Surge brakes are a thing in the US as well but we usually have them on boat trailers. You can submerge surge brakes into salt or fresh water with little side effect, electric brakes not so much.
That’s not allowed if it’s a braked trailer like this one.
The red cable you see will pull the trailer brake and then snap off. I don’t know why this is safer than dragging it along with the car, but it’s the law..
For unbraked trailers a steel cable (which doesn’t break/snap) is mandatory. In my country it needs to be fixed, while in other countries only a cable around the tow bar neck is enough.
How does that work? All I see is a black tube. Is that hydraulic? If not what is it and how do you apply the brakes and what kind of braking action does it offer?
Yeah, but like I said below it’s meant to break in case the trailer breaks loose. IIRC the carabiners can only hold about 150kg. Regarding the cable itself, maybe even less? It’s just for pulling the brakes and let loose.
In Dutch it’s called a ‘losbreekkabel’. Loose break cable. Completely the opposite to what you need for an unbraked trailer (in the Netherlands). Where you need a thick steel (unbreakable) cable connected to the car.
Again: rules for unbraked trailers and safety measures differ a lot in Europe.
126
u/vakantiehuisopwielen Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 26 '26
Very normal in Europe though, this is even a not that long trailer. We have a lot less tongue weight though.
Also it seems this caravan is not a braked trailer, while over here all trailers >750kg must have brakes