Quote:
Originally Posted by bcrvman
55mph or 90kph is my ideal speed when moving 30,000 lbs down the road. Maybe it would help people understand if it was expressed in more familiar terms like feet per second. 55mph is 81 feet per second. How many seconds do you think it takes to get your foot from the gas to the brake pedal, then how many more to get you slowed to anything near a speed that will not kill, maim, or cause 10's of thousands in damages. Remember 80mph is 120ft/sec or 50% more than 55.
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I like how you report the speed in ft/sec - it really does help to remember how much speed will impact stopping distance. (the above were calculations that were part of the commercial trucking exams I had to take but that was many decades ago). IIRC, rough math is that doubling the weight doubles the stopping distance, but doubling the speed quadruples the stopping distance.
An observation - our Montana is the first RV trailer I've had with disc brakes. This is the BEST thing to improve stopping distance; period, full stop.
IMHO, anyone concerned with braking needs to look at disc brakes on their trailer. This one change will make more of a difference than SRW vs DRW, more than any 5-10mph difference in speed. The difference is truly amazing, and if any have not tried it, I recommend that they should.
Brad