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Post by the light works on Sept 19, 2013 14:18:37 GMT
now that SD mentions it - old tender 23; which was converted from a tractor, had a handbrake for the trailer. as well a separate spring brake controls for the tractor and the trailer.
also, all of the trailers my family owns (two travel trailers, three cargo trailers and a boat trailer) all use standard sized wheels and tires (the first thing I did when I got the boat trailer was replace the puny boat trailer tires with proper wheels and tires, because I tow it on sand now and then)the primary difference between trailer specific tires and car tires is trailer tires tend to have tread that is designed for primarily lateral traction, because aside from trailers with brakes, there are no worries about wheelspin or braking skids. the tread is often also not as thick in relation to the durability of the sidewall, because they don't see a lot of treadwear for the same reason.
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Post by User Unavailable on Sept 19, 2013 17:03:54 GMT
Tire wear on trailers: also has a lot to do with how long the trailer is and where the tires/axels are located on the trailer.
My brother has several trailers that he uses for his business as well as trailers for personal use, in the last few years, he did a lot of buying/selling/trading/swapping of trailers to get the right combination of good tread wear, good pulling, good loading/unloading, ease of backing up, etc.
During his research of trailers, on the tread wear issue, he ran across an article that tested many of the commonly available, mass produced, pick up truck towed trailers for tread wear.
They found that many of the trailers axels were not squared up to pull straight, so the the tires would have excess wear due to pulling the trailers with the axels off square.
Most cases the off square was as little as half inch, but had cases of 1, 2, and even 3 inches between one side of the trailer and the other side.
My brother couldn't remember the exact figures from the article, but he thought it was, for an axel a half inch out square, for every 100 miles towed, put 8 miles of "sideways" tread wear on the tire.
If you've ever been driving down the road behind a trailer that looks like it is being pulled slightly sideways, you're probably right.
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Post by the light works on Sept 19, 2013 17:19:57 GMT
Tire wear on trailers: also has a lot to do with how long the trailer is and where the tires/axels are located on the trailer. My brother has several trailers that he uses for his business as well as trailers for personal use, in the last few years, he did a lot of buying/selling/trading/swapping of trailers to get the right combination of good tread wear, good pulling, good loading/unloading, ease of backing up, etc. During his research of trailers, on the tread wear issue, he ran across an article that tested many of the commonly available, mass produced, pick up truck towed trailers for tread wear. They found that many of the trailers axels were not squared up to pull straight, so the the tires would have excess wear due to pulling the trailers with the axels off square. Most cases the off square was as little as half inch, but had cases of 1, 2, and even 3 inches between one side of the trailer and the other side. My brother couldn't remember the exact figures from the article, but he thought it was, for an axel a half inch out square, for every 100 miles towed, put 8 miles of "sideways" tread wear on the tire. If you've ever been driving down the road behind a trailer that looks like it is being pulled slightly sideways, you're probably right. I've driven behind cars and (usually) pickups that are "crabbing" down the road. one so bad that I could see the passenger side sheet metal from the drivers side of my car.
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Post by User Unavailable on Sept 19, 2013 17:24:07 GMT
Here is a link to trailer tire "facts",, some of which I've never heard before about trailer tires. Yes, I know it is from a tire dealer, but I've never heard of replacing trailer tires as often as indicated in the link, even if they still look good. I'll have to see what else I can dig up on the subject.
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Post by User Unavailable on Sept 19, 2013 17:28:44 GMT
Tire wear on trailers: also has a lot to do with how long the trailer is and where the tires/axels are located on the trailer. My brother has several trailers that he uses for his business as well as trailers for personal use, in the last few years, he did a lot of buying/selling/trading/swapping of trailers to get the right combination of good tread wear, good pulling, good loading/unloading, ease of backing up, etc. During his research of trailers, on the tread wear issue, he ran across an article that tested many of the commonly available, mass produced, pick up truck towed trailers for tread wear. They found that many of the trailers axels were not squared up to pull straight, so the the tires would have excess wear due to pulling the trailers with the axels off square. Most cases the off square was as little as half inch, but had cases of 1, 2, and even 3 inches between one side of the trailer and the other side. My brother couldn't remember the exact figures from the article, but he thought it was, for an axel a half inch out square, for every 100 miles towed, put 8 miles of "sideways" tread wear on the tire. If you've ever been driving down the road behind a trailer that looks like it is being pulled slightly sideways, you're probably right. I've driven behind cars and (usually) pickups that are "crabbing" down the road. one so bad that I could see the passenger side sheet metal from the drivers side of my car. Yep, seen those as well, usually pick ups trucks. We call it "running dog legged", like how dogs will often trot along with their rear end slightly off center.
