Electric Brakes Electric Brakes, W/park Useful?

K

K & K

Newbie
There are two electric brakes option one with and one without a manual parking option. Is it worth the additional $600? With the teardrop unhooked, do you ever feel like it will roll away? I guess if you had two people one could always throw a block under the wheel. Any other alternatives?
 
Hello K & K,

I vote for simple, easy to understand, maintain, and cheap; block. If you want to go “fancy,” wheel chocks are pretty cheap. At home I use std wheel chocks on both wheels plus the small ones that came with the trailer for the jack’s wheel. On the road I just use the ones that came with the trailer.

Cheers,
-Ken
 
I only got the regular brakes. If I had it to do over I would have gotten the hand brake. My reason is that I live in Western PA and campsites are not always level. So if moving by hand I would like the ability to put the hand brake on.
 
We have the handbrake and I use it almost every time I move the camper by hand. I think it is a nice safety feature to be able to set it after you move it until you can place the wheel chocks.
 
We dont have the hand brake, and have not been in a situation where I wished I had one. We keep a wheel chock inside the drivers side of the teardrop - it gets put in place before the camper gets unhitched. Then, another wheel chock or two once the camper is leveled, etc. and it's all set.
That said, I'm sure the hand brake could be used as part of a routine as well, as others here do.
 
mariusz said:
Wheel chock for me, ...more stuff =more stuff that break ....... Than again its me.
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That's how I felt about the brakes altogether. I don't regret omitting them from the build. With my current tow vehicle (Subaru Ascent), the 1000 pounds doesn't alter the stopping distance very much - at least not that I've been able to detect.
 
We don't have the hand brake, but we DO have the electric brakes. In fact, we added them about 5 years ago. Since then I've noticed improved stopping, and we drive a Tacoma. Prior to having electric brakes we drove a Sequoia for all but the last year or so without them. My impression is that it'd be money well spent up front. (And if I remember right, there may be a couple states that require brakes on all trailers, but I'm getting old so that could be all wrong...)
 
small size chisos basin.webp
smaller chisos basin view.webp
I have the manual brake option and use it all the time. It is especially useful when you are moving the trailer around after unhitching. We regularly move the trailer to deal with wind direction (stove doesn't like it when the wind is into the kitchen). Also - sometimes when in an unlevel site when you can't use the car to get into position I use both the chocks and the brake. See the attached pic - our site at Chisos basin (the only one left when we arrived at 8am) - we had to turn the teardrop 90 degrees at the top of the slot - this was a tent site and the asphalt was really just for the car. The second picture is the resulting view from the picnic table... couldn't do this with any regular trailer... awesome.

Dave K
 
We got about every option but the parking brake and it was the cost which deterred us. After 4.5 years havent been in a situation where we have needed it. We have a fairly level drive way to the garage and they roll easily by hand. I am particular on site safety and wont put the trailer on any steep grade or in a position where I cant safely attach it back to our Outback.
 
To clear one thing up on the parking brake. It is not meant to substitute the included chock blocks. You should always chock your wheels, even with the parking brake. It is very easy to bump the parking brake handle and knock off the brakes. The parking brake makes it easy to keep the camper from rolling away while you set the chocks. Very important with people traveling by themselves. With two people it is far less important.

Cary
 
I have the electric brakes and the parking brake. My driveway is steep enough that I have to be hitched up to the tow vehicle or the parking brake on. I also always use the wheel chocks but without the parking brake I cant do it by myself. I have had chocks slip on me. Sometimes when I am parked in the driveway getting ready for a trip I need to be unhooked just to get stuff ready to go. It wasn't an option that I would have thought I needed or ordered if I bought new, but as I'm the 2nd owner it came with it. Now I'm very glad I have it.
 
Great example of the parking brake in use! The feedback I get is while not every one "needs" the parking brake, those who have it all "love" it. It is one of those options that spoils you quickly.

Cary
 
If we bought our trailer new we would not have added the brake option but I am glad we have the parking brake now. Of all the options it is probably the one I appreciate the most except maybe the A/C on a hot summer night.
 
We do not have the handbrake, and I haven't needed it, but we travel as a family, so we always have two people to help move the camper into position. I love how easy it is to unhitch the camper and push it into place. If I was doing this alone, I would want the handbrake.
 
I bought a used 550 that had the parking break. I never used it and a couple years ago while at the factory had it removed as it had stopped working from disuse. I rarely detach let alone move the tear by hand.
 
K & K said:
There are two electric brakes option one with and one without a manual parking option. Is it worth the additional $600? With the teardrop unhooked, do you ever feel like it will roll away? I guess if you had two people one could always throw a block under the wheel. Any other alternatives?
Click to expand...
It is great having both brakes. We use the hand brake all the time when we are parked and the electric brakes are very helpful for reducing braking distance and saving wear on the tow vehicle. Definitely worth the cost for us.
 
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