Cobra Trailer Emergency Brake Experience

50 years towing for me, with everything from a Jeep CJ-7 (don't ask) to a van camper. I had the tongue of a Komet trailer break where it had previously been bent and straightened. The trailer was retained by the safety chains and also the brake rod. The wild swings behind the vehicle were apparently fairly dramatic to my sister following the rig but very controllable. I suspect the motion was exaggerated by the brake rod being yanked on and off repeatedly.

The tongue of the same trailer broke at the front attach point and the trailer settled onto the often-abused brake rod. The rear attach point stayed intact so it trundled along nicely. In our wide-bodied van camper, I didn't even know I had a problem until a guy pulled up next to us and waved back at the trailer, where smoke was pouring off the bearings/drums from the brakes being full on.

I concur with those who think our European trailers aren't really designed for the U.S. My Cobra tows fine up to any speed you want to drive. To be sure, it's 27 years old now but the brake system requires more maintenance than I would like and keeps developing new failure modes. The support for the spare tire failed a few years ago (fatigue at a weld) so I relocated the spare to the floor under the fuselage nose from its original position poised over the nose. I've recounted other problems in earlier threads.

There are just some cultural differences. When my Cobra was new, I noticed that when I flipped down the tailgate to act as a support, there was no protection for the painted metal edge of the tailgate where it touched the ground. I had to add rubber bumpers, which now come standard. But it's almost like the factory assumed that all of us would always assemble our gliders on grass airports and never on pavement (common here).

Chip Bearden
JB