dump truck trailer options

I've been in need of a trailer to haul hay and equipment. Would like to find a pintle hitch dual tandem to pull behind an f800 ford single axle. I found a nice one close to home, but it has air brakes. My truck is equipped with air brakes, but not plumbed to the rear for a trailer. Local shop says roughly $500 in parts and 20 hours labor. Not sure what their rate is. What would you guys do. At this point I think I'm going to keep looking for an electric brake trailer. Thanks

I'm not sure on rates in the US but north of the border at lease in these parts you can expect to pay $60/hr for any trade work at a shop

I think if you did it,you would much prefer the air brakes.Mark

I have a dump truck with air brakes, and no hookup for trailer air brakes. I bought a 10 ton air brake trailer and put trailer air on my truck. I cheated and tapped into the lines for the service and maxi brakes for the rear axle and put in gladhands with shutoff valves. Job done, works good. About $175 for the parts. Did the work myself. Glad I did it , air brakes on a trailer are way better than electric. IMHO

Until the DOT gets a hold of you for no TP valve.
DWF

$500 sounds VERY reasonable to me! When you're talking being able to handle a truck AND trailer full of rock (or anything else), you very much need to be able to trust the braking system!! Heavy haul rigs trust air brakes. If it were me, I would, too.

I was in a bit of a smaller rig one time - a 3/4-ton Suburban - and towing a... I think 22', PJ deckover trailer (bumper pull). Was going down a long downhill run and the electric brakes gave out. I don't think it was the brakes, themselves, but rather the small battery that the trailer relies on. I never was able to get adequate answers from the company that took the trailer away, as I never saw it again, but they "claimed" that the brakes were shot.....on a brand new trailer! They were also putting down the PJ brand really hard, so that leads me to believe he just wanted to get the trailer for next to nothing, as all he was using were homemade trailers for his wrecker business!

This was right after Christmas and New Year's, so everything with insurance was taking even more than 2 forevers!! Was a bad time and we took a huge loss on everything then - all due to the timing, the location (1,000 miles from home), and the electric brake system on a brand new trailer.

Whatever you do, [b:2f66630629]make sure[/b:2f66630629] your you can trust your equipment!! In our instance, we were the only ones involved....fortunately. But you may not be so lucky should something go wrong.

Air brakes are a lot less problematic than electric brakes, and last longer. With the glad hands for air brakes on the back of a dump make sure they are protected so they don't get broken off, or get dirt in them when you don't have the trailer hooked up to the truck. Over the years I've lost count of how many times I've had to go out on a service call to replace broken glad hands, and get dirt out of the air lines.

That small battery has nothing to do with
trailer brakes while in use, it is only to
apply the brakes if the trailer comes
unhooked. It would have nothing to do with
the regular operation of the brakes.

kcm, the little battery on the trailer has nothing to do with normal operation of the electric brakes. That little battery powers the brakes if the trailer comes unhitched from the truck.

Normally the power comes from the truck towing the trailer. If the brakes were overused (from riding the brakes down a steep hill), or adjusted too tight (they don't self-adjust), they will overheat and fail.

$500 for the parts plus 20 hours labor.

For $500 I would definitely go to air brakes. They work better and are more reliable as well as last longer.

I run a tandem dump truck and pull a pintle hitch trailer with electric brakes ALOT. I really wish I had air brakes on the trailer.while the system I have is good,all it takes is a broken wire or a bad connection and guess what? No trailer brakes!

Air brakes hands down over electric, I drove trucks with air brakes of years and had very little trouble with them, most times if there was a issue the parts cost less than a cheap electric brake controller.
My present trailer is a 20k tandem dually with electric brakes I pull behind my F-450, I've be messing with it for 2 days trying to find a electrical issue with the brakes, their adjusted up, the magnets are working and I've even replaced the controller, but the brakes barely apply, looks like I'm going to have to replace the trailer wiring. Real pia and I've got 20 loads of hay that needs hauled, with air brakes I could have found and repaired the problem in a couple of hours or less.


$500 for parts isn't bad but I'd think they could plumb it up in less than 20 hours

Jon & B.E. -- Thanks for the info. That's what I thought before some lunkhead schooled me otherwise when I bought the trailer. But then, my previous trailer was an old 16' tandem axle and didn't have ANY brakes! He's also the one who hooked up the new (but wrong type) brake controller. No wiring harness, so wires were connected individually. ...I've wondered about that as well. In any case, will NOT be making that mistake again! Have upgraded to a larger truck and will have appropriate trailer and connections, PROFESSIONALLY DONE, when the time comes!

On a good note - after the accident, all the guy had to do was replace the front hitch and the axles and he had a brand new trailer. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the deck! Not even twisted.

Yes 500$ parts plus labor. If it was 500 total I'd go for it

Not that hard to add a tractor protection valve. And they are inexpensive for a new rebuilt one form Bendix. I replaced one on my Peterbilt. You will also have to add a dual red/yellow cab valve to control the TPV if you don't already have one. They are not that expensive for a good used takeout on ebay. If you are buying new the parts may get to $500.

Not that hard to run air lines. Here is a schematic I found on another forum a while ago.



John