Proper Towing

[Runaway]

It never ceases to amaze me how many people just hook onto a trailer and go without giving a thought to personal safety, safety of family members, and safety of fellow road users. Point in case:



Yesterday while doing business in the UP (Michigan) I notice two RVers leaving campground/park entrance. First RVer pulls out with plenty of room for his fellow road users to react. 2nd Rver, (a fellow RAM jockey) pulling what looked to be at least 30' of 5ver and in tandem an 18' boat. Pulled out onto highway without looking (I happen to be in his path and had to take a defensive posture). Shaking my head and cusing mildly and looking at the bright shiny SS prop on his 115hp Merc I hear the CB crackle of these two RVers conversing. The 2nd RVer still oblivious that he just pulled out in from of me. I then notice that he has no towing mirrors (stock or clip-ons). I grab the mike and ask/state "I can't believe your driving $30K worth of truck, pulling at least $20K of camper and another $12k of boat and you havn't invested in a $30. 00 dollar pair of mirrors so you know what is behind you. " The 2nd RVer comes back and says, "that if you know what you are doing, you don't need tow mirrors. " Of course I then ask why he pulled out in front of me if he knew what he was doing!" Some other things were said and well, hey...



If you are going to tow, no matter how small, large, short, or long... do it properly! Seeing behind you is just as important as seeing what is out front.



I feel better, off my soap box now

 

[Happy Camper]

I agree with you 100%. I spend considerable time looking in the rear view mirrors as well as down the road quite aways to give me time to stop. Love the ones who see you and wait to pull out in front of you.

 

[Thomas]

Time for a healthy set of horns.

 

[klenger]

I love those Dodge towing mirrors.

 

[Bob Cochran]

Absolutely agree with the thought if you don't have and towing sense don't tow. Your a hazard to everyone else. Of course we all have brain fade as we get older!!!! I do hope some takes my keys if I get to bad though.

 

[Bob Beauchaine]

Sounds like he's from Oregon!

Happy Trails?

 

[Happy Camper]

A long while ago I worked in a service station in Oregon. (Eastern Oregon). A cop stopped a rig towing with inadequate mirrors a short distance from the station. Needless to say I sold the only set of mirrors which was over priced but it was either a ticket or mirrors. (mirrors had been on the shelf for years).

 

[Doc Tinker]

AMEN

 

[Archive]

I agree with the mirror thing... I read somewhere you should check your rear view mirrors every five to ten seconds... this has helped me catch two different blowouts on my trailers, in enough time to react before it was too late.



It also keeps you from having a rapid surprise come up from behind... whether it is a semi or another vehicle.



Towing speed is another thing. (pet peeve). If some idiot wants to tow at excessive speeds, let them kill themselves... but don't take me out or some other innocent person.

 

[Doc Tinker]

Rob, what's an excessive speed? The State of Michigan says that towing my trailer at 70 isn't excessive.



Doc

 

[Archive]

A lot of things can happen while towing... have them happen at 60, then 65, then 70... see which you think is excessive...



A lot depends on the condition of the trailer, your load, road conditions, etc, but IMO, anything over 65mph is not a good thing.

 

[Runaway]

Excessive Towing

70 mph could be excessive if the truck is not big enough to handle the load and the brakes on the trailer are not set up properly.



Alot of people state that they have trailer brakes, but many do not realize that these electric trailer brakes do not work the same as the drum brakes do on a tow vehicle. When electric trailer brakes are actuated, only the front shoes are braking. When backing up, only the rear shoes do the braking.



Just because the speed limit says 65, 70, or whatever. Road conditions, traffic, etc could make the posted speed limit excessive. Plus the suspension under these TT and 5ver are not as HD as we would like to think. My truck weighs less than the 5ver, the 5vers suspension is not as heavy for the weight it supports as the truck.



Just my take on things,as usual

 

[dewdo]

I agree with the need for mirrors that give you a clear view of what's coming at you from the rear. I am amzed to see how many trailers and fivers that are towed with no towing mirrors. I always thought it was a law that you had to have mirrors that would allow you see any vehicles behind you. It's for the safety of the tow vehicle driver as well as those behind them.



The more I can see behind me the better and safer I feel.



As for safe towing speed, this can be any speed. All depends on the condition of the vehicle, the driver,and the weather.



Dewdo in the other Washington

 

[Doc Tinker]

There's no real need for more mirrors than what the factory gives you. After all, these trucks are built for towing and they come that way from the factory. Any extra mirrors just add to the confussion, while driving. Even with good mirrors, you can't see what's going on behind you. Besides, who cares what's happening in back?



I'd like to make another point -- My trailer sways so much that I can see what's behind me everytime the trailer swings, with the standard mirrors. And you know what? It swings more, the faster I drive. So I just drive faster, to see what's behind me, when I want to.



If you drive faster than the traffic around you, there's no need to see who's behind you, because they can't keep up.