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Post by the light works on Sept 19, 2013 17:34:08 GMT
I've driven behind cars and (usually) pickups that are "crabbing" down the road. one so bad that I could see the passenger side sheet metal from the drivers side of my car. Yep, seen those as well, usually pick ups trucks. We call it "running dog legged", like how dogs will often trot along with their rear end slightly off center. 4 wheel drives with aftermarket lift kits to be precise.
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Post by the light works on Sept 19, 2013 17:38:58 GMT
Here is a link to trailer tire "facts",, some of which I've never heard before about trailer tires. Yes, I know it is from a tire dealer, but I've never heard of replacing trailer tires as often as indicated in the link, even if they still look good. I'll have to see what else I can dig up on the subject. I like that: trailer tires use rubber compounds that are designed to last longer than car and light truck tires, so they should be replaced every three years.
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Post by User Unavailable on Sept 19, 2013 18:36:37 GMT
We have 1 small utility trailer that has actual "trailer tires" and my brother has a small, single axel boat trailer, that has trailer tires on it.
Every other trailer/farm wagon we've owned or trailers that my brother has, use light duty truck tires. The vast majority of trailers around here have truck tires, instead of trailer tires.
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Post by the light works on Sept 19, 2013 18:43:31 GMT
We have 1 small utility trailer that has actual "trailer tires" and my brother has a small, single axel boat trailer, that has trailer tires on it. Every other trailer/farm wagon we've owned or trailers that my brother has, use light duty truck tires. The vast majority of trailers around here have truck tires, instead of trailer tires. like I said, I run car tires on my boat trailer to get the biggest contact patch I possibly can. otherwise, most of the trailers use trailer tires - because they are cheaper. but yes, I have seen a couple of tire failures on trailers. interestingly, the first time my own utility trailer went on the road after about 8 years of neglect was to go get new tires and have the bearings checked.
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Post by silverdragon on Sept 21, 2013 7:57:24 GMT
Going to be looking for that one? ? In the UK, I dont know how much ability there is to change the crab-angle of a trailer... Most trailer frames I have seen have very solid bolt down points for axles, or independent no axle fixings for wheels and/or suspension... Most car towed trailers are a box with a wheel each side firmly bolted in place with no adjustment... Larger trailers?... many car transport trailers were originally Caravans... they are sturdily built, take the box of and put some good runners on, they will take the weight of a car no problem, and come with suspension, brakes, some even have ABS....(Works through compression of the tow hitch... if the trailer starts to catch up with the car, it applies brakes...)
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Post by the light works on Sept 21, 2013 11:18:50 GMT
and yesterday I saw a tandem axle flatbed trailer that had so much offset one wheel was in a different track than the other. I think it was mismatched wheels rather than misaligned axles, but still...
and in the US, surge brakes are only seen on rental trailers. anyone who is serious about trailering uses electric trailer brakes - the originals were driven by an extra brake line; and the newer generation (thanks to lack of innovation by ABS manufacturers) use a pendulum and potentiometer.
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Post by silverdragon on Sept 23, 2013 4:58:49 GMT
Electric Trailer brakes... there are different kinds, but the ones that are "Triggered" by the brake light circuit..?.I had a bad experience of them. They are either on or off....on the unit I used anyway... Tend to "snatch" at the tow hook?... nearly straightened me out on a bend when I found that out.
That was early days... since then, I have graduated to bigger things, I now tow things with Air brakes, and when I aint working, a small half-ton maximum weight garden trash trailer, with good tyres, thats my maximum towing.
admission... I cant reverse the thing for the life of me.... Half the problem is I cant see it properly behind my car. (I cant see it in the mirrors at all) The other half is I am used to 60ft trailers that take a time to start swinging?... This thing, its easier to take the bloody thing off and move it by hand.
