Take the batteries out and you have excellent stopping power!
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Take the batteries out and you have excellent stopping power!
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I checked my 2008 trailer and it has brakes on all four wheels. I spoke with the Moomba rep at our boat show today and he said that trailers into Canada have had to have different lighting and other items to comply with our laws.
Does SC sell a different configuration for WA? I don't know for sure, but I seriously doubt it. For one, it's a complication. They would rather have the same thing be able to go everywhere, like how all new cars meet CA emissions. (It doesn't surprise me that it has to be different for Canada though - the laws between countries are different, not the same plus something extra) Secondly, they wouldn't want to risk any liability if a WA "illegal" trailer from OR was in an accident in WA. It would be too risky to think that just because they didn't sell it in WA it would never be used in WA - sure, the owner is responsible for knowing and complying with the law but in our sue-happy society SC would at least put a warning on the VIN tag that said "not legal for use in WA" or similar.
The more I think about it, the more confident I am that you are fine as is. If you want to dig deeper, I would contact SC and ask them if your trailer is legal to use in WA.
The Popo will always cite the laws but ask them how often they cite someone for not having brakes on all four wheels and the circumstances behind it. It probably doesn't happen very often. If you would take a poll either here or at a boat launch and ask people how many wheels have braking capability on their dual axle trailer without looking and you would get about 80% who don't have a clue. You are entitled to be as clueless as anyone else so I wouldn't worry about it as you have a large tow vehicle. Of course, being clueless doesn't work when you have an accident that was caused by inadequate braking. Attorneys jump on things like that.
I'm sure a large % of the population doesn't have a clue about their trailer. And I'm not worried about a roadside or launch side ticket. Only thing nagging me is if we ever did get in a bender and some sue-happy dipshit's lawyer finds that I was technically illegal for not having all the brakes WA requires.
I'm sure the F350 would stop it just fine but I do recall a time when our Expedition got pushed into an intersection on wet pavement when the light went green-yellow-red in about 1/2 second. Then again it might have done that with any vehicle doing that panic stop on the wet road. Also another Expedition or maybe Tahoe may be in our future as an occasional tow vehicle again.
I talked to BoatMate directly and they understandably do not want to be in a position to interpret the law for you with a trailer going from one state to another state with different laws.