Hi Folks, It is a good time to start planning, if there is interest in such a gathering. Places like Sandbanks fill up very early, and would likely be impossible when the kids are out of school. Lots of other possibilities, but chances are still best when the kids are in school. This could be a great opportunity for like minded people to gather and trade stories of trips, modifications and dreams for the future. I don't have room to host a gathering, but i could host a couple of teardrops at my place 20 minutes north of Ottawa. Not the location in the attached photo. Jim jimkburgess@gmail.com

Adding electric brakes to a Teardrop trailer is a relatively simple job. The supplied axle has no flanges to attach the brake plate assembly, so the simplest way to do the job is to buy a complete axle assembly from Princess Auto. You will have to move up to the 3500 lb axle which is slightly heavier, but obviously stronger. It has exactly the same mounting centres as the axle that came with your trailer. You will also need the stronger U bolt mounting kit. There is a left and right side to this assembly which is important to get right, otherwise not much you can do wrong. This axle assembly has 10 inch brake drums and works well with the 14 inch wheels. If you buy the axle assembly on sale it is a super bargain. Every flyer has a different axle on sale. You will have to choose a brake controller for your car. I chose the progressive type and am very pleased with it, but they all stop you. The smaller and lighter your car, the more you will benefit from the brakes. If you are driving a truck like Steve's, better to spend your money on some good wine. You don't need brakes. Jim Burgess

There must be clearance for the box lid to open! The rack is pointing in the opposite direction that it was intended to do on a car. This adds some tongue weight with 2 bikes, but relocating the spare tire, and a few other small changes an acceptable tongue weight was maintained. The piece of 2x2 that was meant to plug into the receiver is discarded. Another modification seen in the photo, is the tongue jack with the larger pneumatic tire. (good deal on sale at Princess Auto) Some of the very tight spaces that these trailers will fit into, are impossible to reach when connected to the car. On hard surfaces the small steel wheel provided, works great, but on softer and irregular surfaces, not so great. This was a big improvement for about $50. From the photo that was recently posted using a "Sportrack" it would seem that a similar method could be used for mounting it. Cutting the arms shorter for just 2 bikes would help. Those hitch extensions lower the tongue weight capacity for tow vehicles and increase tongue rattles that are annoying. Re annoying hitch rattle. The attached photo of the U Bolt device sells for about $18 at Princess Auto, and a much better version for about $45 at Cdn Tire. Either one gives you great Bang for your Buck! So much nicer trailering without the rattle. Adjusting the bolt under your coupler will help also. You should have minimum clearance, without binds, throughout the normal movement while trailering. Hope this helps somebody. Cheers Jim