TOWING OFTEN? YOUR VEHICLE’S BRAKES REQUIRE MORE CARE. GLENN TORRENS EXPLAINS

Even though heavier trailers and caravans must by law have their own brakes, the brakes on your tow vehicle work harder with a load on board and their condition and performance is at the core of towing safety.

Maintenance Schedule

Because of that, inspection/ maintenance of the tow vehicle’s brakes–looking at the condition of the discs or drums and the friction material and the brake’s pads and shoes– should happen more often to ensure they’re in top condition.

Vehicle manufacturers usually specify ‘additional service requirements’ such as extra oil changes (eg: at 5000km instead of 10,000km) for vehicles that tow or drive off-road regularly and this extra workshop attention is intended to provide the opportunity to ensure the brakes (and other vehicle systems, or course) are coping with the extra workload of towing.

Brake Consumables

Brake hardware does need replacement from time to time, and brakes used for regular towing usually need replacement more often than a daily driver due to higher levels of wear. At replacement time, consider upgrading your brakes with a set of higher performance discs and pads/friction material. Several companies offer packages of replacement brake rotors teamed with ‘matched’ performance friction material. The higher quality metal and materials in these brake components can help increase braking power by providing better initial bite (stopping power) and greater resistance to fade–the condition where brakes become so hot they lose their bite.

Sometimes this extra performance can come with a cost of shorter life–making those regular inspections even more important.

Rethinking Tyres

And finally, bigger wheels and tyres are a poor choice for towing: The extra diameter not only diminishes your tow vehicle’s off-the-start pull, in-gear acceleration and performance, and fuel economy by making the engine and gearbox work harder, but that extra ‘leverage’ taller tyres have over the brakes means the brakes are also working harder with every turn of those tyres. Here, an ‘upsize’ is not an ‘upgrade’ so when changing tyre specification to–for instance–a more durable and longer-lasting all terrain (A/T) tyre, retain the standard tyre size… leave the Tonka truck tyres to the kids who don’t yet know better.