Electric trailer Brakes on steep downhill

[Sea-Dog]

G'day guys,

Just a quickie for anyone who has driven over any sort of rough terrain with a trailer with electric brakes fitted..

I am heading up the cape next year and dragging the camper along to fit all the family etc.. it has electric brakes and the controller has a manual slide to engage them..

I have been watching a few video's showing footage of people dropping down steep embankments of about 8 foot in height and was wondering if it would be better to tackle these obsticles with the trailer wheels braking to stop it pushing the car down and then release it at the point where the car starts to plateau out again.

To me it makes sense to have the trailer pulling the car back rather than pushing it down faster...

What is the general opinion on this one?

[2 BRUTAL]

is the 8 foot drop footage from the cape, if it is you're keen taking a trailer down gun shot on the steep slopes it's near vertical, it does make sense what you say but don't apply it to hard cause if they lock up and the track is a bit slippery or something the trailer may slide sideways and drag you with it off the track possibly.
there is an easier track at gunshot that isn't quite so steep,

[Sea-Dog]

No I am not talking about Gun Shot... there is no way that I would even throw my car off that let alone tow a trailer down.. but I have seen some footage of some pretty steep drop offs but am not sure of where it was shot.. I was just trying to find out if anyone has had any bad experiences with applying the brakes on terrain like this.

Cheers

[Eager Beaver]

Hey mate,

I've got a Trak-Shak Trailer that runs electric brakes and we have done some pretty steep downhills runs and I have found that I have my trailer brakes set just slightly higher (ie more braking power) than I would normally have. This lets the trailer do a little more braking than your vehicle and I have found that this works a treat. I have locked the brakes coming down a hill before and the trailer wanted to get the bottom of the hill before me. They also work a treat on uphill climbs as well 'cause you can slide the lever across and lock them drop into gear and start to drive off and then let go of the lever and presto no rolling down the hill.

All in all I would not be without 'em 'cause my trailer comes in at nearly 1.5t with fuel & water onboard.

I hope this helps you.

The Beaver

[convoy]

I don't have any experience with electric trailer brakes to speak of, but I was under the belief that electric brakes on trailers won't lock up because it needs rotation to be effective. Is this incorrect?????

[Sea-Dog]

Depends on the settings you have them at.. they are totally adjustable for the weight of the trailer etc so if you crank them up a bit you can easily lock the trailer up behind you.... Personally I wouldn't want the trailer to lock at all but I would want it to hold it's own weight so that it is not trying to push the bum of the car around on the down hill run..

I think it would be a bit of trial and error.... hopefully less error though!! Find the balance between braking and skidding and go slow.