Do I Need Trailer Brake?

[fried1765]

The question that you need to ask your insurance is. If the trailer becomes disconnected from the vehicle does the vehicle insurance still cover any damage. In my state the answer is NO. The catch is you ask your insurance if they cover the trailer connected to an insured vehicle and they say yes, but don't tell people that it is not covered if not connected. So if it disconnected, bye-bye insurance coverage.

Though I have many times reconfirmed that trailer coverage is extended from the towing vehicle, I just did so again.
I called my insurance company (USAA), and they once AGAIN confirmed that trailer( liability) coverage extends from the towing vehicle.
They explained that if the trailer breaks away from the towing vehicle, the trailer accident/impact (whatever it might hit) occurred because it was part of a failed (tow) combination, and the towing combination is covered.
Perhaps it is different in Illinois.
My inquiry was for Florida, and Massachusetts, because my vehicles are insured there.
If your trailer were to be parked alongside the highway, and not connected to a vehicle, it seems that you might have liability for leaving a "vehicle" in/on the roadway.
Maybe call the cops for that, and have them use cones, or flares?

 

[timswi]

The question that you need to ask your insurance is. If the trailer becomes disconnected from the vehicle does the vehicle insurance still cover any damage. In my state the answer is NO. The catch is you ask your insurance if they cover the trailer connected to an insured vehicle and they say yes, but don't tell people that it is not covered if not connected. So if it disconnected, bye-bye insurance coverage.

Either way--That's why I carry an umbrella policy.

 

[bcp]

Pamphlet page from MO Highway Patrol:



Bruce

 

[My Gym]

I have followed this with great interest. The fact that the question was asked, indicates that the poster lacks experience pulling a trailer. Experience , practice, and training would help him more than brakes. Are brakes on trailers safer than no brakes.YES. Since the trailer has brakes and the truck has a controller. Hook the brakes up, it will cost very little time and money. Pulling a trailer is like driving on ice and snow. It takes longer to get started, longer to stop, and quick movements will get you in trouble under ideal driving conditions. If it is rainy, muddy, snowing, or icy, Leave the trailer behind.

 

[timswi]

Pamphlet page from MO Highway Patrol:

View attachment 538947

Bruce

Holy COW!!! No restriction on people riding in trailers on the highway--. Adding an "or" in the brake section would change the whole dynamic of the reg...Anything goes I guess.

 

[Travelover]

You can buy whole new brake assemblies for less than the parts to rebuild them . Eastern Marine is one place with good prices. Also SW Wheel. When you rewire it, don’t use the frame as a primary conductor. Just buy some extra wire and run a separate ground to the lights and brakes. You can connect this to the frame, too, but avoid depending on frame connections.

 

[RickB]

I guess not everyone read my original post in its entirety.

YES, my vehicle already has a brake controller.

NO, my state does not have a requirement for trailer brakes unless the trailer is gooseneck/5th wheel or carrying 3000lbs or more of hazardous material. Therefore, NOT required for me.

I read and understood your post. Wire the brakes and make them work. I strongly urge you to install brakes on the rear axle. If youæ±*e looking for someone to give you a pass, keep looking.

 

[frugalangler]

You can buy whole new brake assemblies for less than the parts to rebuild them . Eastern Marine is one place with good prices. Also SW Wheel. When you rewire it, don’t use the frame as a primary conductor. Just buy some extra wire and run a separate ground to the lights and brakes. You can connect this to the frame, too, but avoid depending on frame connections.

And hitch for ground between vehicle and trailer!

Also, although it's recommended to brake both axles on a tandem, if you use a load equalizer setup, the brakes need to be on the REAR axle, as the rotational torque when braking will rotate the spring down in the front pushing down on the back side of the equalizer, effectively unloading the front axle which transfer more weight to the rear axle to aid in braking action. If the brakes are on the front axle, the opposite occurs, the front spring rotates pushing up on the rear of it, raising the equalizer in front and pushing down on the spring in the rear, effectively removing weight from the brake axle.
You'd be surprise how many single braked tandems are running down the road with the brakes on the WRONG axle, and I've even seen some documentation to the contrary posted online. The internet is a great resource of false truth. (But never FAKE NEWS!)

 

[Ford850]

The question that you need to ask your insurance is. If the trailer becomes disconnected from the vehicle does the vehicle insurance still cover any damage. In my state the answer is NO. The catch is you ask your insurance if they cover the trailer connected to an insured vehicle and they say yes, but don't tell people that it is not covered if not connected. So if it disconnected, bye-bye insurance coverage.

Are you sure they aren't saying if your trailer is not being towed it is not covered? For example while parked and detached. Having a trailer disconnect while towing is still an act of towing with the vehicle and seems it would be covered. The same goes for an accident when a person is thrown from a vehicle. Following the above logic, the person would not be insured since their physical injury came while not in the vehicle. :scratchchin:

 

[RandyT]

Are you sure they aren't saying if your trailer is not being towed it is not covered? For example while parked and detached. Having a trailer disconnect while towing is still an act of towing with the vehicle and seems it would be covered. The same goes for an accident when a person is thrown from a vehicle. Following the above logic, the person would not be insured since their physical injury came while not in the vehicle. :scratchchin:

If the trailer becomes detached while towing, it is no longer considered part of the combination, therefore gets treated the same as if it was parked. the question that I asked my insurance was if the trailer becomes detached from my truck while towing down the highway, is the trailer still covered under the vehicle insurance policy, and was told no. this same question has been discussed with other people that I know, and was told the same answer by their insurance also. I know it is a grey area, but comes down to if it becomes unconnected is no longer considered being towed.

