Can I tow a trailer with a 4300lb boat with trailer brakes. If not, then why do most trailers do not come with brakes?

 

From your post I'm not sure what you're asking, partly because the answer to the first part is yes, and no. Yes with the right truck, no with a Dodge Neon.

I tow a boat that weighs about 7200# with average load (gear, fuel and water). It's of course a tandem axle trailer with surge brakes. That much weight without the brakes would not be to fun to stop with just the truck.

Not many boat trailers don't have brakes, mostly surge brakes. With smaller boats, maybe up to 20 feet, you may see no brakes but the weights in most cases isn't that much. If you're boat itself wieghs 4300# then I'm sure you too have a tandem axle and surge brakes. The trailer would weigh in the 1200-1600 pound range and since you're in Houston it's probably galvanized (as apposed to aluminum which is much more expensive but much lighter).

Again though, it depends on what you're towing with.

 

In most, if not all states, it would be illegal to tow that weight without brakes.

Why don't most trailers come with brakes? I have no idea. Most every trailer I see at the boat ramps around here have brakes. Most of the trailer boats in my area are 24+ feet in length, with more and more in the 30+ foot range.

 

In Illinois I believe the weight limit for trailers without brakes is 2990#. Anything over 2990# needs to have brakes. Also, anything over 3500# needs to have tandem axles. My boat and trailer weighs about 2500# fully loaded with fishing stuff, gas and oil. It has no brakes and my truck pulls and stops it just fine. My toy trailer's capacity is 3500# and has a single axle with electric brakes. I needed to get a different license plate for the toy trailer since there's a 3000# cut-off in capacity for licensing purposes. Why the license cut-off is 3000# but the axle/brake limit is 3500# is beyond me. Maybe has something to do with government powers at work...
(-:

 

I should also add, that towing a load that's over 4,000 lbs without brakes is dangerous unless you're driving a semi, and even then, it's still not safe because of the increased risk of jacknife.

 

tgodiver,

I pulled a 5000# + trailer down a really long, steep grade here in California. I just put the truck in 2nd gear and never let it get over 50 mph. It was not a problem, but as I look back on it, it probably was a stupid thing to do. If one of the trucks playing leap-frog in the slow lane had pulled out in front of me and I had to slam the brakes, it probably would have gotten ugly real quick.

If I had the trailer's brakes hooked-up, it would have been a piece of cake and a lot smarter. If you have the 5.4, you won't really notice the trailer, so haul away.

 

http://www.boatus.com/towing/towlaw.htm

Got this from the above site:


Boat Towing Laws in Texas
Boating Law Administrator: 512-389-4624
Maximum Speed Limit: 55
Maximum Dimensions for trailer:N/A'L x 8'6"W x 13'6"H
Maximum Length with Trailer:65'
Minimum Weight requiring Separate Trailer Brakes:4500
Trailer Equipment Requirements:
Safety Chains:Y
Brakelights:Y
Taillights:Y
Clearance Lights:Y (If over 80" wide.)
License Light:Y
Turn Signals:Y
Reflectors:Y
Flares:Y
Breakaway Brakes: Y (Over 3000 lbs.)
Tiedowns:Y
Two Trailers:N
Insurance:Y
Wide Trailer Permit Phone Number: 800-299-1700 Wire: 440-234-2081

 

when they are refering to insurance. Is it the same as the insurance insured on the vehicle doing the towing and not special insurance just for towing?

 

I've on occasion towed a 7,000 lb load of tractor and trailer with no brakes with my SuperCrew. I move it about 15 miles from the farm to mow the deer lease. But, it is illegal, I do it early in the morning, and I never drive over 30. God help the guy that ever pulls out in front on me, because even at 30, it doesn't stop quick.

My neighbor used to pull a 32 foot Blackfin fishing boat with twin 235 Johnson's on it... on a triple axle trailer, about 7,000 lbs and no brakes. He towed it twice a year from Houston to Corpus Christi and back with a 3/4 ton Suburban. I thought he was insane. I still think he is insane.

