Thread: Trailer Stability Assist

Originally Posted by wardy1

Just looked at the eBay ones compared to Narva. The Narva site says they must be mounted to metal as they can reach 170c and will melt plastics, carpet etc. They have an aluminium heat sink for that reason. The Chinese ones are all plastic.
Comments from those who know more about all this stuff please

Mine is a Narva load resistor and is mounted onto a metal bracket behind the trim in my D4. Remember though that mine is wired into a turn indicator circuit, so is active for very short periods (vs wired into a tail light circuit etc), so heat generation would be minimal.

Originally Posted by wardy1

Just looked at the eBay ones compared to Narva. The Narva site says they must be mounted to metal as they can reach 170c and will melt plastics, carpet etc. They have an aluminium heat sink for that reason. The Chinese ones are all plastic.
Comments from those who know more about all this stuff please

The eBay ones I bought are definitely not plastic 2x 25W LED 6.8Ohm Load Resistor For Hyper Turn Signal LED Controlle HOT | eBay

Yes they get hot when the indicators are being used, but no hotter than a normal 21w incandescent globe.

Thanks Kelvo. I did take a closer look at your link and yeah..... my mistake

Originally Posted by wardy1

We just did a trip to Dargo with our new Mars hybrid trailer. Obviously it has LED’s. The trailer assist DEFINITELY wasn’t working as we had very uncomfortable trailer sway on several occasions.
This is a ‘must fix’ before we go travelling in coming weeks

Just wondering what your weights are and the distribution.......to have uncomfortable trailer sway.

Thanks for your responses on this issue. I'm now the proud owner of 2 Chinese metal load resistors ($15) that are yet to be installed. What I would like to know from someone is what method they used to install one in the car (instead of the trailer) so they can be used on any trailer eg hire units. My guess is there would need to be a switch to turn them on/off so TSA is not active full time?

Originally Posted by rocket rod

Thanks for your responses on this issue. I'm now the proud owner of 2 Chinese metal load resistors ($15) that are yet to be installed. What I would like to know from someone is what method they used to install one in the car (instead of the trailer) so they can be used on any trailer eg hire units. My guess is there would need to be a switch to turn them on/off so TSA is not active full time?

Yes, many install it and make it switchable with a switch in the boot area. Wire it across the indicators as you would on the trailer. You’ll want a double pole switch to maintain separation of each indicator circuit, assuming you put one on the left and right side.

Originally Posted by DiscoJeffster

Yes, many install it and make it switchable with a switch in the boot area. Wire it across the indicators as you would on the trailer. You’ll want a double pole switch to maintain separation of each indicator circuit, assuming you put one on the left and right side.

Do you have to put one on each indicator (I couldn't be bothered frankly)?

Originally Posted by weeds

Just wondering what your weights are and the distribution.......to have uncomfortable trailer sway.

Went over a weighbridge on the way home actually.
Trailer was 2250kg (with gas bottles and 1 of 2 100ltr water tanks full). The car came in at 3320kg so gross was 5570kg. Well within the limits according to the handbook.