Trailer Brakes or Not

[scatgo]

Would you tow a boat that weighs in at about 5500 pounds without brakes on the trailer? I was told by two people who own marinas that they do it all the time. Of course the were looking to sell me a trailer that has brakes that dont work. The trailer I just got has surge brakes but its going to be a time consuming money pit to repair them. The truck I have Is a 2002 F 250 with disc brakes front and rear. I was thinking of trying it and if the boat seems to really push the truck hard when I try to stop at least get the brakes on one axel working.

 

[JASinIL2006]

No, I would not. F250 or not, a kid on a bike darting into your path when towing a boat that size would probably end in tragedy. Plus, most states require them over 3000 or 3500 lbs. And if they don’t, they should.

 

[Lou C]

Agreed the legal implications of that are very significant. My boat is approx 5,000 lbs on the trailer no way would I pull it without brakes.

 

[roscoe]

No.
first its illegal everywhere in the USA.
Some states require brakes - functioning brakes - on all trailers over
1,000 gross weight.

Second, it would be a stupid thing to do.

The idjits at the marina are probably pulling boats across the parking lot, or are lying, or just stupid. Or all of the above.

Your truck weighs what? 5800#.
Now you want to double that and expect the trucks brakes to do 60% +/- , as much as they were designed to do.

Hey, lets do this with about 150# of tongue weight.

 

[Scott Danforth]

No

 

[Lou C]

BTW
Trailer brakes are simple there is nothing difficult about installing them for any half way decent backward mechanic. The most difficult part is snaking the lines through the frame and thats not even very difficult. Money pit? Get used to it ALL boats are money pits. People who don’t want trailer brakes make sure to get a million dollar umbrella insurance plan. You might need it!
Best thing I did to my old single axle trailer was to install a 6,000 lb axle with 12” surge brakes.

 

[T/O]

I had a single axle trailer that needed everything replaced on the surge brake system changed it over to electric. Much easier to convert and about 1/2 the price, new drums, back plates and wiring fresh water only

 

[Lou C]

Nothing complicated here. Surge brakes are simple and effective. I’m used to drums and know how to make them work well & last. You want discs you have a lot of choice in terms of corrosion resistance. My boat is moored so using drum brakes is not a problem and they are better than discs in some ways. I have the same surge actuator that I installed in 2004! What works is flushing the brakes each time and changing the brake fluid every 2-3 years.

 

[Lou C]

Other point for safety. Get your trailer & boat weighed and find out if the tires & axles are overloaded. It’s much more common that you’d think and I blame boat companies for being too lazy & cheap to take the time to weigh their boat and give you accurate weights. You buy a truck or SUV you know what it weighs. Should be the same for boats. People have so much trouble with trailer tires because most have little to no safety margin in terms of weight capacity. Vehicles have 20-30% tire reserve capacity. Trailers usually have at most 10% or less. If you know how much it weighs you can upgrade it to make it safe. That’s what I did with my old Load Rite. They are not common but you can get single axle trailers with 5200 lb axles. I added the 6,000 lb axle, 5 leaf C hook springs & 12” brakes. Next time I replace tires I will go from load range D to load range E.

 

[dingbat]

Is it possible….yes. Twice I’ve driven 400+ miles w/o brakes on a boat trailer combo of similar weight after catastrophic brake system failures. Gave myself extra room to stop and continued down the road.

Is it “safe”? Depends on the operator’s skill level and your definition of safe. People have varying levels of risk built into their “safe” analyst.

Is it legal….no. Most States require a trailer in excess of 3,500# to have brakes on at least one axle in my State. Can’t get a trailer through inspection w/o them.

 

[ahicks]

Is it possible….yes. Twice I’ve driven 400+ miles w/o brakes on a boat trailer combo of similar weight after catastrophic brake system failures. Gave myself extra room to stop and continued down the road.

Is it “safe”? Depends on the operator’s skill level and your definition of safe. People have varying levels of risk built into their “safe” analyst.

Is it legal….no. Most States require a trailer in excess of 3,500# to have brakes on at least one axle in my State. Can’t get a trailer through inspection w/o them.

I would add that where and under what conditions might be a relevant factors making this call, as well as how often you planned on towing. For instance, if this trailer is to be used to launch and retrieve a boat once a year, over a distance of 1/2 mile to and from the boat landing, I doubt seriously that I would stay up on the brake maintenance.

 

[Scott06]

Would you tow a boat that weighs in at about 5500 pounds without brakes on the trailer? I was told by two people who own marinas that they do it all the time. Of course the were looking to sell me a trailer that has brakes that dont work. The trailer I just got has surge brakes but its going to be a time consuming money pit to repair them. The truck I have Is a 2002 F 250 with disc brakes front and rear. I was thinking of trying it and if the boat seems to really push the truck hard when I try to stop at least get the brakes on one axel working.