Your only real problem is that without trailer brakes, you can't stop in any reasonable distance. This is OK on the open highway but if you ever attempt this, the far end of your alimentary canal will seriously pucker when you get into traffic at 60 mph and all of a sudden the brake lights come on in front of you.

As to why so few trailers have brakes... because the Texas law is really pretty stupid... 4500 lbs is way too high a limit for no brakes... given today's speeds and traffic conditions... but as long as the trailer manufacturers can sell you a cheap trailer, they will. I personally would prefer brakes on anything over 2000 lbs, and maybe even under that... two reasons... your stopping distance is way increased even with a 2000 lb load... and if you want to warp the expensive rotors on your truck, make a panic stop from 60 mph, even with a 2000 lb load. I can tell you that new rotors aint cheap.

 

Okay guys,

Tell me I'm reading the Texas laws from an earlier post incorrectly because if trailer brakes are only required after 4500#, then how can they say that you must have breakaway brakes after 3000#s?

If you have a combined weight of trailer and it's load that weights 3000# and no trailer brakes are required because you are less than 4500#, then how can you satisfy the breakaway brake requirement?

I must have just read it wrong 'cause it doesn't make sense to me.

Myself, I would never haul even my empty equipment trailer that weights 1600#s without the trailer's brakes working. You only know what it's like after you've had trailer brakes and then all of a sudden you don't. Don't ever risk your safety or that of others by taking chances with loads behind your truck. You never know when the guy behind you or in front of you will do something stupid despite your careful driving and knowledge of no trailer brakes on what you're pulling.

I've hauled as much as 7700# of logs with the #1600 trailer, or a total or 9300# with the trailer's brakes set to full capacity through the brake controller and it was very scary stoping that setup. Actually, I didn't know I had that much wood loaded until I weighed it in at the wood yard. I was really shocked to find out I had towed that much weight across town, through traffic with several lights and stop signs and got up to almost 45MPH at one point. It's real easy to get yourself into a bad situation with a trailer and to me brakes are a must, unless it's light weight stuff you are hauling and then it doesn't really matter that much!

Stay Safe, it's the only way to go IMO.

DaveMan

 

Yeah, I noticed that about the breakaway brakes. I was hoping soembody from Texas would explain that. It could, of course, be an error of the website.

 

Daveman,

Sounds mighty stupid to me, too. Only thing I can think of is the state legislators think it is OK to smack someone with a runaway trailer that weights 2500 lbs. but not OK to smack someone with a trailer that weights 3000 lbs.

Seems to me that if the trailer has brakes, it ought to also have breakaway brakes. And, I'd support a law change for lower and uniform weight limits.

 

What is the difference between surge brakes and breakaway brakes?

 

The breakaway is a separate piece of cable that you fasten to the tow vehicle. Should your trailer become separated from the tow vehicle, the cable would pull a lever on the surge brakes, causing them to lock up.

But as I reread Daveman's question, it is a good one. Since you don't need brakes at all until you reach 4500 lbs, can you be ticketed for not having a breakawy device at 3000 lbs, even though you don't even have any damn brakes on the trailer at all??

 

I just went and took at look at the Texas Transportation Statutes at

http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/statu...#tr046.547.372

And the 3,000 lb requirement for breakaway brakes applies only to trailers with air or vacuum brakes. No mention is made of surge brakes. Some quotes from the whole statute:

*****

(b) A trailer, semitrailer, or pole trailer is not required to have brakes if:


(1) its gross weight is 4,500 pounds or less; or


(2) its gross weight is heavier than 4,500 pounds but not heavier than 15,000 pounds, and it is drawn at a speed of not more than 30 miles per hour.

*****

(c) A trailer or semitrailer that has a gross weight of 15,000 pounds or less may use surge or inertia brake systems to satisfy the requirements of Subsection (a).

*****

(d) A trailer, semitrailer, or pole trailer that is equipped with air or vacuum brakes or that has a gross weight heavier than 3,000 pounds shall be equipped with brakes that:


(1) operate on all wheels; and


(2) are promptly applied automatically and remain applied for at least 15 minutes in case of a breakaway from the towing vehicle.

*****

Nothing like getting the right information from the source.