Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire towing without brakes

How do you move tractors, small equipment, etc?

10 yrs ago i pulled a 35ft donzi that weighed a little 10,000 from st petersburg fl to corpus christi tx with my 1/2 ton dodge, no trailer brakes. didn't have any problems, but did have replace the brake pads afterwards and only got about 6 mpg.

3000 lbs. here requires brakes. Have a boat and trailer weighs 2800. No problem behind a 3/4 ton pickup, switched to a 4runner and did not hesitate to put brakes on it.

Any trailer w/ GWR over 3000#, must have brakes.

I don't see how brakes would make a difference when you got rear ended unless you had the brakes set hard at the impact. Out of curiosity - what size of hitch ball did you have? Did the ball break or the hitch on the trailer? Hitch balls are rated for a certain towing capacity but not for much higher load of an impact.

I have an old stock trailer that had tandem 6k axles under it yet it only has a 2" hitch. If the axles were loaded to capacity, the hitch would be WAY over it's capacity. Both axles were bent so I replaced them with 3500s and lighter springs.

[/quote]I don't see how brakes would make a difference when you got rear ended unless you had the brakes set hard at the impact. Out of curiosity - what size of hitch ball did you have? Did the ball break or the hitch on the trailer? Hitch balls are rated for a certain towing capacity but not for much higher load of an impact.

I have an old stock trailer that had tandem 6k axles under it yet it only has a 2" hitch. If the axles were loaded to capacity, the hitch would be WAY over it's capacity. Both axles were bent so I replaced them with 3500s and lighter springs. [/quote]

My thought was the trailer brakes will lock if you "lose" the trailer. It was a 2" ball and it held up. The receiver hitch bent and the trailer receiver disintegrated. One safety hook snapped in half, the other bent straight.

The trailer brakes will only lock if you have an onboard battery. A locking brake mechanism will have a cable that connects to the truck's hitch. Usually, it's connected to the safety chains so it'll be jerked before the chains are fully extended. When it's jerked as the trailer comes loose, it will set the brakes using the battery. Your truck battery won't do much as usually the light cord will be pulled loose.

Likely, when you got rear ended and the trailer was shoved forward, it wouldn't have locked until the chains failed. If the trailer was sliding sideways as it came around, the brakes wouldn't have mattered. I'm just guessing here as it's hard to say without seeing it.

If you're only doing it a couple times....consider renting a U-Haul trailer. Some of them have surge brakes and they tend to be regularly maintained. That said, some of their larger trailers they won't rent to you with a half-ton. Prices are reasonable, if you return them to point of rental. While I own two trailers, I rented a U-Haul last year for a larger load and I was impressed with the quality of the trailer and how well it pulled.

Geez... Pull that up here and the WI State Patrol will have a field day.. Your fines might run in excess of $500 AND you'll be forced to park the trailer until you (1) have brakes and pass inspection or (2) you hire a hauler with legal equipment to load YOUR trailer on and haul it away..

Same here..

I see dudes pulling stuff at times that I KNOW is way outta bounds re: vehicle capability and just shake my head - thanking my lucky stars I'm not behind 'em or meeting 'em..

Early this spring some dude was towing an OLD camper/trailer with an out-of-spec hitch, severe angle on the camper and no brakes on it while he tried to go north on Hy 63.. State boy was sittin' off to the side.. I think he lost about 10K miles of rubber scootin' to head that nightmare off.. When I came through an hour later that camper was all by its lonesome at the 'park-&-ride' waitin' for a flat-bed tow truck that could load that pos up.. I'm bettin' the driver was accompanied by the Trouper facin' the ATM and hoping he had enough in the bank to satisfy the fines..


Sorry boys - but no excuses; when you haul something on/in a trailer you BETTER have the truck/hitch for it... Otherwise, somebody might die from your negligence and the lawyers will eat you up like a fatso loading 4 plates at the Country Booofay..

Since you say there is city driving involved, I'd say forget about using the 1/2 ton pulling a trailer w/o breaks unless you're talking about pulling something like this.



City driving is going to likely be your greatest risk of some idiot pulling out in front of you or j walking.

I towed my ATV trailer without brakes for years. Once I put a camper on the truck I added brakes to the trailer. I've now towed it without the camper and it makes a difference as compared to before. It all depends on how fast you have to stop. I really like having added the brakes even though with two ATV's it's fairly light.

Good thing you rigidly obeyed the 45 mph limit Uhaul has plastered all over their trailer.

Hmmmmm, well yeah ....actually it pulled just fine at 80 on the interstate. Tracked very well, even with strong crosswinds and a high center of gravity load. Surge brakes worked perfectly. I did check all the tires, thinking that might lead to the speed rating posted all over the trailer. They were very good quality tires and barely got warm at 80 with a load that was near max capacity for the trailer. I wouldn't have felt nearly as comfortable with my own trailer (no brakes and I hadn't repacked the bearings recently).

No matter what size the vehicles (trailer or tow), having brakes on the trailer is going to save the brakes on your tow vehicle... I wonder which cost more to service!

Phil

I have. 20' x 8' empty shell portable building single axle . It can't weigh over 3-4k pounds. Towed it fine across town 20 miles in traffic no problems with a reg bAll hitch. But only about 45 mph

Now have a heavy duty hitch and sway bar.

The trailer has brakes but not connected or wired and I'm guessing they are rusted up.

I think Uhaul puts those speed limits on them for liability. If someone wrecks one, they can say it was being run beyond their limit so they're not liable.

I don't know, but if you can't stop whatever you're driving reasonably quick you're in for trouble. Dickheads LOVE to pass a person that allows a decent stopping distance between them and the next vehicle, then throw on the brakes.

IMHO it would not be the engine, gears, or size of the truck that was the limit in that situation, it would be the fact it was BUMPER-towed. Most bumpers have a tow weight rating as well as a tongue weight rating. I would not exceed it. A buddy of mine did, had to hammer the brakes, and his bumper buckled. With a receiver hitch, it's a whole different story.

Also, there's "brakes" and there's "brakes." Most trailers for heavier loads have surge brakes even if they don't have brakes integrated with the truck's braking system.

I very comfortably towed a 5000 pound U-Haul trailer for a friend who was moving using a Nissan Frontier with the 4.0L 6 and a stick shift. It'd hold 70 on the freeway on the flat loaded in 6th gear. I didn't have any stopping issues. I'm not sure if the surge brakes were contributing or if it was just deliberately long stopping distances.

I pulled a 2500 pound camp trailer for the same friend a few weeks ago with my new truck, a V6 Toyota Tacoma also with a stick and a class IV receiver hitch .. but no brakes at all. That trailer seemed to push me around a little but nothing I'd worry about.

Off topic, but for towing, the Nissan was a remarkably stronger truck than the nearly identical Toyota despite almost identical equipment, engine, etc.

Tom

Well, there are 2 ways a trailer is pulled: gooseneck/5th wheel and bumper pull, which includes receiver hitches and actual bumper hitches (those things are scary). Bumper pulls are called that even though the bumper isn't used in any way...but I think you know that.

All depends on the driver, tow vehicle, trailer, situational awareness, location, popo & luck.
I've pulled over 60,000# on rural farm roads (pick-up) w/o brakes but I have well maintained brakes on all of my road trailers.
Don't drive or pull beyond your abilities or the abilities of the others on the road.

Error on the side of safety.