Quote:
Originally Posted by dalematt
Electric brakes work whenever the tow vehicles brakes are used and there is also a "runaway" safety function to engage the brakes if the trailer were to come disconnected from the tow vehicle. A lot depends on your tow vehicle; if you're pulling it with a 924 (not recommended) then you might have to back the car onto the trailer. Also the smaller the pulling vehicle the more important the brakes are. I pull mine with a Ford F-250 and the difference of forwards or backwards would be negligible. But then my trailer also weighs 3500 lbs. empty.
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All trailers here are required to have a ripcord which applies the brakes if the trailer breaks away from the tow vehicle. Most of the time (at least on the ones I've seen) there is a handbrake lever that manually pulls the brake cables. This lever is extended below the fulcrum which is where the ripcord attaches.
As far as size/weight differences between the trailer and the tow vehicle go: I'd venture to guess that the weight difference between the average European vehicle and the average trailer load is greater than in the US. No pickups here and small cars - still the same heavy junk to schlepp around though. I can see the difference causing all sorts of safety issues in towing - just not with the brakes. Kinda like a little person applying manual brakes vs. a big person.
