Thread: Electric trailer brakes & the RRS

Hi Mike - the RRS is the same as a D3 in this regard. The Europoean standard has power going via the standard European plug to each of the tail lamps individually - in Aust we just have one power lead feedin tail lights and number plate light. The problem is that one of the European tail light feeds (not sure which one) is the spot that works the trailer brakes.

When I connected my trailer to my RRS (Aust cars are still wired the European way) I did not know about this so when I switched on the lights the trailer brakes came on.

I have not installed a controller as yet so just pulled one of the fuses at the rear that fed the appropriate tail light (brakes).

You will need a controller installed in the cabin that can also be reached by you. The controller will sent aything from 0v to 12v when you apply the brakes to the trailer and activate the trailer brakes when you apply the car brakes. The instructions are on here somewhere. The controller has to be accessible by the driver if the automatic system needs to be overridden. There are various systems which cost around $150 - $300 - the are two basic types - proportional which applies the trailer brakes proportionally to how hard you apply the car brakes. The other type applies the trailer brakes irrespective how hard you apply the brakes.

When I install my controller the trailer brake control wire will replace the current appropriate tail light wire on the power side of the rear fuse and I will just replace the fuse and it will all work OK.

Garry

There are a couple of different trailer brakes available, hydraulic, cable, electric and vacuum. I don't know if the vacuum is just used to disengage the brakes like air pressure is used on truck brakes (loss of vacuum means brakes come on)

Hydraulic and cable brakes are often referred to as overrun brakes i.e. the trailer must push into the back of the vehicle for the trailer brakes to come on. The lady at the caravan place may have been more familiar with the overrun description to what I think you may be referring to as mechanical brakes.

In Aus you need brakes for any trailer over 750kg GTM. The cheapest option are the overrun brakes and you can use these up to 2000kg GTM. Once over 2000kg you need breakaway brakes and electric brakes are favoured as the breakaway component is just a battery and a switch that is operated by a light (small/not heavy) cable connected between trailer and tow vehicle, when the coupling lets go the connecting cable pulls a pin that allows a switch to connect the battery to the electric brakes stopping the trailer from continuing down the road without a vehicle to guide it. The other options for breakaway brakes are electric over hydraulic. I don't know of mechanical brakes with a breakaway system and I have never looked into the vacuum brakes used before electric brakes became generally available.

Electric brakes are very good in as far as the ability to control them and the ability to apply the trailer brakes without the towing vehicle brakes. This allows you to stop a trailer from getting up a sway through the application of trailer brakes only.

Unless the van you are going to hire comes in at over 2000 kg it is unlikely that you will need to get an electric brake controller. If you do need to get one go the proportional braking system.

Thanks chaps

I wasn't very clear, yes when I talked of mechanical brakes I meant over run brakes with a breakaway cable, they're the standard in the UK. The breakaway cable is merely a cable looped round the towhitch or through an eye / shackle on the towhitch, if the caravan becomes unhitched the cable is yanked hard off the car and pulls the handbrake on on the caravan.



Thanks for the descriptions though, looks like I need to do a change to the wiring inside the plug to keep all the lights working and stop the electric brakes from operating if we hire a trailer with them fitted. From Pete's thread that would appear to be pin 5.

I wish I hadn't given my 2 trailer lighting boards away now

I'm seriously considering the Tekonsha Prodigy RF. Brake Controllers - Tekonsha It operates the same as the Prodigy models, but it doesn't require hard wiring to the vehicle, merely takes the stop light signal from the car. the Control unit plugs into the 12V power socket (cig lighter) and uses WiFi to communicate with the controller on the trailer.

The summary from Tekonsha.
"Utilize for rental businesses, fleet ownerships or multiple tow vehicles. Requires no leveling.
Remote Hand Held Unit

• No under dash wiring necessary – utilizes wireless communication
• The original “Boost” feature allows for different levels of customized braking
• System runs continual diagnostics and displays fault codes in hand held unit’s display
• Plugs into standard 12-volt power accessory adapter
• 5 year limited warranty

Trailer Mount (Power Module) Unit

• Utilizes standard sealed 8’ blade style 7-way connector
• Multiple mounting positions on tongue or front of trailer
• 15 year limited warranty on power module
• 1 year limited warranty on cord

Hi Diana have you got any pricing on these? The site does not have it.

Cheers

Garry