quick question here... how hard is it on our brakes to tow a trailer that doesn't have its own brakes? i have a brake controller and all that, but the trailer i will be pulling doesnt have brakes. gross wt. of trailer and load will be about 7k on the generous side, i will have a several thousand feet elevation gain (and loss on the return trip), including driving through Raton Pass, with a one way mileage of a little over 600. i know it shouldn't be a problem (i've had to tow a fully loaded 16ft enclosed uhaul trailer weighing close to that when i had my 94 4runner with no ill affects on the same route). any useful input? thanks

 

While not a good idea, I don't think you'll have a problem.

The only time I'd towed heavy like that without brakes was my parents boat...9k inlcuding the trailer. My fathers Power, hack, Choke blew a turbo oil line and I had to go pick up the boat. This was going from Oneida Lake in NY over to Lake Champlain.

The trailer had brakes, but I didn't have a controller in the truck.

Granted, I took it very easy and allowed a lot of room to stop, but I would have much rather had the brakes.

Now, I tow 4K quite a bit without brakes and don't even notice the trailer back there, but it's not goign through the terrain that you are talking about.

 

i don't forsee any real problems, i just thought i'd ask. and like i said, 7k is probably a pretty high estimate. all i am towing is my jeep on a 16ft tandem axle utility trailer. might actually be closer to 5k. kinda rediculous that it doesnt have brakes, considering its from a trailer rental place that is also a pretty big trailer manufacturing place. they build most of their trailers with brakes, except apparently, the ones they use as rentals[:@] i can't wait to not have to live in an apartment anymore so i can have my own trailer again[:@]!

 

So you're movin' back to the trailer park, huh????

 

haha you got it! nah, i just want a nice flat bed big enough to haul a jeep or two but living in an apartment means nowhere to keep the trailer[:@] so i have to rent or borrow and no one has one available this week so i need to rent not too bad though, 25 bucks a day, plus a free day since i'll have it a full week

 

Could it be that the trailer has compression brakes on the tongue rather than electric brakes? I think most of the rental places use the compression\hydrolic brakes for their rental trailers because you can't always guarantee the tow vehicle has a controller.

Mike

 

nope, no brakes whatsover. just some wood and metal sitting on a couple of axles...

 

wow, up here in Connecticut any trailer with a gross weight of 2000 lbs + is required by law to have some form of braking system.

 

no law like that down here that i know of...

 

You are required in CO and NM to have trailer brakes on a trailer weighing more than 3000lbs. See the link for more info, CSP are real dicks about trailers.

http://www.glen-l.com/designs/trailer/trailer-laws.html