Never realized the over center handbrake was a feature. Now that I think about it definitely a nice feature to have. I now wonder why it's not standard on everything..
Hi The over centre handbrake that is operated by a large spring (energy store) has been around since the 80's Bradley moved over to this fully in the 90's Knott moved over to it soon after but there were still couplings around with ratchet handbrakes (not usually used on new production trailers) until about 15 years ago. This video was filmed in 2019 and the al-ko coupling that is shown on the left seems to be disappearing now as when we order it we are getting couplings in some weights that have an over centre handbrake that is slightly different as the energy store ( spring) is mounted under the main body and does not stick out of the back. I think in the next year or 2 you will not see any couplings (new stock) available with a ratchet handbrake. there may be the odd new coupling left that has been sat on some ones shelf. Hope this helps Towing and trailers Ltd www.towingandtrailers.com
@@TowingAndTrailersLtd I have two trailers. One a small goods trailer (from Trailer Europe in Hungary) with a Knott coupling and the other a caravan with a late 1990s/early 2000s Al-Ko coupling. The former with an over-centre handbrake and the latter a ratchet style handbrake. Personally, I much prefer the over-centre style handbrake for ease of use and I tend to feel that the handbrake works better. Without changing the entire coupling, is it possible to switch to a Al-Ko over-centre handbrake?
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Thank you. Very helpful
Glad it was helpful!
Never realized the over center handbrake was a feature. Now that I think about it definitely a nice feature to have. I now wonder why it's not standard on everything..
Hi
The over centre handbrake that is operated by a large spring (energy store) has been around since the 80's Bradley moved over to this fully in the 90's Knott moved over to it soon after but there were still couplings around with ratchet handbrakes (not usually used on new production trailers) until about 15 years ago. This video was filmed in 2019 and the al-ko coupling that is shown on the left seems to be disappearing now as when we order it we are getting couplings in some weights that have an over centre handbrake that is slightly different as the energy store ( spring) is mounted under the main body and does not stick out of the back.
I think in the next year or 2 you will not see any couplings (new stock) available with a ratchet handbrake. there may be the odd new coupling left that has been sat on some ones shelf.
Hope this helps
Towing and trailers Ltd
www.towingandtrailers.com
@@TowingAndTrailersLtd I have two trailers. One a small goods trailer (from Trailer Europe in Hungary) with a Knott coupling and the other a caravan with a late 1990s/early 2000s Al-Ko coupling. The former with an over-centre handbrake and the latter a ratchet style handbrake. Personally, I much prefer the over-centre style handbrake for ease of use and I tend to feel that the handbrake works better. Without changing the entire coupling, is it possible to switch to a Al-Ko over-centre handbrake?