I am looking for a tandem axle tag trailer and have been noticing most have electric brakes. Is this more common? I have been looking for one with air as my truck is set up with air to the rear and I sort of feel like air is going to be more reliable and less maintenance than electric? Can anyone whos familiar with both add anything?
Electric suck. Everything about them suck. The performance, the cost to repair, maintenance through a stupid little hole.
In my experience trailers designed to tow behind juice brake trucks usually have electric brakes. Air brake trucks require an extra level of licensing, so truck manufacturers are reluctant to put air brakes on trucks under 26000 LBS gross. I have a Cam Superline 22000 LB triaxle (six tires) trailer with electric brakes. Maybe that isn't a good thing since numerous young men around here have the heavy duty duallie pickups rated to tow it. It gets borrowed a lot. My own truck is rated 28000 gross, I haven't a good guess as to tow rating. Truck has air brakes, trailer has electric. I've had zero trouble with electric brakes. I live in VT, road salt is a big problem. Check brakes every trip, repair wires when needed. I solder ALL connections on highway equipment. You haven't said what your truck is, If you have your heart set on air brakes, consider a 20 ton trailer, most 20 tons will have air brakes.
Willie has the good answer I have 26K dump with juice brakes and 20K tag with electric and no issues. Would like air on the truck for parking more then anything
Try this .......... IMHO once you get past page 1 it should be R-Rated. Basically revolves around the fact that the those who maintain trucks for a lving prefer air brakes and those who don't prefer electric. HeavyEquipmentForums
Have two trailers electric brakes, do not use them all that often but as do rely on those systems. Currently adjusters are frozen and need to disassemble to rebuild them, is winter as well the goose will not fit inside shop to put door down. 16' auto hauler can but need to get KW worked out first. At the Utility we had both, air and electric on tag trailers, PITA electric behind Air Brake trucks, had to have controllers in anything or mark those trucks incapable for certain trailers as even had the hitch for them. Line crews would occasionally grab one and not have brakes for the trailer, were setting themselves up for failure and lawsuits. We were always working the electric sets, had full loaded backing plates in stock to just swap as needed. Air brake units would generally go to auction before needing brake replacements, we ran packed wheel bearings so seal failures did not oil the entire assembly.
You didnt say what size trailer air is supercommon in a tandem duel setup just have to keep your eyes out for one I think Don S covered the benefits of electric brakes In MN to DOT an electric trailer the wheels and hubs must come off for inspection not the worst thing if your using it enough to justify a couple hundred in labor and wheels seals every year
20T is where they generally start, 30t tag will not have electric.
Luckily they are history otherwise could add Straight Vacuum Brakes to this list of Garbage.
Funny guy. I know it's directed at me and i'm really biting my tongue here, you have no idea what you're talking about, and should really stick to giving advice on things you do know about. Please quote my post in that thread stating that I prefer electric brakes, I would love to see it. If I prefer electric why do I own a air brake trailer? How many years commercial driving experience do you have? Or is it just experience working in a shop no idea of how the brakes actually perform? There's a big difference there. Just because someone can swap out some brakes doesn't make them an expert on them, it doesn't even mean they know how they work. FFS a trailer mechanic here is a second year HD mechanic! That's it, two years is all it takes to be able to legally work on trailers and inspect them, and in your mind be an expert. But someone who has been driving all sorts of truck and trailer combinations for 40 years doesn't know anything according to you? Electric brakes and air brakes both have a place and a proper purpose, and if maintained properly both are perfectly safe. Like anything, if either are not looked after or not used properly they are not safe. Air brake trailers do have the advantage that the vast majority are self adjusting brakes whereas electric they are still in the minority and if both are neglected air brakes will be safer but it doesn't mean there's anything wrong with electric brakes, it's the idiots who are not looking after them that are the problem. Anyone who outright says electric brakes should not exist is someone has no idea what they're talking about.
If your truck is plumbed for a air trailer already and you have the license to pull it and don't intend to pull with any other vehicle, air is the way to go. Cheaper to buy and maintain and will be a much heavier trailer if you ever need it. You can find 20 ton tags on air for virtually nothing, cheaper then an electric trailer with 3 7k axles and will cost about the same to maintain. It's a lot more to get the license to pull them here. Many companies I know are doing away with trailers altogether and going to 5 axle straight trucks to get away from the license requirements of air brake trailer. Electric brakes are good for trailers around the 30,000lb mark and lower, people who use pickups, or both pickups and heavy trucks to pull the same trailer. Despite what some may say here, electric brake failures are very few and far between and are mostly due operator error. A big problem is the way people hook and unhook the electrical plugs. In all my years of pulling electric trailers i've never had brakes fail completely. The worst is you start to turn up the controller to get enough braking force, and then you know you need to climb under and adjust the brakes and good for a long time. The brake shoes however are much much smaller and won't go nearly as long between replacements. Here if you're over 26,000lbs gross truck and trailer need annual inspection, regardless of electric or brake brakes wheels must be pulled every 2 years.
Please now admit you are addicted to crack cocaine. You didn't call out Nige as not knowing! Everybody has their opinion, most are based on their personal experience. Nige is among the best informed here.
My experience is electric brakes failure often is caused by corrosion of copper wire at connection points. This problem can be corrected.
I have had the electric brakes fail on me three times on two different trucks and no one knows why. Came up to a stop light in the snow with about 14k or 15k and was in for a ride. Service stabilatrac came on the dash and when the truck got shut off it went away and the garage had no clue what happened. Same warning on dash on two different gmc trucks. Very confidence inspiring. Never had air brakes do that.
