Manual Over-ride brakes on tandem axel - 1 set of wheels or both sets?

[Heath]

Am getting to the stage where I am needing to replace my hubs and discs on my trailer which is manual over-ride. Everyone I have spoken to seems to find it weird that I have brakes on all 4 wheels of my trailer rather than just the front set.

My question is, how much difference would there be if we went to 1 set of brakes in-stead of two? The trailer pulls up well as it is, just wondering going forward if the extra hassel of maintaining 4 sets of brakes instead of two is worth it.

The trailer is a tinka, whole rig would be just under 2 ton.

Interested in thoughts....

[finga]

According to VSB1 (Building small trailers) brakes need to be on the wheels of at least one axle for GTM between 750kg GTM and 2000kg GTM and for over 2000kg GTM brakes need to be on all wheels.
So it'll come to the weight of your rig Heath

[Chimo]

Hi Heath

Is it cable or hydraulic?

If I was able I would run cable disc brakes and not hydraulic as the larger spaces around the mechanical levers with cables make it so much easier to keep them rust free. Fish oil the cable before you get it wet and it will last for years.

I had a single axle mechanical braked trailer in the past and it was great. Now have a 2 tonne plus 4 braked hydaraulic elec over-ride which works well but you either spend time and money annually on rebuilds or keep the brakes out of the water and in my case I use an electric winch to haul the boat onto the trailer.

If I was you I'd stick with mechnical and I don't see any reason why these couldn't be on 4 wheels, just need 2 cables and a separate pully and adjuster at the hitch. Probably not a legal requirement but would be nice anyway if the boats under 2 tonne.

Cheers
Chimo

[PADDLES]

g'day heath, my rig's under 2t and has got manual over-ride brakes on the front axle only, it always seems to pull up ok, tow car is a landcruiser with 4 wheel disks. like chimo has stated, keep the manual cable style brakes if you can get away with it, they're heaps cheaper to service/maintain/replace than hydraulic or pneumatic systems.

[finga]

Out of curiosity...what's the rego on a tandem trailer under 2000kg now??

[bigjimg]

Out of curiosity...what's the rego on a tandem trailer under 2000kg now??

Finga if you like you can pay it for me.$127.30 Dunbier SRW5.7T.Jim

[Heath]

The brake system is cable. Not looking to change it. Just wondering if it's worth keeping all 4 wheels braked or just the front 2.

How mine works is that there is a cable between the two calipers to which the cable that goes to the goos neck connects to. So when on the picks it operates all 4 sets of brakes.

[Chimo]

Heath

If it works keep all four.

I reckon however, it would be easier to adjust, if you duplicated the cable and adjuster from the rear brakes to the hitch rather than have the 4 brakes linked.

Cheers
Chimo

[finding_time]

Heath

Mate i've just got cable overide on just 1 axle on the KC ( similar size and weight to the CC)And when ajusted properly Pulls the boat up very very nicely !!! make sure you keep it on the front axle though!

Ian

[SunnyCoastMark]

Hey Heath,
For Tandem Trailers under 2 ton rear brakes are unneccessary for a number of reasons:-

1) You have twice the maintenance.

2)Tandem Trailers should be loaded so the at least 60% of the weight is forward of the axle group. - This pervents "fishtailing" . It also means that there is less weight on the rear axle, thereby reducing breaking effeciency.

3) In view of the above, you may actually be losing some of your breaking capacity, because, some of the inertia is being lost through the transfer to the rear axle which has less weight on it. (if that makes sense)

We occasionally have customers asking about dual overide brakes at work and I advise against it, not only for the above reasons, but also for the extra cost involved.

If it were my trailer - I would remove the calipers from the rear axle - keep them as spares for the front.

Just out of curiosity - what are you towing your rig with?

Mark

[oldboot]

Like may issues in trailers ther reason mant tandem trailers dont have 4 wheel brakes is COST.

More brakes shoud give you improved braking efficiency.


As for 60% of the load in front of the axle group putting more load on the front wheels.......at worst 10%.....if the trailer has a load sharing suspension, both axles should carry equal weight.

If it was my trailer I would cop the maintenance on 4 wheels of brakes.

cheers

[Heath]

Hey Heath,

Just out of curiosity - what are you towing your rig with?

Mark

Using a 2002 Holden Jackaroo 3.5L V6 Auto.

[White Pointer]

The brake system is cable. Not looking to change it. Just wondering if it's worth keeping all 4 wheels braked or just the front 2.

How mine works is that there is a cable between the two calipers to which the cable that goes to the goos neck connects to. So when on the picks it operates all 4 sets of brakes.

G'day,

It seems like a wierd set up.

I'm no great fan of cable brakes and like you I'm just under the 2.0 tonne where a fully braked trailer is necessary.

If I load the boat with all the crap (i.e. ice boxes, tackle, full fuel, etc) before I leave home I reckon I would be lucky to be under 2 tonne. I'm seriously thinking of a trailer upgrade to a fully braked trailer. I don't want to be marginal or illegal, I want to be safe.

I suggest that you load up your boat with everything you carry and take it over a weigh bridge. You might get a shock! If so, you're in the same place as me. If you want some help working this out, PM me for contacts.

Regards,

White Pointer

[oldboot]

G'day,


I suggest that you load up your boat with everything you carry and take it over a weigh bridge. You might get a shock! If so, you're in the same place as me. If you want some help working this out, PM me for contacts.

Regards,

White Pointer

OH hell yeh..........everybody should put their boat / caravan over the scale......and be prepared for a shock.

So much of the time trailers of all types end up pushing the limits of what is legal and what is safe just to meet a price point......after all no one wants to pay for a trailer.

While you are at it check the load carrying capacity of you vehicle....and check the details and fine print. Are the pasegers counted in the load carrying capacity......what does loading the vehicle do to your towing capacity.

Soo many of these things are just assumed.....the last thing we all want to end up with is being pulled up, weighed and end up with a fine and a commeccial towing fee because they wont allow you to tow the thing home.......or worse.....be involved in an accident and find the insurance wont pay.

cheers

[oldboot]

Oh on the subject of the cable arrangement......most of the time cable brakes are used because they are cheap......as a result......often the cable set ups are less than ideal........you realy need to have arrangements in place that provede equal tension on all brake levers and means to properly adjust the slack in the cables.

Additionaly the terminations of the cables should be secure, Almost all of the cable brake systems I have seen ( I look at trailers at boat ramps and wonder)are fitted using wire rope clamps and often only a single clamp at each termination.....wire rope clamps are well known for slipping, in industrial rigging the minimum number of clamps on a termination is 3.

Quite often the cable used is mild steel and not very flexible ( clothes line wire I suspect). This stiff cable does not run freely thru any equalising devices used ( if any)


As a matter of interest...I was up at 1770 the week before last and saw a monster trailer in the car park...tripple axle, landcruser wheels.....Cable brakes on 6 wheels . How can that possibly be compliant.

cheers