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Post by User Unavailable on Sept 23, 2013 5:40:48 GMT
Electric Trailer brakes... there are different kinds, but the ones that are "Triggered" by the brake light circuit..?.I had a bad experience of them. They are either on or off....on the unit I used anyway... Tend to "snatch" at the tow hook?... nearly straightened me out on a bend when I found that out. That was early days... since then, I have graduated to bigger things, I now tow things with Air brakes, and when I aint working, a small half-ton maximum weight garden trash trailer, with good tyres, thats my maximum towing. admission... I cant reverse the thing for the life of me.... Half the problem is I cant see it properly behind my car. (I cant see it in the mirrors at all) The other half is I am used to 60ft trailers that take a time to start swinging?... This thing, its easier to take the bloody thing off and move it by hand. I hate backing short trailers, they are hard to see and start to swing a lot faster. Bumper and receiver hitch trailers also are harder to back than 5th wheel trailers. The electric trailer brakes can touchy with bad plug connections too. My father in law borrowed my brothers, 34 foot gooseneck trailer last week, so we haul his Ford 5000 tractor to the shop. The plug on my FILs truck was bad, so any hard bump would jiggle the connection and lock the brakes. So we just had to haul with no trailer brakes/lights on trailer, but it was a short haul on a clear sunny day.
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Post by the light works on Sept 23, 2013 14:19:29 GMT
modern electric trailer brakes are a lot better - but that means you also have a double handful of controls to fine tune them. since they can't tell how much pedal you are applying, you have to manually set the level adjustment on the controller, so it measures whether you are slowing down accurately. (that's the one responsible if your brakes lock as soon as you touch the pedal) the other control gets adjusted to the weight of the trailer, so it doesn't apply too much or too little brake.
then mine also has a boost function, so I can add a little more juice if the trailer is loaded heavy, without losing my fine-tuning.
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Post by silverdragon on Sept 24, 2013 7:42:43 GMT
And so have other people?... interesting... Enter our nemesis, Mr Stupid................ TLW has underlined an accident about to happen. Any time now....
You yourself reading this, whoever you may be, are either learning, or not that stupid anyway... But mr stupid will just hitch up and think he shouldnt play with that kind of thing?... Now I wish I had a dash cam running.... I could show you a few examples, but the number of times I have see a vehicle straighten out on a bend because the trailer brakes snatch?.... This is one reason I never get too close to a trailer in front, I like to be able to stop before I hit the wreckage. We have a phrase "Tail wagging the dog", its used to denote a trailer that has full command of the towing vehicle. This is now a lot less often, since they introduced laws the prohibit anyone towing a trailer heavier than the car.... And yes, we did have to get a law to prevent that?... Picture this, the original fiat 500, towing a trailer with a three ton truck on it. You think that is extreme?....
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Post by the light works on Sept 24, 2013 13:35:53 GMT
And so have other people?... interesting... Enter our nemesis, Mr Stupid................ TLW has underlined an accident about to happen. Any time now.... You yourself reading this, whoever you may be, are either learning, or not that stupid anyway... But mr stupid will just hitch up and think he shouldnt play with that kind of thing?... Now I wish I had a dash cam running.... I could show you a few examples, but the number of times I have see a vehicle straighten out on a bend because the trailer brakes snatch?.... This is one reason I never get too close to a trailer in front, I like to be able to stop before I hit the wreckage. We have a phrase "Tail wagging the dog", its used to denote a trailer that has full command of the towing vehicle. This is now a lot less often, since they introduced laws the prohibit anyone towing a trailer heavier than the car.... And yes, we did have to get a law to prevent that?... Picture this, the original fiat 500, towing a trailer with a three ton truck on it. You think that is extreme?.... that gets down to the fact that in the US, you have to have a special license to drive a delivery truck, but you can hitch your car to the back of a 40 foot motorhome, on the same license that you drive that car on. the other side of it is that in the US, nobody would ever put a trailer hitch on the models of car your caravanners use to tow their trailers with. they're just too small and underpowered.
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