Ground-braking Al-Ko Sensabrake

Although the development and use of disc brakes began in England in the 1890s and they’ve been fitted to production vehicles for the past 60 or so years, they’re still rarely seen on caravans.

Cost has been one of the reasons for the largely conservative caravan industry, which has for many years been geared up to offering efficient electric 10 or 12-inch diameter drum brakes.

But now, thanks to the boating industry, the disc brake bottle has been uncorked, with leading component manufacturer Al-Ko commencing the rollout of its new Sensabrake system.

Boat trailers have generally lagged behind their caravan equivalents and their 9 or 11-inch drum brakes are usually braked hydraulically, leading to a ‘delay’ from the time the driver presses the brake pedal in the tow vehicle to the trailer’s brakes responding.

By using a 12 volt compressor in a lightweight housing, Al-Ko’s new iQ7 and iQ7 Extreme Sensabrake removes this delay by using stored energy generated by the compressor, effectively reducing braking distance.

The benefits to caravanner are less obvious at first, but when linked to Al-Ko’s own disc brakes, which have been available since 2002, the penny drops.

As every (car) driver knows, the benefit of discs over drums is that their pads usually cover a larger swept area than the shoes of a usually-smaller drum, so they offer superior cooling; disperse water better and are generally quicker and easier to service.

Another advantage of the Sensabrake system is that it incorporates breakaway technology in the unit, automatically activating the trailer brakes if the caravan becomes separated from the tow vehicle and avoiding the need for a separate breakaway cable (as is today required by law for caravans weighing more than two tonnes).

But of greatest benefit to caravanners is their retardation is consistent over their entire operating range, whereas drum brakes tend to be more aggressive in their action at low, rather than higher speeds. We’ve all experienced locking caravan brakes when slowing down for towns, or often on the first application in the morning.

The Sensabrake comes in two forms – iQ7, which works through the tow vehicle’s existing electronic brake controller, or the iQ7 Extreme, which by-passes a controller by using a pressure-sensitive electronic pad attached to the vehicle’s brake pedal, which gradually sends more power to the (disc) brakes the harder you push.

The only downsides of the Al-Ko Sensabrake/disc brake combo are its initial cost of around $5000 on a tandem axle caravan (presumably the cost of the drums the discs replace is rebated) and reports that the efficiency of the system could be affected by water ingress into the trailer plug that connects it to the tow car.

As a result, the Al-Ko system is currently being fitted exclusively to top-end caravans, with Majestic offering it as standard on its $95,000, 3050kg Tare weight Trailblazer, while the new $135,000 Australian Off-Road Aurora that debuted at the recent Queensland Caravan Show in Brisbane will also be so-fitted.

Meanwhile Melbourne’s Trakmaster offers the Al-Ko Sensabrake/disc brakes on all its off-road caravans, but says the benefits will be most appreciated on their larger and heavier vehicles.

The 'plug' issue, it seems, can be solved with money – purchasing a special submersible trailer plug, which can cost upwards of $200. But that’s nothing in the scheme of things for a six-figure caravan.

However as the Sensabrake’s compressor and its housing weigh only about 2.5-3.0kg and can operate in any plane, it can be virtually mounted anywhere up front on a caravan providing it has sufficient air circulation.

For more details visit the iQ7 site

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