Can anyone explain trailer brakes/sway controls?

[Badfish740]

So my wife and I bought at 2009 Kia Borrego. The Borrego was a short lived (one model year in the US) nameplate here but continues to be sold in other parts of the world as Kia's answer to the Toyota 4Runner. A 4Runner was what we really wanted, but all things being equal (2009, V6, 4WD, 3rd row seat, less than 30K miles, certified pre-owned) the Borrego was about $5K less. It's going to serve as her DD and our family vehicle on the weekends, but with a 260HP/260LB-FT V6 it can also tow 5000lbs. I am looking for a trailer that will hold a half to 3/4 of a cord of wood so that I can use the Borrego to transport firewood and other things when necessary. According to the owners manual towing over 3500lbs requires trailer brakes and a sway control device. I know nothing about how either of these work so I'm hoping to find out more from other more experienced hearth'ers.

I think (but I'm not sure) that it says in the owners manual that there is a connection for electric brakes in the trailer plug in the rear. I always thought that electric brakes required some sort of controller? I can't consult the manual right now because the wife has the car How do trailer brakes work? I know they are "electric" but does that mean that the calipers/shoes are actuated electrically or are they hydraulic just like vehicle brakes but with an electrically operated pump? Finally, how do sway controls work and what exactly do they do? I know that they are supposed to reduce the effects of wind buffeting, but don't they also help during a panic stop? I want to be able to utilize this vehicle for towing only occasionally but I also want to make sure I'm doing it safely.

 

[lukem]

First on trailer breaks. There are two types: electric and surge. Electric breaks utilize a trailer break controller (TBC) to actuate the breaks. These are typically installed aftermarket except for heavy duty pickups. Some newer half tons come with one from the factory now. Surge breaks are hydraulically actuated when the tow vehicle slow asn the trailer pushes up against it. The require no additional controller or wiring.

Anti-sway can come in a couple differnt flavors to. Some TBCs can sense sway and will apply some trailer break to conteract it. Other devices are installed at the hitch (weight distributing hitch).

 

[Badfish740]

First on trailer breaks. There are two types: electric and surge. Electric breaks utilize a trailer break controller (TBC) to actuate the breaks. These are typically installed aftermarket except for heavy duty pickups. Some newer half tons come with one from the factory now. Surge breaks are hydraulically actuated when the tow vehicle slow asn the trailer pushes up against it. The require no additional controller or wiring.

Is one (surge vs. electric) considered "better" than the other? I really have to check my manual regarding the brake control-I could swear it says that you plug them right into the trailer plug under the rear bumper-there's also a Kia forum I could ask on.

Anti-sway can come in a couple differnt flavors to. Some TBCs can sense sway and will apply some trailer break to conteract it. Other devices are installed at the hitch (weight distributing hitch).

The only type I've really seen are the weight distributing hitches, but again, is one considered "better?"

 

[SolarAndWood]

A lot of vehicles come wired for the controller and have an RV plug already at the rear bumper. However, they don't come with the actual controller.

Another consideration with brakes is they rot especially in the salt. Mine don't seem to last more than 2 or 3 years even with my just happy homeowner use. Now, if I could keep them out of the salt, they would probably last forever.

 

[lukem]

First on trailer breaks. There are two types: electric and surge. Electric breaks utilize a trailer break controller (TBC) to actuate the breaks. These are typically installed aftermarket except for heavy duty pickups. Some newer half tons come with one from the factory now. Surge breaks are hydraulically actuated when the tow vehicle slow asn the trailer pushes up against it. The require no additional controller or wiring.

Is one (surge vs. electric) considered "better" than the other? I really have to check my manual regarding the brake control-I could swear it says that you plug them right into the trailer plug under the rear bumper-there's also a Kia forum I could ask on.

Anti-sway can come in a couple differnt flavors to. Some TBCs can sense sway and will apply some trailer break to conteract it. Other devices are installed at the hitch (weight distributing hitch).

The only type I've really seen are the weight distributing hitches, but again, is one considered "better?"

Electric vs. surge are both effective. Cost can be a factor because surge used to be more expensive. I'm not sure if that's still the case. Some people don't like the way surge breaks feel because there's a momentary lag from when you hit the brakes until the trailer starts braking. As soon as you figure out the feel and understand it, it is no big deal. Some people also like electric breaks better because if things get hairy you can operate the trailer breaks independently of the vehicle breaks...and they also can be more easily adjusted by turning up/down the gain. Some people like surge better because they are *thought* to be more reliable. My experience confirms this theory, but others might not have had the same luck.

