This is the Future for Trailers!

You guys seen it here first. Pretty amazing system and uh I want to get your two cents on it because I think just in trailer tire wear alone safety operators this is going to save so many lives. I personally feel this is going to save a lot of lives after. All right guys, I'm in Brimley, Michigan at the Brimley Development Center and this is one of the best kept secrets in the world. They actually don't want people to know about them because they do a lot of prototype testing, especially designed for trailers, trailer sway, trailer braking, all sorts of things like that. And they rent this facility out, but they also do specialty testing and they're way back out in the in the boonies. Let's just go inside and see what's cooking. Okay. So, what I'm guys I'm with Dan, one of the engineers, and Wendell um from Hydraar. Uh what vehicle are we in, Dan? >> We're in a Silverado 2500. >> Okay. >> 2018 diesel. >> And we are going to go 45 miles an hour. Slam on the brakes as hard as panic stop like somebody's like a kid's crossing the road in front of us. And without cutting and editing, we're going to go out and see if we flat spotted these tires. Tell me when you're ready. Yeah. >> So, we're getting up to speed now. >> Okay. >> 45 mph. >> All right. >> So, we're just going to go straight onto the brake pedal as hard as we can. You ready? >> Yep. >> 3 2 1. Maybe next time I'll wear my seat belt. Okay. [laughter] Now, let's go check out these tires. We're looking for flat spots. So, we are going to see rubber on the road, but are we going to find a flat spot? And we got 4,000 lbs in the back of this trailer. So, as we look at these tires, these tires have been doing this for days and days. Now, look at the road. Look at here. Yes, we do have rubber on the road. We don't have a skid. We don't have a flat spot. We haven't destroyed these tires. We've evenly wore the rubber off from the entire tire casing. Meaning when you're done with this panic stop, you're not going to go down the road going thunk thunk thunk thunk hitting that flat spot. You're going to be able to go down the road and you just saved yourself $800 in tires. What's the next test? >> So, next we'll ramp it up. We'll go a little faster. We'll do that at 75 milesPH. >> 75. I am going to absolutely wear my seat belt this time. >> All right, guys. In a moment, we're going to show you something that it is a gamechanging. This is the guy that invented this. Tell me why you created this in the first place, Wendell. And who are you, by the way? >> My name is Wendell Hansel. I'm the owner of Hydraar. >> Okay. >> We uh we wanted to have the best trailer baking system offered in the world. And uh you know the biggest problem is everybody has problems with flat spots and tires. >> Yep. >> Um delays uh [snorts] inadequate braking systems for guys that are traveling all under class 8 hot shot guys, RVs, boat trailers up and down the roads. And uh we wanted to come up with a system that was lights out instant activation with full ABS capabilities. >> And this was your BA [snorts] brain baby how long ago? >> Well, I don't know. We had a premonition about uh 10 years ago and uh Ralph at Continental/Namovia came came to help us with it and uh we worked together with them and we've been working on it. This is our third go around, our third try and I think we got it right this time. >> And you created a system that will perform on ice, on sudden stops, on uh 75 mile to zero stops, swerving, and we're going to be testing all of that. panic stops, no problem. Ice, no problem. >> We're we're gonna be putting it through every single every single pace that we can think of and throw at it. >> Absolutely. And being able to activate the brakes as soon as you're hitting your brake pedal in your vehicle. >> All right. Well, it'll be interesting to see how well your engineers and you did. >> I hopefully you did it right. >> All right. Let's go. >> So, our testing, >> this is the same ABS system that is in cars and trucks right now, right? >> That's correct. Okay, so this is the test track and up in Brimley. This is a private test facility and we're just coming around here at 75. We're going to hit 75 m an hour and then we are going to panic stop with everything this has. Boy, I hope that 4,000lb block is secured pretty good back there, boys. >> We picked our best chains. [laughter] >> Hopefully we don't break the welds. We're at 60. This isn't where we hammer it down yet. Seat belt time. >> All right. So, now we're truly going interstate speeds. We're at 75 mph and we're just going to do a panic stop. So, >> we're in the middle of conversation, not paying attention. Something's in the road. full stop. All right, let's go see if we have slats. I can smell the brakes cooking. I can smell the brakes cooking. Hey Dan, can you roll forward just like 2 feet? I want to see if we got a flat spot. zero. Perfect. So, you can see where we slammed this entire time. And that's normal to have that rubber be laid down on the road means your brakes are cons your your tires are consistently stopping, but they're not grabbing and skidding. You got to see what it feels like inside the truck. Let's watch it from outside the truck. 