To add brakes or not?

[Oaklevel]

Originally Posted by MtnGuy

I touched on that back in post #4: http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...ml#post1088207

Touchy are we.........

[MacII]

I would go with the diesel and the Lacrosse for all the reasons already stated and I like my comfort. The Lacrosse has a shower -- does the tent trailer? UNLESS -- what age is your truck? Does it require the S-15 diesel and does Canada have that? I do not know, but I would find out before making that trip with my truck. My Chevy dealer told me that using real diesel and not the S-15 would damage my regeneration system. I did not investigate that, either. Just assumed he knew what he was talking about.
Our motor home has a Cummins ISX engine -- a big diesel. I generally get better fuel mileage with the big engine than those with similar coaches that have smaller engines. My Cummins just loafs down the highway at a fast idle and runs a a lower RPM than smaller engines. Or, so it seems.
Also, I suspect you are less likely to break down if you go with the big truck and it is not working all that hard than the smaller gas rig that has to work that much harder, on all of its parts.
Regardless of what you do, if you are going to take the tent trailer, I would add brakes and whatever else is necessary to the Escape if you decide to take that -- brake controller, tranny intercooler and maybe cooler for the radiator. I have no idea of the capacity of an Escape radiator, but it can't be huge. Might think about tires on the Escape, too. Not all the roads in Canada are great, especially if you go far north and into the smaller lakes and parks.
In any event, enjoy your trip and take a good camera. Some spectacular scenery.

[Bluepill]

You will get lots of opinions, but you are the one who has to make a decision. I have towed a 2000 lb. trailer without brakes and felt fairly safe, but now that I have experience with the electric brakes on my RBST I would choose to have brakes on any trailer over 1000 lbs. Towing with your current set-up is the only way for you to determine if you personally feel that the rig is safe.

[thebrakeman]

Do not tow that popup with an Escape, unless you have them both fitted for brakes:
-Escape will need proper wiring for the brake controller.
-Popup will need the brakes added (if not already there). If the axles do not have the flanges already welded, some find it best to just swap the axle with another that already had brakes installed.

I used to tow a 3000 lbs (loaded) popup behind a Chrysler minivan. On popup forums, the question of when brakes are "required" came up a lot. Here is my take on the topic, me being in the automotive braking industry.

Vehicle brakes (whether passenger, light-truck, etc), are designed to stop the vehicle (only) at it's GVWR. For total weight up to GVWR, you don't "require" any more braking. So, if your trailer's loaded weight will not put your total combined weight over the vehicle's GCVWR (combined rating), then brakes are not required. In other words, if the loaded trailer weights less than your available payload, you don't "need" trailer brakes.

This was surprising to many 1/2-ton truck owners pulling a popup. Many popups weigh more than a 1/2-ton's payload, so they need brakes.

But as some have suggested, your 3/4-ton diesel may have enough payload capacity that the combined weight would be fine without them. I also agree that you will get better gas mileage with the popup behind the truck. That many miles using the Escape will take a toll on it's life. And it will not be cheap to fix up the Escape and the trailer with brakes.

[MacII]

I had another thought about towing the popup with the Escape and not adding brakes. Not sure how valid it is since it has been many years since I towed a popup and I would not be concerned with the bigger diesel truck. But, if a trailer does start to sway, one of the best ways to stop it is to tap the trailer brakes. Obviously, without brakes, you could not do that.
I do not know much about the Escape. I have not driven vehicles that small since I could afford bigger ones. But, if it does not weigh more than the popup, and if the popup did start to sway, the swaying trailer would throw the Escape around and you would not have the trailer brakes to correct that situation. As I say with the diesel truck, it almost certainly weighs enough that the popup could not seriously affect it by swaying. But, depending on the weight of the Escape, perhaps it could. In that case, the tail (weighing more than the dog) might well wag the dog. Been there with bigger trucks and trailers and I was very happy to have the trailer brakes to straighten it out before it threw the truck off the road. Just another thought.
I would still take the diesel truck and the Lacrosse -- but I like my comfort and my showers. Good luck no matter what you decide.

[Skyliner]

I have 2 small trailers one for 3 ATVs and another for 2 snowmobiles. Guess what, I put E-brakes on both and am so glad I did.

Having the ability to manually and separately engage the trailer brakes has saved my butt a couple of times on snow and icy roads.

Installing electric brakes is EASY. The most timing consuming part for me was running the wiring thru the fame, making all connections look pretty, and installing a new plug and cord via an outlet box. I soldered all of my connections and ran all wiring in conduit. All soldered areas were sealed with triple rows of heat shrink tape. A little overkill but has worked for years.

If I wasn't so "anal" on the electrical, I could have knocked out the trailer in less than 2 hours taking my time.

I tow my ATVs (actually UTVS) with my Jeep Liberty, my Jeep Grand Cherokee and occasionally wtih my F150. Each vehicle handles better when using trailer electric brakes to stop.

For your trip, take the diesel and the Lacross.

[thebrakeman]

I agree that adding brakes to a trailer is easy (as long as the flanges are already welded in place).
But the Escape is not wired for it, and that is not such an easy task. I paid somebody to do it on our first minivan, and I did it myself on our second minivan.
e-trailer.com has great kits for converting the 4-flat to 7-round, running the wiring from the front (for both brakes, and aux charge line), including all fuses, connectors, etc. But it's definitely a job. Took me an entire weekend.