I've never driven a vehicle with an anti-sway system, so I can't really comment. My F150 has an electronic sway controller but I haven't had the opportunity to test it out..but the youtube video of it in action looks pretty interesting. If you are hauling firewood in a properly loaded flatbed trailer, sway *shouldn't* be an issue. If you were hauling a big box trailer I'd be more concerned about it, especially with a lighter weight vehicle.

How much does that Kia weight? The heavier the trailer is compared to you vehicle, the more help you need towing safely. HP isn't usually the limiting factor...it is how well you can stop it, turn it, and how well the suspension can handle the weight. HP just sounds good and gets you up a hill faster (not that that's a bad thing). When the trailer weigh gets to be about 150% of the vehicle weight, that's seems to be where drive-ablity changes start getting really noticeable. That usually means 8K lb for a 1/2 ton and 12K for a 3/4 ton. Much past that and you know you have something serious behind you.

 

[Highbeam]

Surge brakes are not normal for anything but boat trailers or u-haul rentals. Don't worry about them. Focus on electric. You will need a controller near the driver and a few extra wires that may or may not be provided by Kia and a plug at the rear that is typically a 7 pin connector. The flat four isn't capable of brakes. A good brake controller is about 100$, wiring and a plug another 50$.

On the "sway control" you have run into a case of Korenglish. What they really mean to say is that they want you to have a weight distributing hitch. Sway control is really not the right word. The WDH system is even required on my F350 diesel truck for trailer weights over 5000. It is a very normal thing and easy to do but requires that you have an actual receiver style hitch. Is there a hitch like that on your Kia? The WDH system is about 400$ and the receiver hitch can be another 150$.

All things considered, I would consider sticking to 3500 lbs and under. Your automatic trans may not like the extra load much.

 

[Hass]

Yeah, my dads 5k trailer recommends a WDH system. (dual axle toy hauler, 6k gvw).
Brake requirements on a trailer vary by state I think. Majority of them are brakes required on 3501+ GVW trailers.

I would stick to 3500 and under as well. It's easier to get... 3.5k GVW trailers are common and cheap. They can haul probably about 2000-2500lbs of wood... still quite a good bit. When hauling wood, you're trying to save money not cost you more money. If you push the limits you may end up breaking something on your suv. Then it's not really saving you any money...

Or else buy a cheap $1k 1 ton truck, throw a 10k trailer on the back of it... and beat it to death. If it breaks, send it to the junkyard (scrap value on 1 tons is pretty darn high) and buy a new one!

 

[bluedogz]

FWIW, in that little Kia, I'd suggest you look carefully at how much weight you plan to pull. A WD hitch might be helpful. Remember that a WD hitch reduces sway by putting weight back onto the front wheels on the tow vehicle. Important if you plan in highway travel, maybe not so much around town.

 

[JustWood]

I agree on <3500 . I'd rather gross 40,000 on my pup trailer than 5,000 behind my S-10 any day. Most I think I ever had behind my S-10 was 3-4K and I didn't like that.

 

[smokinj]

I agree on <3500 . I'd rather gross 40,000 on my pup trailer than 5,000 behind my S-10 any day. Most I think I ever had behind my S-10 was 3-4K and I didn't like that.

Thats what I run most of the time behind my s-10 but I am only going 5 miles or less one way through town. 30mph is the speed limit anyways.

 

[semipro]

In addition to what others said.

Electric brakes can be tested easily by manually engagement at the controller and are typically adjustable also to accommodate trailer loads and road conditions. If you want you can add a battery to your trailer and switch to provide emergency lockup of the brakes should the trailer come loose.

Surge brakes can engage while backing a trailer up an incline when you don't want to. You can't adjust them from behind the wheel as you can electrics and you usually don't know they've failed until its too late.

 

[Badfish740]

Great discussion guys-thanks! Here's what I've learned so far: Electric brakes are the way to go, I probably DO need a brake controller, and what I want is a weight distributing hitch.

It is a very normal thing and easy to do but requires that you have an actual receiver style hitch. Is there a hitch like that on your Kia? The WDH system is about 400$ and the receiver hitch can be another 150$.

Indeed there is-mine came with the towing package and is already wired for lights and has a hidden 2" receiver hitch installed from the factory plus a heavy duty transmission cooler.

