I tow a 7000lb. trailer in the hills of Vermont with a 1971 F-350 1 ton dump. Drum brakes, 360 motor , and electric brakes on trailer. Can I put brakes on the idle axle of the trailer as well. Will that help with the gravity that I fight here?

 

If the axle stubs have the mounting brackets go ahead and put them on.

Make sure you re-wire the brakes with heavier wire (if your brake wire is 16 ga go down to 12 ga.) extend this all the way to the power block the controller ties into. Your going to be working 4 magnets vs. two and the extra load will heat up the existing wire and possibly cause problems.

Most new multi-axle travel trailers that I've seen in the last couple of years have brakes on all four.

Adjust your controller sensitivity up or down a bit to suit your individual braking tastes.

Larry

 

I just saw in a cataloge that there are disc/ hydraulic kits available. Does this do me any good as opposed to going with four brakes?

 

The only advantage I see for Discs over drums is heat fade. The discs (if they are big enough) are more resistant to heat than a comparably sized drum.

The hydraulic systems run off a surge system. The big advantage of surge brakes is that you don't have to modify your vehicle, it can be used on any capable vehicle (gcwr/gwr/etc). It's self contained and you have to maintain it like your car's brakes.
only down side is you can't activate them independently like electrics (unless someone has come out with an electric activator for master cylinder)

If you want to convert to hydraulics / discs make sure they are rated for 150% of your trailer rating. ie: 7000# trailer would equal 10,500# rating for brakes.

Dual axle brakes would be better anyway you look at it. the more stopping power you have for going down them hills the better. you won't overload your truck brakes and the whole rig will be able to stop in a more than reasonable distance.

Larry