, but you may need to pay someone if you have never worked on brake hydraulics.

 

[William1]

Most modern vehicles already have wiring for a six pin trailer connector as well as the electric brake controller.
Many of the controllers use an internal accelerometer to determine how much braking power to use.
I have a Prodigy on a 2005 Nissan PU.
Installation was Plug and Play.
Adjustment consists of driving with the trailer connected, apply the brakes and move the adjustment lever to 5 (If I recall). That syncs up the trailer brake with the vehicle.
The brakes do work in reverse but unlike hydraulic ones, only when you apply the brake.

If I were going to tow big stuff on a regular basis, I'd go with hydraulic. For 'gentleman farmer' stuff, electric is simpler and easier.

 

[Bulldog]

I prefer electric brakes but suggest getting a good controller. The one I have you set the gain wide open and it matches the tow vehicle's braking. I never have to adjust it no matter if the trailer is empty or if it has 10K on it's back. The controller applies the correct amount of braking automatically.

I'll add this, the average 14 -16' trailer will weigh around 2000 lbs. which along with the BX will put you 500 lbs over your tow capacity. Just a thought.

 

[Tooljunkie]

Surge brakes require overhaul time to time, hydraulic lines get torn off and are usually more expensive to repair.

Electrics are dependent on well maintained trailer wiring and are only as good as the controller and its adjustment. After 6 years of dealing with this stuff,electric brakes are way lower maintenance. Wires break. Thats it.

All the trailers i maintained (10 or 12)
The repairs were sometimes expensive. Lost cap on master, crapped up whole system. 800 to fix/replace entire thing.

All these trailers ran in rough conditions, 70 % gravel roads. Rough gravel roads.
Advice-annual or regular maintenance is necessary with either system, gravel roads are hard on either brake system,high speeds on gravel accelerate wear and tear.

 

[chim]

We have over 20 trailers at work and a mix of surge and electric. I personally don't use any trailers frequently and either works for me. Guys who I know that pull trailers a lot prefer electric.

Our surge trailers have a lever on the hitch to flip for backing up a hill that deactivates the braking. On level ground backing isn't a problem. Unless a wheel is in a hole or otherwise stuck somehow the brakes aren't problem.

 

[CountryBumkin]

Thanks again for all the advise.
I think electric brakes are the best choice for me.

I also found this very informative article on the different types of electric brake controllers https://www.etrailer.com/faq-brakecontroller.aspx

Now to decide if I should go with "Proportional" or "Time Delayed".

 

[Bulldog]

The proportional are the best in my opinion. Like it says it will match what the tow vehicle is doing.

The time delay you have to set the power yourself. Unless your trailer has the same load every time you'll have to adjust the controller every time. To keep from sliding the tires more often than not you won't have enough brake or you have it set on flat ground but the first hill you go down it changes and you may not have enough or you may have to much and lock the trailer down. It's a constant battle that you don't want to fight.

 

[CountryBumkin]

The proportional are the best in my opinion.

Agreed! Thanks

 

[Tooljunkie]

Proportional use a pendulum to determine how hard you are braking. Once mounted and adjusted you can pretty much ignore it.
The led on the unit will indicate when the trailer is plugged in and circuit is complete.

 

[nickelplated5s]

Don't forget to adjust the electric brakes. There is a slot in the top inside of the backing plate, should have a rubber grommet. A straight slot will work but there is a fancy little tool just for this. It will make more sense if you pull a drum to see the star wheel. Anyhoo jack up one side and adjust until you get a little drag then back it off. You will have to reset the controller after this. If you want to talk about elctro over hydraulic brakes PM me. They are spendy but the best.