FWIW, in that little Kia, I'd suggest you look carefully at how much weight you plan to pull.

Believe it or not the "little Kia" has a curb weight of 4875lbs, so with two adults, a child, and a dog it will actually weigh more than any trailer and payload. It also has an enormous set of disc brakes (front and rear). Trust me, I know that the name "Kia" does not usually conjure up images of any sort of powerful utilitarian vehicle, but the Borrego was a dinosaur of sorts, which explains its short lived legacy here in the US. When all of the other manufacturers had long abandoned SUVs with ladder frames and traditional body-on-frame design in favor of unibody vehicles, Kia stubbornly stuck with the Sorento and Borrego. In fact, the number one complaint about the Borrego was "it rides like a truck." Indeed-its one of the last SUVs actually built like one. As I said before, it even has low range 4WD which is nearly impossible to find on an SUV these days. We looked at the Ford Escape, Toyota Highlander, Chevy Traverse, and others, and towing capacity was something I factored in. Not that this vehicle will be doing A LOT of towing, but I figured it would be useful to have something that could tow more than a jetski or a log splitter. I seriously doubt I'll ever have a trailer that weighs in at exactly 5000lbs, but I'd like to make sure that if I ever did, I'd be able to pull it and stop it safely. Here's a picture BTW if you're curious:

 

[Highbeam]

Looks good. The electric brake controller will not be there, you'll need to buy one. Besides the regular wires that already head back to your trailer plug for lighting, you'll need one more wire that leads to the brakes. It is typically blue in color.

I'm a big fan of hauling and towing within the ratings. If you're within the ratings then you are not being negligent, unsafe, or rude. You are using the right tool for the job.

I own a korean tractor and it has been excellent. My father just bought a (higher end) hyundai car which I also find to be a very fine piece of machinery.

 

[greg13]

If you were to pull into my yard and try to rent a trailer with that I would go no more than a #3000 trailer. I have to laugh at the ads that state "It will PULL a freight train", OK but can it STOP one? Sorry but I have family out on the roads. I have pissed more than one customer off by telling them YOU DON'T HAVE TRUCK ENOUGH!! I have had people come in and expect to take a #10000 trailer with a skid steer with an S10 or Ranger or Even a full size with a bumper ball. I had one that insisted his bumper could handle a trailer & skid. I folded it up for him just loading the machine on the trailer. As for corrosion at the light connector, Dielectric grease helps a lot but nothing will stop it.

 

[begreen]

We had an early variant of the Reese sway control on our Shasta trailer back in the mid-60's. It consisted of a pair of spring loaded tension bars that rode in a cam groove so that the tension increased on the left or right spring bar when a side force, like wind made it ride high on the cam. It looks like they still have a cam system and they also make a damper system. The cam system worked ok, IF the spring bars were tensioned adequately. If not, it could lead to a very wild ride because the load can oscillate between cams, one pushing it off to the other. This happened to me with a wagon full of family and me as the 16 yr old driver, at 60mph coming back from Montreal. I managed to regain control using only the electric brake to slow it down. But it was no fun and the whiplash was enough to smash open compartment doors and spill hoses, lawn chairs, etc. over about a mile of freeway.

http://www.reese-hitches.com/learning_center/sway-control-faq

 

[MasterMech]

You might get super lucky and the Kia will be pre-wired for the brake controller. Some vehicles need a plug in adapter harness (Under $20 usually) and others have a wiring pigtail tucked under the dash somewhere. If you have a 7 Way connector on the vehicle already, that's a good indicator your pre-wired. If that's the case, then check out this link for your controller/harness.

I highly recommend this controller, it is the one I use in my heavy hauler. Love it, Love it, LOVE IT! Proportional controllers are so much smoother and safer than cheap time delay boxes. Pic shows the necessary patch harness too. A 5 min installation! :coolsmirk:

http://www.etrailer.com/Brake-Controller-with-Wiring/Tekonsha/90195-22291.html

Kudos to you Badfish for wanting to tow SAFELY!

To answer one of your previous questions, electric trailer brakes actually work by energizing a magnet inside the brake assembly. The magnet is attached to an actuating lever that works the otheriwse typical drum brake assembly. The magnetism itself does not create enough force to operate the brake effectively however. The magnet actually contacts the drum and the friction caused by the rotating drum against the magnet forces the actuating lever to spread the shoes against the drum. The magnet along with the shoes is considered a consumable.