 

[Reb954]

If the trailer becomes detached while towing, it is no longer considered part of the combination, therefore gets treated the same as if it was parked. the question that I asked my insurance was if the trailer becomes detached from my truck while towing down the highway, is the trailer still covered under the vehicle insurance policy, and was told no. this same question has been discussed with other people that I know, and was told the same answer by their insurance also. I know it is a grey area, but comes down to if it becomes unconnected is no longer considered being towed.

I suspect an insurance company would have a hard time defending that if challenged in court.

Something I haven't seen mentioned though, safety chains will/should keep the trailer "attached" to the vehicle.

 

[My Gym]

If you have a properly designed trailer with an correct hitch, correctly attached safety chains, and it comes loose from the tow vehicle. You can bet the least of your worries will be insurance. You have been in a very bad wreck. It is like if a meteor destroys the earth, will my insurance cover it. If a trailer comes loose from a tow vehicle, you have done something wrong. Improper hitch, lack of maintence, improper attachment of safety chains.

 

[fried1765]

If you have a properly designed trailer with an correct hitch, correctly attached safety chains, and it comes loose from the tow vehicle. You can bet the least of your worries will be insurance. You have been in a very bad wreck. It is like if a meteor destroys the earth, will my insurance cover it. If a trailer comes loose from a tow vehicle, you have done something wrong. Improper hitch, lack of maintence, improper attachment of safety chains.

Not quite true!
There is also a condition known as "metal/structural fatigue".
Somewhat rare.... but it CAN, and does happen!

 

[Grumpa Wally]

Bicyclists are some of the worst. While they are doing good to not pollute and get exercise, they rarely follow traffic laws which in my State they are required by law to do. But they do not. Cops look the other way constantly endangering both the bicyclists and the motorists.

Why the heck did NC pass a law that allows bicyclists to no longer stay to the right? Sounds nuts for both the rider and the motorist.

I assume that cycling special interest groups lobbied legislators to do 'something' after a couple vehicle-bicycle fatalities occurred in the last five years. One of the incidents was a well known cyclist that was probably in the same group that uses our local country roads. This group of people are aggressive and I received threats over the phone after my close call. They evidently circulated my contact info to others in their group to harass me. I was towing the tractor with my plumbing van which has an ad wrap with phone number. They even filed a report with the NC State Trooper Investigative Division and had a video of the incident. The investigation was conducted by a Trooper detective and after watching the video from the cyclists gopro camera he said I did nothing wrong. These fanatics are now emboldened and dangerous to motorists in NC.

 

[cat fever]

Not to hi-jack the thread, but a big Congratulations cat fever!
EDIT: Oops, read last shift of career not last night shift of career. So congratulations anyway, but as Big of a congratulations.

Thanks Square1,
I am now down to 7 day shifts and I'm done refining oil. :dance1::drink:

I sure hope the OP has decided to just wire up the brakes since it's minimal cost anyways.

True story here;
I was pulling my 27' enclosed snowmobile trailer, headed for Wyoming, it was dark. It was snowing but not laying down yet. Utah salts the roads and they were fine. I was going 65mph when I crossed the Utah/Wyoming border. I-80 in Wyoming was pure ice but I didn't realize it until I felt a little jerk on my truck. (98 Dodge Ram 2500 cummins 4X4) I looked in my passenger mirror and the trailer was at about a 45 degree angle from the truck. Scared the crap out of me. I let of the throttle and just tapped the trailer brakes. Like a split second of time and the trailer just went right back behind the truck. Luckily did not swing to the other side. Slowed way down after that.
Moral of the story is I could not have done this without the trailer brakes.

 

[Deere Dude]

GMC dually with 37fth WH and neither the truck brakes or the trailer brakes were worth a crap. Going 50 mph on a Country road I came upon a stop sign with 3-4 cars stopped. I jammed on everything i had and slowed down considerably but not enough. I squeezed to the right and finally run the gravel shoulder and grass until I was even with the car in front.

You don't need brakes to get going, but panic stops will do you in.








i

 

[timswi]

Bicyclists are some of the worst. While they are doing good to not pollute and get exercise, they rarely follow traffic laws which in my State they are required by law to do. But they do not. Cops look the other way constantly endangering both the bicyclists and the motorists.

Why the heck did NC pass a law that allows bicyclists to no longer stay to the right? Sounds nuts for both the rider and the motorist.

I agree--I was hit by a bicycle rider who blew out of an ally at full speed. He hit my drivers side near the front, slid across the hood and then across the street and ended up under a van. He lived. If I wasn't going 15 MPH in town, he probably wouldn't have. Hauled away in an ambulance.

Of course I got stuck with the deductible on my truck damage ($3500 in repairs) and the cost of a rental for a week. Rider had no insurance and supposedly no assets. All I could do is file a lien against him for the $1000 that I'm out. Police reassured me on-site that the bicycle rider was clearly at fault.

If bicycle riders have the same road rights as vehicles, it must come with the same responsibilities--Insurance, ID and observation of traffic laws.

For crying out loud, I have to have a plate on my quad and voluntary liability insurance--and it's not allowed on public roads here.

 

[KennyG]

As a bicyclist, I hate to see all this antagonism. Sure there are bad cyclists, but the number of bad drivers far outnumber them. The public roads are for any legal wheeled traffic. If you can't stop when you unexpectedly come up on a bicycle, what are you going to do when you come up behind a farm tractor?

I try to avoid impeding traffic and stay to the right but in my years, I have had people run me off the road, try to grab my arm, run a stop sign and hit me, and even had a guy stop in the middle of the road to yell at me because he "had to pass me in a no passing zone because I wasn't on the shoulder". (The shoulder was about a foot wide and covered with large gravel.)

Remember when we were kids and rode our bikes everywhere? Now a lot kids aren't allowed off their block. Mostly because of bad drivers.