Originally Posted by Injun

When's the last time you had the brakes adjusted? and when's the last time you drained your air tanks? You shouldn't need that much pressure to stop a bobtail. I actually use less pressure bobtail than with a trailer loaded or empty..

Something's definetly wrong with the mans truck....

Originally Posted by Injun

Regarding the original question asked Feb 2009, another reason the bobtail is "more dangerous" is because it is less stable. The trailer, whether empty or loaded, places weight over the drive tires, pushing them toward the ground. (Dang that gravity!) With that push comes traction. And a lower center of gravity..

Your trailer lower your center of gravity? Do you pull a flatbed?
It'll give you more traction on your drive tires but a box trailer does not lower your center of gravity.

Originally Posted by Injun

A lower center of gravity is more stable than higher...so that's why I crawl around corners bobtail and take them in 5th gear with a trailer.

My tractor handles great bobtail. The 5th gear with a trailer thing is a little weird though.

Originally Posted by kajidono

Yeah, that's way too much. Mine is on the verge of lockup at 25, especially bobtail. The smallest bumps will make the rear tires jump off the ground in a bobtail. Brakes either won't work or will magnify the effect. And just a tractor by itself still weighs over 4 times what a car does. It's easy to forget that after getting out from under the constant weight of a trailer.

But with three axles of well maintained brakes...It'll put your face into the windshield without much effort on dry pavement at realistic speeds.

when you bobtail agin hook your air gladhand to each other and push your trailer brake in had a mack that did the same thang

Factor in either wet roads, or winter driving conditions. The stopping distance dramatically increases. But, that doesn't stop other angry motorists from giving me the finger because I've delayed their trip by an entire 10 seconds.

Bobtail is very light, when you try to stop FAST you will slide, think of a pick up truck with ought your bed driving in the rain, and trying to stop fast. Same principle

Originally Posted by Roadmedic

An empty trailer sometimes will hop when you try to stop and this adds more room to the stopping because it loses contact at each hop.

I had someone try and feed this to me not that long ago.

I totally get what they are trying to say, and on paper it makes perfect sense. But I still find it hard to believe that an empty trailer, even if it starts hopping, will stop slower than an 80,000 pound combination.