I'm considering towing a boat and trailer that weighs 3000 pounds without working trailer brakes. I'm wondering if anyone has towed that much or more without trailer brakes. My truck is a 2015 4x4 6.2 long bed SC with a 4:30 rear end.

 

I tow a 24 ft pontoon all the time with my 2015 6.2 and all the time with my 1980 Bronco. No trailer brakes, tandem axle trailer

 

There is a law about only requiring trailer brakes for an item you're towing (trailer/car/etc) if over 3,200lbs.

 

What you can do and what you should do are often times two different things.

3,000 pounds is not that a heavy load pulling, but can exert a bit of pressure and influence on how your truck handles in an emergency stop. As long as you are lined up perfectly straight when applying the truck brakes all should be fine. However, be at a little bit of an angle, not even going that fast, and need to make a panic stop, the truck will stop, however with no trailer brakes, the trailer will want to continue in motion and frequently will push the rear of the truck in the direction - or angle - the trailer was headed when you applied the truck brakes. The trailer hitch ball in effect acts as the pivot point, applying that 3,000 pounds, traveling at whatever speed you were going before you stopped the truck, onto the trailer hitch ball, pushing the rear of the truck in the direction the trailer was headed. Doesn't need to push the rear too far to get it into trouble.

on the other hand - had a saying at work - everything is ok - until it isn't :-) .

 

I towed 4432 about 3 miles local roads on level ground on a tandem trailer that had no brakes.

I cant say I would do that gong down a hill or on highways

 

I pulled a 5th wheel weighing about 9k for about an hour, mix of suburbs and highway, western PA. Brakes on trailer were rusted from sitting and needed replaced. I knew the brakes were giving me zero stopping effort. I just planned way ahead and took my time. Not smart but it can be done.

Most trailers I've seen that were rated 3k didn't even have brakes.

 

Agree with above concerning an emergency stop. There's nothing wrong with pulling, it's the stopping.
Stay safe and do what's right.

 

Even a little trailer can be a big problem in an emergency stop situation. The trailer will want to push right through you and as mentioned above, if you are doing anything but stopping in a straight line, the hitch becomes a pivot point and the trailer will want to keep going straight. Very dangerous.

 

I know someone that I worked with who was traveling South I-25 while coming home from a campground (Travel Trailer on the rear) when the worst nightmare happened. He could not stop.
The vehicle he was driving jackknife'd and a very large vehicle ran right over his vehicle killing his wife, son and dog. He and his daughter survived.
He could not stop...The trailer pushed his vehicle around to the side at the trailer hitch pivot point as you said above.

 

8,000 pounds with a 1999 Rav4. Someone reinforced the factory trailer hitch with some angle iron for me after they saw it flexing.
It was a 6x12 UHaul trailer, and the first sign I had that the surge brakes weren't working was when I skidded through an red traffic light at the bottom of a long grade at the end of the 700 mile trip. I never really push the brakes hard while towing, so it might have been messed up from the very beginning for all I know. I actually weighed the trailer afterwards, and it came in at 8,000 pounds on the trailer axles. I can't even remember what the rear axle was at on the Rav4, just that the trailer was clocking in right at 8K. The Uhaul store I returned it to said they failed due to a leak right behind the master cylinder on the trailer causing all of the brake fluid to run out.

Also, for some reason, the engine started making a loud knocking sound and puked out a spark plug in the Ford dealer's parking lot the next year. I have no idea why. At least, that's what I told the dealer.

 

Right around 26000 combined until I realized I did not have the brake controller plugged in.

 

 

Whew!!! 8,000lbs on a Rav4?
With the tow hitch receiver and wiring harness, the front-wheel drive Toyota RAV4 Adventure will tow an impressive 2,900 pounds.
When you add Dynamic Torque Control AWD to the equation, the RAV4 Adventure will tow 3,500 pounds – 2,000 pounds more than standard models

 

It was a 1999 Front Wheel Drive, 5 speed stick shift, rated for 1500 pounds. I could SOMETIMES get it into 4th gear, but I spent the entire stretch from Indianapolis to Chicago in 3rd gear due to headwinds with the tachometer needle pointing pretty close to the red line. I tried 5th gear once, and no, that didn't work at all - it just slowed down, even with the gas pedal on the floor. 9 MPG on a vehicle that usually gets 28. I think if it was an automatic it would have just puked its insides out right there when I hit the first hill.
127 horsepower 132 lb/ft torque - it had enough power to go at the speed limit, although it got to the speed limit a bit slower than usual, and I even managed to pull some pretty nasty hills without slowing down.
It seems ridiculously underpowered, but at the time I was driving a 360 HP / 1500 lb ft semi truck and the Rav4 with its 8,000 pound trailer actually had higher power and torque per pound than the semi did, which explains why it didn't slow down on hills that would have knocked 15-20 MPH off the semi.
I probably knocked 10 years off the useful life of the engine - it did puke a spark plug the following year as I was driving by the Ford dealer, which is how I bought my first Ford.

 

Before I swapped the axle with an electric brake setup, I regularly pulled my (loaded) 3,300 lbs. cargo trailer ... while loaded with our 3,500 lb. truck camper. No real issues starting or stopping. However, I always took care when towing in hilly/mountainous areas and left plenty of room for braking and emergency maneuvers. Since installing the trailer brakes, it does stop better and instills more confidence.