If the trailer is a good deal buy and replace the brake system. When I bought my boat 6 years ago surge brakes on it were roached. I bought a Tie Down kit for less than $500. Yes there are better surge brake kits than tie down but you get the point.

 

[scatgo]

Got it. Thanks

 

[apw30534]

My boat is approx 4000lbs and came (used) on a double axle Magic Tilt aluminum trailer with no brakes. When I say "no brakes"... I mean... not even on the axles. Just hubs on spindles.
This actually surprised me, but the boat ramp is exactly 8 minutes from my driveway... so I haven't prioritized it yet.
It also came with dinky little 13" wheels/tires... which I upgraded to 15" for better load capacity and outdrive ground clearence.
Suffice to say... I wouldn't want to tow it any further than the 8 minutes to the ramp... and will soon be replacing both axles and adding electric brakes on all 4 wheels.
I've been towing heavy stuff for 30+ years... and current truck is a '20 Tundra, so it's not a big deal, but I still want brakes on the trailer.

 

[scatgo]

Other point for safety. Get your trailer & boat weighed and find out if the tires & axles are overloaded. It’s much more common that you’d think and I blame boat companies for being too lazy & cheap to take the time to weigh their boat and give you accurate weights. You buy a truck or SUV you know what it weighs. Should be the same for boats. People have so much trouble with trailer tires because most have little to no safety margin in terms of weight capacity. Vehicles have 20-30% tire reserve capacity. Trailers usually have at most 10% or less. If you know how much it weighs you can upgrade it to make it safe. That’s what I did with my old Load Rite. They are not common but you can get single axle trailers with 5200 lb axles. I added the 6,000 lb axle, 5 leaf C hook springs & 12” brakes. Next time I replace tires I will go from load range D to load range E.

Fortunately we have a dump in the town I live in. I did plan on using there scale to get a weight on the trailer and boat. Sea Ray claims 5000 dry weight. Sure what about adding a full tank of gas and water!

 

[scatgo]

If the trailer is a good deal buy and replace the brake system. When I bought my boat 6 years ago surge brakes on it were roached. I bought a Tie Down kit for less than $500. Yes there are better surge brake kits than tie down but you get the point.

Thanks. Any suggestions on who makes the best surge brake kits would be appreciated.

 

[Lou C]

if you're in salt water Kodiak or Dee Maxx
if you trailer & launch every time you use it get full stainless
if you keep it in a slip or mooring you can use the coated ones instead of full stainless
full stainless is the best but pricey
with keeping mine on a mooring in salt water I have been able to keep using drum brakes without big problems for the whole time I've had this boat (20 years). usually I replaced the backing plate assemblies every 5-6 years if needed. $200 for a pair of 12" galvanized drum brake assemblies.

 

[Bob Sander]

No.
first its illegal everywhere in the USA.

Canada as well. The weight varies a bit from Province to Province but generally it's around 2000lb gross trailer weight. We also have to have trailer brake-away braking.

When I first purchased my boat (used) about 5000lbs, the brakes weren't working and I had to drive it home like that. That was one of the FIRST things I fixed when I got it home. It's just frigging STUPID driving without them.

 

[Lou C]

My boat is approx 4000lbs and came (used) on a double axle Magic Tilt aluminum trailer with no brakes. When I say "no brakes"... I mean... not even on the axles. Just hubs on spindles.
This actually surprised me, but the boat ramp is exactly 8 minutes from my driveway... so I haven't prioritized it yet.
It also came with dinky little 13" wheels/tires... which I upgraded to 15" for better load capacity and outdrive ground clearence.
Suffice to say... I wouldn't want to tow it any further than the 8 minutes to the ramp... and will soon be replacing both axles and adding electric brakes on all 4 wheels.
I've been towing heavy stuff for 30+ years... and current truck is a '20 Tundra, so it's not a big deal, but I still want brakes on the trailer.

If that's actually a 23' boat I'd be surprised if it weighs as little as 4000 lbs. I bet the boat + trailer are close to 6000, I learned in weighing mine you can't go by whatever the manufacturer lists as dry weight. For mine F/W said the boat is 2560 and trailer is about 850. In the case of the boat you have to add gas, equipment, etc which probably adds close to 400 lbs. Even then that would have put me at almost 3000 + 850 that's only 3850. Actual weight is 5040. So that's about 1200 lbs more than I would have estimated.

 

[apw30534]

If that's actually a 23' boat I'd be surprised if it weighs as little as 4000 lbs. I bet the boat + trailer are close to 6000, I learned in weighing mine you can't go by whatever the manufacturer lists as dry weight. For mine F/W said the boat is 2560 and trailer is about 850. In the case of the boat you have to add gas, equipment, etc which probably adds close to 400 lbs. Even then that would have put me at almost 3000 + 850 that's only 3850. Actual weight is 5040. So that's about 1200 lbs more than I would have estimated.

Yeah it does feel a bit heavy for 4000lbs.
Chaparral specs say 3850 dry... so who knows. lol