 

[nate379]

Someone told me the other day that most trailer brakes only work going forward too, anyone know if that is true?

 

[MasterMech]

True for electric/magnetic drum type as they rely on forward rotation of the drum to actuate the brake mechanism. Elec over Hydraulic and surge systems should work equally well either direction.

 

[begreen]

Check with the hitch manufacturer, but I think surge brakes are not recommended for use with sway bars. Having manual control over the trailer brakes probably saved our lives.

 

[Highbeam]

Surge brakes on anything but a boat is really a bad idea and due to expense has gone away almost entirely.

Another thing to consider when toying with the 5000 lb trailer is that your cargo capacity as a percentage of the total will go down. The trailers that are built to gross at 5000 are significantly heavier empty than the light duty trailers. You end up hauling around a lot more steel that takes away from your cargo weight. Surely you can carry more cargo when you go to 5000 but not 1500# more.

To use the WDH system you need a fairly stout trailer tongue. The physical size of the tongue bars need to be big enough to hold the saddles. Check that before buying the trailer.

I also like the tekonsha brake controllers. I use a prodigy and it has been very good.

 

[jeff_t]

A weight distributing hitch is just that. It does nothing for sway control, though many wdh systems today are designed with integral sway control. The Reese Dual-Cam is still produced, and pretty popular. Friction type sway controllers are probably the most common, but in my experience not very effective. Personally, I have a Husky Center Line, but haven't used it enough to have an opinion.

All the sway controls in the world are no substitute for a properly loaded trailer. Ten to fifteen percent of the gross weight of the trailer should be on the hitch. The only way to really know that is to scale it. Sway controls are meant to help the driver recover from induced sway caused by sudden steering inputs, wind gusts, passing trucks, etc. Generally, sway isn't an issue with properly loaded open trailer. It's the big sails like cargo and travel trailers that can get hairy.

Stay within the limits of the tow vehicle. Also note that many new pickups are rated to tow way more than the class IV/V hitches that they come with.

Lots of good reading here http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/listings/forum/40.cfm

 

[Highbeam]

Good point Jeff. If you have done your job properly loading a trailer then you will not need any of these sway control band-aids. I always cringe when I see a vehicle loaded on a car trailer backwards with the engine weight in the rear. You know that the trailer is light on the tongue and prone to sway.

 

[jeff_t]

Proper hitch setup and trailer leveling is also quite important.

I cringe all the time. I hate seeing an Explorer or Durango pulling a travel trailer pushing 30'. Just because the numbers say it's okay doesn't mean it's a good idea. Tail wagging the dog, so to speak.

 

[Badfish740]

You might get super lucky and the Kia will be pre-wired for the brake controller. Some vehicles need a plug in adapter harness (Under $20 usually) and others have a wiring pigtail tucked under the dash somewhere. If you have a 7 Way connector on the vehicle already, that's a good indicator your pre-wired. If that's the case, then check out this link for your controller/harness.

I got ahold of the manual today (had to wrestle the new wheels away from the wife ) and it is pre-wired under the dash. Also, the little blue wire and connector that Highbeam mentioned was actually in the glovebox still wrapped in plastic from the factory.

I highly recommend this controller, it is the one I use in my heavy hauler. Love it, Love it, LOVE IT! Proportional controllers are so much smoother and safer than cheap time delay boxes. Pic shows the necessary patch harness too. A 5 min installation! :coolsmirk:

http://www.etrailer.com/Brake-Controller-with-Wiring/Tekonsha/90195-22291.html

Looks like a nice piece of equipment and worth picking up-thanks!

Kudos to you Badfish for wanting to tow SAFELY!

I wouldn't think of doing it any other way-I've seen plenty of scary setups out there and wouldn't want to be one of them. Plus, most of the time any towing will be done with the whole family in the car (I'll be sure to pay close attention to how much the vehicle itself is loaded) because I often cut firewood on my in-laws' property when we go for visits. Prior to getting this vehicle I would drive up in my single cab pickup and mom and baby would follow in her car. Doing it this way makes much more sense. Finally, Highbeam's point about a 5000lb trailer being much heavier to begin with is well taken-I wasn't really thinking in those terms. I really need to look at trailer GVWRs to see what will best suit my needs.

 

[Dix]

Glad you're keeping in mind the weight. It's always better to be under the ratings, and be able to stop safely.