You still can't compensate for someone cutting you off, and once the tail wags , your done. Even with 7 or 8000 lbs.

 

I also slow down to 35 with the converter locked so that helps a little with the life of the brakes.

 

I say go for it too , we hauled our car trailer with a 442 on it, couldnt be much different in weight,, as long as you have breaks on your trailer, your good to go. Just watch it if you hit icy weather cause it will push you down the hill.... you have no control of your truck them.

 

Exactly. That is just plain stupid to even attempt to haul that amount of weight with no trailer brakes. No only is it the law but you have no control of someone pulling out in front of you and guess what...that law of physics works (moment of intertia). You slam on the brakes and that 7500lb truck and 2000lb trailer want to keep going. See how fast you dont stop or even jack knife in that scenario. Let me tell you from experience that you dont EVEN want to be in this situation. Go ahead and take the risk if you want but when you jack knife the trailer and take out 5 cars when some in a Honda pulls out in front of you and slams on the brakes you'll wish you has bought the $80 brake controller that takes less than 30 minutes to install. Not to mention explaining to the DPS Trooper why you dont have one when the law says you were supposed to and then having your insurance company drop you because of his report. Not worth it especially when other lives are involved.

 

I say go for it.... Our trucks have very large brakes on them as is. But its probally a good idea to pick up a brake box at some point if you plan on hauling frequently.

 

If your on the road you are taking a calculated risk, towing or not. Is it by the best thing to have a trailer brake to pull, by all means. Does having a trailer brake ensure that you are going to be able to stop in the event of the un-expected happens, not in any way shape or form.

If your running 90% of the controllers out there and you hit your brakes on slick roads I can promise you that trailer will jacknife. The ordinary brake controllers are either on or off, your tires are either rolling or locked up, nothing in between. These controllors tend to make the trailer slide if you are on slick roads.

If your running one of the few proportianal controllors on the market they are much better. They apply braking resistance proprtional to brake pedal pressure. They are better but still are not going to protect anybody in the event of an emergency stopping situation.

The only trailer braking system that is actually going to safely stop a loaded trailer in an emergncy situation is a Hydraulic/Air Surge Coupling System. But very few trailers have these because of extreme prices. The don't use any brake controller at all, they are all indepedent to the trailer itself being activated by the amount of force being applied to the trailer tounge when the pulling vehicle is slowing or stopping.

If we want to talk about being prepared for any situation, hire somebody else to pull your trailer. Short of this to pull the trailer originally talked about here you would need Load range E tires, Air braking system w/trailer couplers, Class V hitch with weight distribution system and a trailer equipped with air brakes on at least two axles.

Having had this situation happen to me with and without trailer brakes it is my opinion that, yes it is much better to have a trailer breaking system. Can it be done without with a reasonable amount of safety, yes. While I was pulling an 18,000 pound trencher and trailer that were both rented without trailer brakes on the trailer and the guy in front of me going down the highway decided to stop at a yellow warning light for a crossing I still managed to get the truck stopped. I was sitting next to him on the shoulder of the road but it was still a manageable situation and this is about as bad as it get's.

 

A heck of a lot more chance than no trailer brakes at all.