Thread: override verses electric brakes

Meh!
Maybe half a day in the shed.
And a better solution than junk trailer stuff.

S

Originally Posted by roverrescue

"Money's not really the issue"

Then buy an electric over hydraulic brain-box and you will have the ultimate system.

IME off road trailers should run on full size bearings. Full stop the end!

S

will price it up

I've just bought a Discovery 3 and want to pop an electric brakes unit in it for towing horse trailer. I've always had electric brakes in other vehicles for towing horses and swear by them. In fact, they probably saved my life (or it felt like it...) when the brakes in my F100 failed descending Mt Ousley (sp?) with 2 horses in the trailer I was towing). Question: where does the controller unit sit best in the cab please? Also, which brake specialists in the Canberra region have cred in installing these units in Disco's? Grateful for any info that points me in the right direction.

Check out the Redarc remote head unit, you can fit the whole thing into a blank switch spot, the rest of the unit can be located anywhere you can find a spot under the dash.
EB Series Trailer Brake Controller | Redarc Electronics
I have one and swear by it

For towing a horse float I would only fit a full Proportional controller, with that much weight pushing on the rear forget the standard “older style” controllers.

As to the original Q. Last weekend we towed through the mountains around the QLD/NSW border, both campers are 1t - 1.1t, mine has electric (proportional controller) travelling buddy’s has override. When we stopped for lunch in mtns my hubs were very warm which was understandable given the roads, the camper with override, stone cold – they aint doin’ anything…

I've recently fitted electric-over-hydraulic brakes to my camper trailer.
I had an axle custom-made a couple of years ago to accept stub-axle spindles off a Rangie; 40mm square axle turned down at the ends to slide into the spindle, with a step where the i.d. of the spindle is stepped, a knock-on fit and welded on. This enabled me to use RR hubs same as the car, and the big RR wheel bearings- previously had small trailer style bearings and they were not up to the job.
To mount the calipers, I got a pair of front swivel housings and took to them with a 9" angle grinder until there was nothing left but the round bit where the spindle bolts on, the flat bit where the caliper bolts on, and enough steel in between to keep the two together. Voila, custom made caliper brackets.
I used front calipers from a Disco, for two reasons: firstly, they only require one hydraulic line instead of the 2 on the RR calipers; and secondly, I'm wrecking a Disco.
Bought the Dexter 1600psi electric-hydraulic actuator from an eBay seller in the US, whilst the dollar was at it's peak. Bought a Tekonsha Prodigy2 controller (this one has a setting for e/h brakes), at the same time, from a different seller.

Installation, from a starting point of having the hubs, discs and caliper brackets already on the trailer, was a days work, including wiring the controller into the car. I can power it either from the trailer's on-board battery or from the vehicle aux battery via anderson plug, when the trailer battery is not fitted. Would be a simple matter to install a breakaway system but this is not compulsory on trailers under 2500kg iirc.

Result: with the camper fully loaded, the car stops better than without it! Fantastic setup. Took it for a few days up past Licola last month, coming through the range each way was an absolute pleasure, whereas before this setup I had to take it VERY gingerly. The controller has a boost setting that can select a level of braking to come in a soon as the stop-light switch is tripped, then increases to max braking in proportion with the car's deceleration. With a bit of boost selected for long downhill sections, this seems the Rolls-Royce (or Range Rover) of trailer braking systems.

That was quick! Thanks very much for your responses - very informative and much appreciated. I will follow up on the leads you suggest. Cheers.

Once you have had electric brakes you will not go back to anything else.



Cheers Casper