Van trailer/ abs

You can purchase a trailer with pre abs. I think our trailer missed the cut off by about six months. All the abs is, is anti lock brake system; helps prevent the wheels from locking up in a hard brake event by forcing air back into the system.

The costs roughly - The abs system consists of a ECM/ECU ($800-$1800) , 4 sensors ($50-$85 each), 2/4 modulators ($150-$300 each), 4 tone wheels/rings ($75-$100 each), the electrical circuit that connects it all ($100-$xxxx.00), then you have your hubs that need to not have wheel end play or it won’t allow the sensor to read the tone ring resulting in a fault.

Some shippers require a newer trailer, but these are usually places like paper plants who want to load very heavy pieces and don’t want to fall through the wood decking

 

98 or older. I bought a new East flatbed in 98 and it didn't have ABS.
I would say ABS on trailer and not on tractor would be better than other way around. I run non ABS tractor and ABS on trailer with no problems.
Cost wise, there is very little cost in repairs. Like Hopeover said, you can replace everything for about $3000. You will never need to replace everything, worse case ecm valve at $800ish.
I wouldn't consider a trailer that old but I pull flatbed.

 

Yup, it’s in the ABS regs somewhere. I think the cut off is in mid 98’ like October or July somewhere...

 

Honestly ABS is pretty much bulletproof. I wouldn't be afraid of it. Most of the issues I ever had with ABS was either torn speed sensor wiring (from off road use) or loose wheel bearings causing excessive speed sensor gap.

If you're worried about an ABS trailer being compatible with a non-ABS truck, don't. Trailer ABS is powered off the blue centre pin in the 7 way plug. It operates completely independent of the truck.