Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Travel Trailer/Campers questions....help guys...

yup, got it brand new off the showroom floor back in 2000. Lately the breaks have seemed a little soft, so I will need to get those inspected/changed. Mine just hit 80,000 miles

80,000 miles and you've never had the brakes done?

I used to have an enclosed car trailer. The seller included the load distributing hitch he was using (much the same as the pic randy posted). It was adjustable for drop as well as angle. As I recall there was a procedure for adjusting that angle- and level was not the goal. There was also a procedure for hooking up the bars each time as those are under tension at rest. I asked a racer freind about the antisway setup and he said it was most helpful when towing with a motorhome with a lot of rear overhang.
Happy camping

A few other questions:

I assume I will need to get an electric brake system for my truck, and assume I just plug them in under the dash? Can I use the ones at places like O'Reillys or Advanced Auto Parts, they seem to run around 60 bucks.

Also, not sure my Silverado has a transmission cooler, but not sure I need one with this light trailer?

You will definatly need a trans cooler. The wind resistance is a bigger deal than weight in your case.
My dad's 01 2500 had a provision of some kind in the cab to hook up a brake controller, but he never installed one.

Can't comment on the electric brakes as my trailer had hydraulic ones but whether you use a transmission cooler or not depends a lot on the load you are pulling, as well as the type of roads you will be driving on(going to the Rockies?), and also temperature(Arizona, middle of summer?).

Regardless, a tranny cooler will add life to the transmission and help your truck run much cooler under load. They're not all that expensive compared with a blown tranny or overheating engine...I'd err on the cautious side and get one.

Yes, you will need an electric brake controller( I think I mentioned in my first post). Most trucks have a wire harness connector that came with them in the owners manual/bag of goodies when the truck was new. You connect this wiring up to the brake controller wires and plug it in under the dash somewhere, you may even need to add a relay/isolator (or 2) to run a battery feed to the trailer so the trailer battery can charge up while you drive. many shops have the wire harness if you can't find yours or it never came with one. The controllers you see at the automotive stores will work just fine. I spent a few more bucks and went with one I can adjust easily, it is called the P3 by Tekonsha.

Just to let you know my truck already has a HD transmission cooler, it was one of the available options.

A High Def transmission cooler?.....AWESOME!!!