Thread: Can anyone Identify this brake controller?

Originally Posted by Wil2k

What;s the squeezable switch thing for? Applying the brakes (very) manually?

Wil

Yeah the sliding switch is for applying the brakes manually. There was a good demo on 4wd action or something similat where they demonstrated using the trailer brakes on a camper van as opposed to the vehicles brakes to help keep it straight down a steep hill. I had a cheap one I bought from the US fitted to mine for when I borrow my grandparents van and the manual application switch does come in handy.

The instructions are specifically talking about normal operations.

Sway should not happen under normal operations unless:

1. either the van and the tug are not compatible or one of them is not properly roadworthy,

2. the van is very poorly loaded with too little weight on the tow ball, or

3. you have exceeded the rig's critical speed.

Using trailer brakes to sort such problems in normal operations is not appropriate, which is the point the Voyager instructions seem to be making.

On the other hand, a serious sway with a heavy van such as is caused by a sudden swerve or emergency braking while turning is NOT a normal operation and all bets are off. When that happens, immediate use of the manual lever is probably the only thing physically able to save you and the van from jack knifing and rolling, as we see all too often.

I know from personal experience that it only takes about 2-3 oscillations before the forces generated by the van exceed the tugs tyres' ability to maintain sufficient adhesion to allow any corrective steering, and after that you are going wherever the van takes a fancy to.

The manual slide has saved many of us from disaster.