Brakes for towing

robepa

Member
I picked up a Smittybilt Scout trailer and the braking while towing it behind my 06 Tacoma Double Cab TRD off-road is less than great. Does anyone have recommendations for pad/rotor combos? I have liked Stoptech for sports cars and it looks like they make pads and rotors for the Tacoma.
Thanks
 

bkg

Explorer
trailer brakes are the only thing that will make a major difference. I love the Hawk/frozen rotor combo myself, but that won’t make up for being pushed by the trailer.
 

DaveInDenver

Middle Income Semi-Redneck
@bkg said what I was thinking. Pads and rotors aren't going to make much difference. Maybe doing the Tundra brake swap will help some. Anything with any weight needs supplemental trailer brakes.
 

tanuki.himself

Active member
Doesn't the scout have electric brakes anyway? I'd look to improve the efficiency of those rather than upgrading the tow vehicle - with upto 3300 lb pushing you from behind whilst going round a bend its even more likely to go wrong if the front half of the combo is stopping more quickly...
 

Buddha.

Finally in expo white.
I picked up a Smittybilt Scout trailer and the braking while towing it behind my 06 Tacoma Double Cab TRD off-road is less than great. Does anyone have recommendations for pad/rotor combos? I have liked Stoptech for sports cars and it looks like they make pads and rotors for the Tacoma.
Thanks
Stupid question but, you do have a brake controller right? My stepdad pulled a 6,000# travel trailer for years with a chevy trailblazer before realizing he needed such a thing to get the trailer brakes to work...
 

bkg

Explorer
Doesn't the scout have electric brakes anyway? I'd look to improve the efficiency of those rather than upgrading the tow vehicle - with upto 3300 lb pushing you from behind whilst going round a bend its even more likely to go wrong if the front half of the combo is stopping more quickly...


I had to look up the trailer online... never heard of it (I live a sheltered life)… looks like it comes with electric brakes... OP needs to get a controller.
 

tanuki.himself

Active member
I had to look up the trailer online... never heard of it (I live a sheltered life)… looks like it comes with electric brakes... OP needs to get a controller.

Thats what i did as it looked too heavy to be unbraked - in the UK there is a 750kg limit to unbraked trailers. I had the other problem in OZ with a 5th wheel - I had the controller, but the electrical connections to the drums were all bad when i bought it and it shoved me through a red light at the bottom of a hill where the truck brakes just weren't enough. So make sure the brakes actually fitted to the trailer do energise and are properly adjusted as well....

Mind you, when i first saw EBC mentioned I thought it meant these guys https://ebcbrakes.com/ who do make excellent aftermarket brakes :)
 

robepa

Member
I just ordered the Redarc (https://bit.ly/2unpc9M ) and I am heading down to NAPA today to order the Tundra calipers. I need to to brakes soon so for an extra $300ish going to bigger calipers and rotors is a deal!
 

bkg

Explorer
I just ordered the Redarc (https://bit.ly/2unpc9M ) and I am heading down to NAPA today to order the Tundra calipers. I need to to brakes soon so for an extra $300ish going to bigger calipers and rotors is a deal!

That's a very interesting controller. The packaging is kind of cool.... but I don't see any way to manually apply the trailer brakes... Unless I'm just missing that in the description? I've always been happy with my Prodigy P3, though the packaging is definitely not as stealthy as the Redarc.


EDIT: I see how the manual override works now. Cool solution.
 

robepa

Member
I like that the control module is separate from the control knob so I can mount it behind the dash and put the knob in one of the two blank switch plates to the right of the mirror controls.
 

robepa

Member
I have the RedAcr controller in and the Tundra Calipers will be in tomorrow (https://bit.ly/2JNTzLn). I am not a big fan of the red calipers but it was one of the better deals on rebuilt OEM calipers. My mechanic is going to install them next week while I'm on vacation. I am planning on using Stoptech rotor and OEM pads.
 

Attachments

  • 20180724_062346.jpg
    20180724_062346.jpg
    2.2 MB · Views: 12

Lotsoftoys

New member
Stop tech 100% have it on my 1st gen tundraand tow all winter long up and down the rocky mtns. Awesome brakes
 

Attachments

  • 20161211_092335.jpg
    20161211_092335.jpg
    2 MB · Views: 9

Forum statistics

Threads
185,539
Messages
2,875,661
Members
224,922
Latest member
Randy Towles
Top