Doc

 

[Archive]

Nice try Doc... .

 

[Stranger]

I don't think so! (Long)

Runaway--I beg to differ with you on your post about front and rear brake shoes.



With the anchor/pivot pin at the top of the backing plate, trailer brakes work EXACTLY the same as our rear brakes, (at least for those of us who are unfortunate enough to have rear drums ).



The puck (electro-magnet) is attracted to the inner surface of the drum. When contact is made and sufficient magnetic force is applied to said puck, the lower portion of the actuating lever it is (supposed) to be attached to moves either towards the rear of the trailer (when moving forward) or the front of the trailer (when moving backward). At the top of the actuating lever there is a rotating square block of steel attached. At rest this block would resemble a square something (doohickey comes to mind), resting on one of its flats, which is indexed to a square indent at the top of both shoes. (Years ago this square doohickey was fixed to the actuating lever. However, with drum wear, shoe wear and a hard brake application the arm could actually over center, the puck would contact the rear (secondary) shoe and all heck would happen. But at minimum you'd know the brakes were finally shot!).



When the actuating lever rotates around the pivot (anchor)at the top of the backing plate. The vertical face of the square pushes the front (primary) shoe toward the drum surface, the front shoe tries to mate with and rotate with the drum. At the lower part of the front shoe there is the adjusting mechanism (star wheel and other parts) that pushes the lower portion of the rear show towards the drum surface. This shoe then tries to mate with and rotate with the drum but the anchor stops that. When more amps are applied to the puck grabs the disk harder and as a result it pushes the front shoe harder and the actuating lever pushes the front show harder, which due to the mechanical connection, pushes the rear shoe into the drum harder.



If you've ever taken your drums off, you'll notice that the rear shoe has more friction material than the one that faces the front, it is thicker (minimally) and longer (maybe 3/4 of on inch). That is because in normal forward movement the rear shoe is the one that does the majority of the braking. Both shoes provide some braking effort but, the rear does more, maybe 60/40 or there abouts.



The shoes are tied together with the adjusting mechanism and return springs, located at the top and bottom of the shoes. (The spring at the top helps return the top of both shoes against the famed rotating square doohickey. ) In forward movement the front shoe will contact the drum first, the resulting drag then forces this shoe to rotate towards the rear of the trailer, the adjuster then pushes the lower portion of the rear shoe into the drum surface.



Because the top of the rear shoe is contacting the anchor, it is being held at the top. In other words, the rear shoe is actually doing most of the braking, when moving forward.



One way to prove this is to place our truck facing downhill. Keep it in neutral and apply a few clicks of the parking brake. Count the number of clicks until the truck stops. Then turn the truck around and place it on the same hill, this time facing uphill. Again put it in neutral and apply the same number of clicks to the parking brake. I'll bet, I'll bet umm, I'll bet a beer or 6, that the truck will continue to move. this is also why it takes a harder and longer brake application to stop when reversing.



One this and other boards there is alot of confusion about trailer brakes. I hope this helps.

This is not intended as a flame, slam or anything else but I felt I must clarify something here.

 

[Happy Camper]

DOC! Stir the pot and sit back and watch it boil

 

[dewdo]

I agree Doc. If your trailer sways that much then you can always tell when you have someone behind you. Mine doesn't sway and I don't drive faster than all the traffic around me, so I like to pull over and let the traffic that has built up behind me pass.



Since it seems like all drivers are armed now-a-days, I want to cut down the chances of some irate homicidal maniac wasting me.



Had one come after me with a lug wrench one time because I cut across his lane to make an exit, but then the light changed and I managed to get away. He had California license plate. I hope he was just passing through.



Dewdo in the other Washington

 

[Runaway]

Different Schools?

Stranger:



I guess we went to different schools. On every vehicle I ever did a brake job on the front shoe had more material on it than the rear. Just checked rear brakes on daughters Stratus this last weekend and the front shoe had more material than rear. And as for the trailer brakes, I agree to disagree with you. Your explanation was the same by my RV repair shops except for the both shoe braking thing. They both stated that the square block thing will not rotate enough to actuate the rear shoe in forward motion and opposite when backing. So who really knows. As your signature state, thats my story and...

 

[QRTRHRS]

Heating season will be coming soon enough. What does that have to do with safe towing? I live in coal country with some breakers nearby. A lot of people save money by hauling their own. They also save money on their trailers. Old popups modified to haul seem to be a favorite. Every now and then they set along the road collapsed or with one the wheel bearings burned up.



The ones that go to fast IMHO are the people pulling ATV's. I guess they must be heading back and forth to the strip mines or something as there are a lot of them. 75-80 on an interstate is one thing, on a 2-3 lane country road with hidden sideroads is another.



The ones I don't care to get behind are the oversized loads crawling along. We get a lot of them. You know, the ones that need an army of tire changes for support crews. Pretty cool to look at though.