Ballast when towing?

Lambert wrote:

The thinking behind full gvm of 1420kg is that the tyres are being pushed into the road more and are less likely to lock up or rather work harder when the abs fires. Allegedly. On some of the hills round here I can occasionally feel the trailer pushing for that split second as the overrun moves into play as I crest a climb also occasionally the Bridgestone do run out of talent but that's usually on flatter ground if I have to slow from full speed quicker than I would otherwise. That's a tyre thing though not really a loading thing. I guess trial and error may be in my future.

Sounds more tyre related. I can also feel the caravan "running into the back", but never felt like it was causing issues with grip on the tyres.
MY experience is the Jimny brakes are "adequate", so working trailer brakes and correct nose weight help. Always feels like the trailer when it brakes pushes my Jimny at the rear into the ground. Nose weight when the livestock moves around is a little more complex unfortunately.

My Jimny empty prior to fitting EBC it would struggle to fire the ABS in an emergency situation on the Yokohama's, so grip was never the issue. I've even heard the caravan lock a wheel up under violent braking, ABS on Jimny still not triggering. I try not to do this, but other road user can sometimes change even the best plans when towing.

yakuza wrote:

And with a braked trailer my experience from driving a VW T5 of twice the jimnys weight, is that where the T5 can stop the trailer enough to activate the trailer brakes, the Jimnys weight is not enough allways to compress the brake damper on the trailer.


 

That's not the cars fault. Overrun brakes will work with any car but need regular servicing and adjustment. When working correctly you should barely notice they are there. If you can feel the trailer pushing slightly before they come on, or pushing and not coming on at all, it's a sign that the coupling needs greasing, the shoes need adjusting or the cables are seized.

A big factor determining how well a car tows is the rear overhang, e.g. the distance from the rear wheels to the tow ball. The short overhang on the Jimny makes it very planted and stable when towing. Defender 90s are also good for this reason. I occasionally tow my firewood trailer with my Ford Galaxy. It's considerably bigger, heavier and more powerful than a Jimny, but with more than twice the overhang the affect of the trailer is very noticeable and can make the ride quality quite unpleasant. Being FWD it also loses traction with the addition of the trailer, where as the extra weight over the Jimny's drive wheels makes it grip better.
In my experience double cab pickups are uncomfortable and impractical without a trailer on and even worse with one on.

Full speed is dictated by the road 60 50 or posted limit?

Fortunately my big trailer is a twin and so the nose weight is relatively stable. It's also recently had a full refurbishment including new suspension and brakes etc. Just because there isn't a mot for trailers doesn't mean I don't treat my fleet like they should all pass one. They need to be safe as they carry my livelihood.

With the ebc brakes the word is not adequate it's impressive.

When I get an opportunity I'll load up the back with water in 30kg increments up to gvm and see if it makes it noticeably different.

Question from Johnny Foreigner: are electric trailer brakes not used at all in the UK?

They are more fiddly to set up than overrun brakes, and do have certain drawbacks, but they do offer some advantages too. But it does not sound like anyone in this thread uses them. Just curious.

Edit: I just want to make it clear that I am not criticising, just asking.     Also, to keep with the thread topic, electric brakes would have an advantage with an "unballasted" tow Jimny in a case where one unexpectedly had to brake in a curve: overrun brakes will tend to shove the light rear end of the Jimny in such a situation, but an electric brake setup would cause far less drama.  So, electric-vs-overrun might be a factor in the "do I ballast my Jimny" decision.

Again, I'm not advocating one or the other, just asking whether electric brakes are an option on UK roads.

As I understand it, electric brakes are not the issue per-se, it is the need for an entirely manual emergency operation.

In the event of the trailer parting with the vehicle there needs to be an entirely manual function to apply the brakes. Providing there is the manual solution then I think electric ones are ok

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Slightly old article and focused on American caravans, but I'm sure the legislation would apply for all trailers.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/ameri...brakes-and-couplings

Operating brakes

It is common on American caravans and trailers with electric brakes to have an electrical device mounted in the towing vehicle which the driver operates manually to apply the brakes of the trailer independent to the brakes on the tow vehicle. This is prohibited in Europe where the regulations demand that the service braking system must be applied without the driver removing his hands from the steering control.


Mounting sensor devices

Alternatively, American caravans and trailers with electric brakes can have an electrical device mounted in the towing vehicle which senses deceleration in the towing vehicle and transmits a signal to the caravan/trailer braking system to operate the brakes. European requirements demand that this type of device must be mounted on the caravan/trailer.


Supply of electricity for electrical braking systems

The electrical energy required for the electrical braking system must be supplied to the trailer by the towing vehicle. If there is a battery on the trailer which is fed by the power supply unit of the towing vehicle, the power from the battery must be disconnected during application of the service braking system.


Time delays

Some American caravans and trailers rely on a signal from the towing vehicle stop lamps to initiate braking on the caravans and trailers. Owners of such vehicles need to be aware that the system may not meet the requirement for brake response time. European regulations demand that the time delay between the time at which the driver applies the brakes and the time at which the braking force on the least favourably placed axle reaches the level corresponding to the prescribed brake performance must not exceed 0.6 seconds. This could be difficult to achieve on systems that have to wait for the stop lamps to operate before the electronic control unit is activated and the system produces the prescribed brake level.