In a message dated 10/11/2005 12:12:34 PM Central Daylight Time,
BillB@bnj.com writes:
> End of experiment. Brakes are important.
>
> The next day I say an older pickup truck with way too much wood in the bed
> wrapped around a telephone pole at the bottom of my hill. Hippie-looking
> driver was very upset that his brakes "went out". Brakes are important.
>
My experience says brakes, and also mass is important. One would think a big
old Cadillac would have the mass, but if your trailer brakes aren't working
properly, the load will push the tow vehicle.
Before I found a hydrovac for my 1950 Chevrolet one ton panel, stopping the
loaded trailer was an issue, and serious if the electric trailer brakes were
not working properly. The 1950 brakes on the old Chevy are big enough (the
whole chassis is like a five yard dump truck), but prior to the hydrovac I
could
never get enough pressure on them. The hydrovac fixed that, but when the
electric trailer brakes would go astray, big as it was, the panel truck brakes
would lock up and the loaded trailer would push me past my stops. God forbid I
needed to stop at the bottom of a hill. I recently upgraded my electric brake
sensor. I like this new one much better, and I now understand how to 'adjust
and level' it properly. I now spend a couple of minutes redoing this prior to
every tow. It makes the trailer brakes very efficient, and I can actually use
the trailer to stop the whole rig. My tows are not nearly as exciting as
they used to be.
Bill Dentinger
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