What's considered heavy?

[djhoosier]

I've been reading and searching back through posts about whether or not to install trailer brakes on my '98 Jayco 12UDST.  I'm pulling behind an '02 Explorer with trailer towing package, so it's pre-wired for the controller.  The Jayco has the mounting plates on the torflex axles, so that's easy, and I keep reading about putting brakes on a "heavy" PU are a grand idea for safety, which I could understand.  

What's considered, weight wise, as a heavy PU?  1500, 2000, 2500, etc.  I'm trying to figure out if it's worth the cash.

Thanks

DJ

[HersheyGirl]

Are you sure your camper does not have brakes?  Jayco's usually have surge brakes that work very well.  A Jayco of that year and of that size I would think would come with the surge brakes.  Might want to check that out.  If it does have surge brakes, then you don't need to add brakes.  I had a Jayco with the surge brakes and now have a Pal with electric and I can not tell the difference with them.  They both work well.

[TheViking]

Check your local laws, some states say any towable trailer over a certain weight is required to have brakes.  Here in California it's 1500 pounds and over requires trailer brakes.  Washington state is 3000 ponds.  Oregon has no law. So check out your state and any state you plan to pull your trailer through for their law.   Hope this helped.

 
P.S.- HersheyGirl is right, Jayco had surge brakes but, someone told me they stopped.  To me, my families safety comes first, so if I had the chance to add brakes it would be worth the peace of mind.  IMHO.

[djhoosier]

Are you sure your camper does not have brakes?  Jayco's usually have surge brakes that work very well.  A Jayco of that year and of that size I would think would come with the surge brakes.  Might want to check that out.  If it does have surge brakes, then you don't need to add brakes.  I had a Jayco with the surge brakes and now have a Pal with electric and I can not tell the difference with them.  They both work well.

It's an idler axle with no brakes, either hydraulic (surge) or electric.  From what I understand the surge were options, and this one was not optioned.  But thanks for the thoughts....

[CAPEd CODger]

What's the gvwr of the trailer? If it's under 1500 pounds, you'd probably be fine without them. If it's 2000 or more, I would've thought it would've come with brakes of some sort.
The first pop-up we had didn't have brakes; it was also under 1500 pounds. The 'Cod had brakes and was over 2000 pounds.
BTW, I towed the 'Cod home before I had purchased a controller, and didn't have any problems. I also made sure I left PLENTY of room between me and the vehicles in front of me.

Check and see what your trailer gross weight rating is.

Good luck, and Happy Camping

[flyfisherman]

A few years back when passenger sedans were full framed & V-8's for the most part, folks thought in terms of a ton before getting anxious about trailer brakes, with some exceptions I'm sure. As cars became lighter, uni-bodied and smaller engined, a lot more thought went into pulling trailers safer. Trailer manufacturer's  thinking was still along the one ton divider line. For sure, it was California that got on the trailer braking band wagon, and if I remember correctly, they were the first to demand brakes on trailers one ton and above. Then it dropped to 1,500 lbs and I had also heard there were some rumblings of dropping even further, to 1,200 lbs  or so.

Don't have brakes on my present Starcraft (GVWR of 2,000 lbs and dry weight of about 1,350); however, my TV is a full sized GMC pick'em-up that has a tow capacity for better than twice that amount (I still like full framed V-8's). But more importantly, the pick-up has bigger and better brakes. It was designed to be hauling a load and was engineered with brakes to stop that extra weight (for example, 4-wheel disk brakes) - not so with a lot of other family type vehicles. Whatsmore, the little Starcraft is very nimble and has some excellent road manners. My previous popup was a larger Coleman/Fleetwood that had the front storage compartment. And on that particular model you had better mind you P's & Q's about how you loaded that camper or it was sway city,  big time!  Now, it had brakes, and since I spend a lot of time in western North Carolina's mountains, those trailer brakes did a bang-up job. You start having some trailer sway (especially going down a steep grade) and a little flick on the controller and the trailer would straighen right out. Would be hard pressed to do that without the brakes!

Guess the bottom line gets down to what your tow vechicle is, what your towing and the location. Based on my experience, I would say that orginal thinking about 2,000 lbs was well put. Of course, there are other factors to consider and only you can sort all that out.


Fly

[mike4947]

The rule of thumb that's been used for years is If the trailer weights 20% of the TV's weight brakes are recommended, at 50% of the TV's weight brakes are a requirement.
 
As for the TV's brakes, any common TV's brakes are rated and designed for the GVWR of the vehicle, not the GCWR.
 
BTW New York State has had a 1000 pound limit for trailer without brakes since at least 1975 when I bought my first PU. It only weighed 1200 pounds dry but came with surge brakes.

[tlhdoc]

PA has a 2000 pound break law.  It sounds as though adding brakes would be easy to do.  I tow with an Explorer and there have been times I was very glad the PU had brakes.  Coming down a steep mountain on a back road the trailer was really wanting to push the Explorer.  The other good points with having electric brakes are that you can install a break away brake switch, so that the trailer will brake if separated from the TV.  You can also brake the trailer to stop sway.