OP has a truck set up for air and looking for a tandem axle tag trailer (assuming dual tandems) - air is far superior when the truck is set up for it and the driver is properly licensed in my experience. I have a 54K dual tandem that I've drug all over central and south Alabama. Now for the personal insults and comments outside the electric or air brake system topic is not something we tolerate here on HEF. Come on guys.
I've seen numerous posts of his in relation to equipment and he seems to know his stuff there, but i've yet to see any evidence that he is knowledgeable about brakes, particularly in regards to their performance. If electric brakes are as unsafe as some claim like Nige, why aren't they outlawed everywhere for being unsafe? The simple answer is because they are perfectly safe.
If you're hitting the brakes and a light is coming on, that's a problem in the truck, not a issue with the trailer brakes. Could be as simple as a loose wire or loose trailer connector. Electric brakes rely on one wire or else they fail, air brakes rely on one air line or else they can fail. How many are also plumbed illegally without a tractor protection valve? How safe is it if the trailer looses air the truck does too? I'd rather deal with a trailer with no brakes then a truck and trailer with spring brakes applying without any control. If you were pulling 15k why wasn't it a 60 ton lowboy? That's your problem right there. It's way too much weight for a pickup. You should go look in the mirror, you could have killed a innocent family.
Its a forum Everyone has an opinion (just like the other thing everyone has) and everyone gets to voice it In most cases I hear Blah, Blah, Blah when it comes to opinions Would love to have air brakes, but sure don't want to get a CDL, so I'll stick with electric
Hey guys, Thanks for the replys. Seems like the consensus is a bit like I was thinking - air has some advantages if you are plumbed and licensed and electric is perfectly acceptable if well maintained. My truck is plumbed and I have a class A CDL so I think I will stick with looking for air. My truck is only an F800 ford with a 5.9 cummins and a 9 speed eaton in it. So I don't have a lot of muscle. Licensed at 33k. A 20 ton tag is what I am kinda eyeing but in reality I would like to eventually get a 10-15k# mini ex and that would be the heaviest thing I would likely move with that truck. That plus the weight of the trailer is going to be my limit. Even at that I doubt i'll be pulling down the interstate.... Mostly I see using it for things a smaller trailer could do fine but would like the ability to safely move something heavier. Less worried about the lack of engine and more worried I can control and stop the thing. Can always put it on a bigger truck. This is just for personal/hobby use so I am kinda hoping to find something cheaper that I can fix up. I've found a few like that but all have been electric brakes. I have a feeling I could spend quite a bit just doing brakes on one.
That's a big possibility.
You do get what you pay for. For example, I have a 20 ton tilt that is nearing the brake job time, and the shop wants about 3500 for the job due to the inside mounted drums. It will be needing about the same $$ in tires, due to age. Now your good deal trailer is +$7000 I need the 20 ton for the JD120. My 12K that I haul the mini on, it needed brakes. I replaced everything, bearings drums backing plates and a new Prodigy II controller for about $1000 The tires are ~$300 each, for $1200 I get new skins. I replaced 2 on condition. My advice is buy as much trailer as you need, and not a lot more. The 12K trailer weighs less than 4000. The 20 ton weighs a bit over 10,000 My truck appreciates NOT having to haul the mini on the 20 ton tilt In my situation, the 12K trailer was bought new with the 35D mini with the 3500 GMC work truck. It was a tool set. The 20 ton I found for the company many years ago. If I did not have the 1 ton, and all I towed with was the air brake truck, It would be nice to have a little heavier trailer and really cool if it could have air brakes.
Hilarious @Truck Shop Respect is not freely given in this life, it is earned. If you think for one second I will show respect to someone who has shown me none you are sadly mistaken.
I don't know why you're on such a rant, but I have to tell you that this post makes you look rather foolish. Your first statement is patently incorrect, and then you devolve into an angry tirade. Modern brake systems diagnose all the way to the magnets, so a fault showing in the truck may well be a trailer fault. I prefer air on larger combinations, for smaller setups electric over hydraulic disk is FAR superior to the old electric drums. I do still have a couple 10K tandem axle trailers with straight electric, they're fine as long as you service and adjust them, check the wiring now and then.
You do realize "Service stabilitrak" has absolutely NOTHING to do with the trailer brakes right? Probably the reason there is also a "Service Trailer Brake System" message too. Likely the reason for the "Service stabilitrak" was because the trailer brakes weren't working and the vehicle was freaking out trying to stop the extra weight. I was simply responding in the way that a few others here would have, I saved them the time. You do realize anything over 10,000lbs is not safe behind anything other then a 600hp tractor and 60 ton lowboy right? You need to get rid of those electric brake trailers, they are garbage.
I can't tell if you're that angry, or trying to be funny. I've driven 100,000 pound gross rigs with 425hp just fine, on grades that make most sweat, and I've pulled 30,000 pound gross trailers behind diesel dually pickups, legal AND safe, or as safe as any class 8 rig out there on the road. It's a matter of choosing the right tool for the job, nothing more.
This right here should be the minimum for moving a weed eater, 600 hp and 60 ton rng is way to small.
I know Eager Beaver once made an 8 tired tandem trailer with air rated at 22000 GTWR. I don't remember what year it was. Two brothers both owned small excavation businesses One in CT. After he died, his brother hauled everything to VT to sell it. I looked at it thinking of buying, but the cost of setting up for air brakes discouraged me.
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