Brakes take the energy gain (from the elevation loss) and try to turn it into heat which then needs to dissipatesomehow. This works good when coming to an emergency stop and the heat can dissipate over time, but not so good when it needs to work constantly and you can't dissipate the heat fast enough. Adding brakes to the trailer means that you'll now have 6 wheels to dissipate the heat rather than 4, so it willhelp, but you can still have a problem. A better way is to compress air via the engine and exhaust it via the exhaust. Then the heat just goes away.That's what a Jake brake does and you can approximate it by shifting to a lower gear and letting the engine rev up.On an automatic, you now have the issue of cooling the transmission though. Going slow and/or stopping occasionally allows more time to dissipate the heat. Another idea.....would be to use a parachute behind like on a dragster :-) If you have a Tesla you can use the energy to charge you batteries! The energy has to go somewhere. On Thursday, May 21, 2020, 1:34:31 PM PDT, Dave Scobie <scoobscobie@gmail.com> wrote: The thing is to start slow and stay slow. I've never had issue towing mountains (Rockies, Cascades, Appalachians, Sierra Nevada, and everything in between). This is also true when I had a Ranger with M17 or Sage 17 behind. I follow the semi speed recommendations posted before the downhill begins and not had an issue (besides the folks passing that seem upset I'm being safe). In most cases I could do the entire downhill run and never use the brakes. With my Tundra, which is an automatic with shift control override, can almost do the same as the Ranger. Automatics want to coast so I find it is a bit harder to avoid the occasional tapping of the brakes. I prefer driving standard shift but pretty impossible to find in a full-sized truck these days. :: Dave Scobie :: M6'8" #650 :: SV SWALLOW - sv-swallow.com :: former owner M17 #375 SWEET PEA - m17-375.com :: former owner M15 #288 SCRED - www.freewebs.com/m15-named-scred/ On Thu, May 21, 2020, 1:02 PM David Grah via montgomery_boats < montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> wrote:
We mostly sail lakes in the high Sierra and also have interest in the downhill parts of the trip. We tow our Montgomery 15 with a Toyota Tacoma and before that a 4 cylinder Toyota pickup. Those vehicles always towed the boat fine but long downhills always have had my attention because I never feel like there was a whole lot of extra braking capacity with those tow vehicles. I am always surprised when I hear of people towing with passenger cars and having no problem with braking. I'm not pursuing trailer brakes but I try to go slow enough that the manual transmission will hold us back on most grades.
David GrahBishop California
Message: 17 Date: Wed, 20 May 2020 21:05:43 -0700 From: Jon Barber <brbrbarber@gmail.com> To: montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com Subject: M_Boats: Trailer brakes Message-ID: <CAFwAWQtjq2mEjbvh5t5ncpPrxfyMofvxJJP+X_k=ujq1nyYtHg@mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
I am trying to figure out what brakes are right for my Pacific galvanized trailer. I experienced some scary downhill moments returning to the valley from a high Sierra lake. I thought someone was burning up their brakes, it turned out to be me! After a cooling off period we continued in low gear and kept the speed low. I'd like to return to the mountain lakes with confidence while on the road. Can anyone offer any enlightenment in this subject? I'm dealing with a guy who means well but doesn't know boat trailers. I wanted disc brakes because of fewer moving parts and the fact that the entire brake is accessable for washing after launch and retrieval.He sold me a drum brake surge system but when I started to install I realized the cast iron rotors would not fare well in salt water. Now we're trying to source galvanized drum/hubs. To install a disc system requires replacing the axle as well. I'm not that worried about the cost, within reason and will likely install new springs, too. Any help would be appreciated. I tow with a late model 6 cylinder Tacoma.
Thanks, Jon Barber Monty17 Ol'44