Cobra Trailer Brakes

Disconnect the brakes and take it like a man!

I had similar results after a long down hill drive that lasted maybe 30 minutes. I was down shifting, but ran about 40 mph. As I gassed up I checked the hubs and they were alarmingly hot. Didn’t want to keep my finger on the hub more than a second. After driving for another hour on level ground, they both were just warm. I concluded it was caused my the down hill run, where the surge brake was being applied because the tow vehicle was slowing down due to down shifting. Nothing else to the issue for the next 5 years.
Hope this helps,
JJ

That just sounded wrong lol sorry! I have two Kobra trailers now. One with brakes and one without. I am not sure what type of axle the one without brakes has. Is it possible to put electric brakes on a Kobra trailer? Has anyone done it?

On Saturday, May 18, 2019 at 5:29:11 PM UTC-7, Charles Longley wrote:
Disconnect the brakes and take it like a man!

Monitor trailer and car tires for pressure and temperature for $200

https://www.amazon.com/Pressure-Moni...ct_top?ie=UTF8

Will a hot drum heat up the rim, then the tire so temperature at the valve stem is meaningful???

It wouldn't hurt to watch temps. Tire pressure will change by about 1PSI/10*F.

On Monday, May 20, 2019 at 7:10:38 AM UTC-4, Charlie M. (UH & 002 owner/pilot) wrote:
It wouldn't hurt to watch temps. Tire pressure will change by about 1PSI/10*F.

Would it be conceivable to design a hub cap, which acts like centrifugal air pump to cool the hubs? Or install a scoop under the trailer to funnel air towards the hubs?
I have a TPM system installed which is also monitoring the tire temperature and I am impressed by how sensitive it is in both regimes.

Uli
'AS'

A more open wheel with some hubcaps could do some venting. There are some OEM car wheels (Corvette and others) that do exactly that.
Scoops/channels are likely to get torn off, especially a retrieve in a field that is soft, rough or tall grass.

While I have not made it a habit to check trailer wheel temps when towing, if the surge brake actuator is lubed and not bent, there should be almost no brake usage. Thus, no heat generated.

As far as I can tell, every time that the tow vehicle uses its brakes, the brakes on the trailer engage. Is this not the way it is supposed to work?

DVM

On Monday, May 20, 2019 at 4:37:20 PM UTC-4, wrote:
As far as I can tell, every time that the tow vehicle uses its brakes, the brakes on the trailer engage. Is this not the way it is supposed to work?

DVM

No - only if the towing vehicle decelerates fast enough so that the trailer does overcome the force of the damper in the tow bar will the brakes be engaged. If you feel a subtle 'bump in the rear' every time you tap the brake, check/replace the damper.

Uli
'AS'