Trailer hand brakes

Been there at "DONNER PASS" in the winter SNOW/ICE

 

or all the weight is in the nose of the trailer and lite on the tail..

 

ha ha ha....now that was funny

 

Yes, I too have saved my bacon with the hand valve. While Wargames and I both will tell you that this is not standard procedure, when you have enough experience you will know when and how much to use the hand valve. I just hope your training doesn't give you the mindset that it is never appropriate.

There are certainly situations where your trailer may be trying to pass you and the hand valve would worsen the situation. Then there are situations where the hand valve will right the world in a heartbeat.

My most priceless hand valve save: 380 DI Cat turned to 450 HP with 13-speed double-overdrive. Trailer loaded with 65,000 # of potatoes. The gross weight about 103,000 and load was very top-heavy. Me sound asleep with my wife driving and I awake to a blood-curdling scream of my name. I come out of the sleeper and push her into the passenger seat to find us going off Flag at 85 MPH in neutral doing the Winnebago-Wobble. I apply slight pressure on trailer brakes which gives me time to figure out I need 12th gear and hammer down.

IMHO, if you haven’t let the situation progress past the point of no return, there are few situations that trailer brakes and throttle application in proper proportion won’t fix.

 

If the trailer is locked up you have a problem. The heavier part of the rig will of course try to pass the lighter part.
A light application can be your best friend in some situations.
Think of it as a piece of string blowing in the wind. Grab the back of it and pull for a second to get it straightened out.
I think part of the reason some new trucks come without one is that new drivers dont know how to use them correctly and older drivers (O/O's pulling a company trailer more than anyone) will use only them.

 

^Power braking to stretch the coupled vehicle. The only way to drive down off road grades.

 

Had a friend use his for stopping purposes, told him this was a bad idea, and he said it save on his breaks, well that was until he lost a trailer, Dont think he tested to make sure he was cuppled properly, he had just gottin on the freeway in phoenix,az when it happened, he was leased to swift, and i say was, because it cost him his job