Dangerous Bobtail?

"bobtail rig" ???????????

stab braking isn't a bad idea. especially if you have an empty trailer and no ABS.

it's still going to take you longer to stop if you have 32 extra tons pushing you than if you have a loss of friction on your bobtail tandems.

 

Yeah I never understood when they say a fully loaded truck will stop faster than an empty truck. I call bs on that one because when your gross is 79500 lbs and you hit the brakes its gonna take you longer to stop than if you were only say 45000 gross. An bobtailing you can stop pretty quick on dry roads but any moisture its gonna be skidding unless you got abs. But talk about some fast acceleration in a bobtail. lol

 

Because the braking system is designed for optimal operation at 80,000 pounds. I learned that at driving school. We had some darn good instructors at the school I went to . . . old school, very experienced drivers that taught us well.

If you are not operating in a safe manner or the roads are crappy, it doesn't matter how well the brakes are working . . . you won't be stopping safely.

 

Yeah thats true if the roads are crappy if your not safe then your gonna be in the ditch or in an accident for sure. An yeah I know they work at optimal operation fully loaded but you can stop a lighter truck way faster if your light.

 

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.

 

Most often when you see skid marks indicating the trailer brakes only locked up it's because the trailer lost air pressure for some reason causing the maxi-brakes to lock up .

 

All that stabbing???

 

i know this is an old thread, but...

when i am bobtailing it takes at least 50 psi of applied brake pressure to stop. at times i begin to think the dang truck isnt gonna stop, is this typical? it feels like driving a 56 ford pickup with front drum brakes and no power assist.

i have replaced the foot valve, quick release valve under the 5th wheel, new shoes and spring kit on #2 drive axle, brakes shoes on all other axles are at least 90%.

 

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.

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. 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.