75 mph panic stop. These guys get to do this every day. That's like Yes, I do. Yes, I do. [laughter] >> Nothing. What's next? >> Well, next we might add a little more excitement to it if you're up for it. >> Sure. What do we got? >> Ice. >> Ice. Ice, baby. >> All right. So, up here in Brimley, they have an ice an ice. They simulate ice >> seat belt. We don't want to get dam. >> Well, what we're going to do before we simulate, I want to show these guys how slick this is. So, because I mean, yeah, it's 22° out today and yeah, it's cold, but this is a wet water track with a special tile, right? >> Yeah, they're ceramic tiles with uh some sprinklers going on them. >> Okay. And so, this simulates ice, and it really is just like >> So, this is pretty standard in the automotive industry >> where we run water across tiles to uh validate our ice testing without having the true surface. >> Can you go onto it? And then I want to show these guys what it takes just to to take off from this so that these guys know that we're truly going to be on some really slick surfaces. >> Yeah. >> Well, thanks for letting me out right in the water, Dan. >> You're welcome. Okay. Okay. So, this is a 25 mph full stop on full ice. >> Yeah. So, we're going to start braking just before the tiles. So, that way we build up the brake pressure in the system. And as the wheels lock up, we're going to have to evacuate all that pressure and let the ABS uh dump the pressure so the vehicle is stable. Still come to a stop. So Dan, it's that ABS systems allowing you to maintain control when you're now are you coming to a full panic stop when you're doing that or what? For that one, I was actually doing normal braking as a transition >> because the the amount of pressure that's in the system when you're on the pavement is acceptable for that surface, but then as we move to the ice, there's not enough friction available. So, the wheels immediately lock. So, we don't need to do a panic maneuver to get into full ABS on this lower surface. >> Ah, okay. Okay. But the ability to maintain control is part due to the ABS system compensating. Correct. >> Absolutely. Yeah. We have to get that pressure out of the system and then the wheels can recover and roll at a predictable stable rate. >> Okay. Thank you. Okay. So now this test, uh, Dan, tell me what we're going to do here, will you? >> So we're going to do another panic break apply at interstate speeds. Uh, but for this one, we're going to add a single lane change. So, what this simulates is another panicked stop on the interstate, but now instead of being able to shop stop short of whatever is in front of you, be it traffic jams, um we're actually going to go and we're going to take that next open lane to the side. >> So, imagine you all you go you're like the oh crap and you got to switch lanes while you're breaking. This is like the recipe for >> And so this is normally a no no with a trailer, but so what we're going to go for is if you're ready, we're going to go 3 2 1 >> panic break. We're going to grab that next lane, steer back in. Everything's under control. >> Ah, it's like these guys, they're reading my mind. >> Let's see what it looks like from the outside when we do a 75 mph panic stop with a lane change. And now you've got to realize there's a 4,000lb cement block in that trailer pushing that truck forward simultaneously. This is the recipe for disaster that hurts a lot of folks. Let's see how this new ABS system can handle it. All right, to get up to the proper speed, they go all the way around the test track. Then they come cooking down here and right here. They're going to All right. And we're going to stand right here and watch them cuz why wouldn't we all here they come? Unreal. That's 4,000 lbs in the back of that trailer. All right, here he comes. All right, here he comes. 75 miles an hour. Trailer is empty. He's going to slam to his stop as if he's not paying attention on the road and he's got to suddenly swerve. And we're going to see exactly how well this handles from zero 75 to zero. Can you just roll forward a foot? I want to see how these tires are. Now, this is a prototype trailer that they allowed me to do as much testing as I wanted to on this. So, yes, we ran every test over and over again. And this is a different view of the 75 mph lane change with panning stop. Don't Don't go anywhere, Bess. Okay. How many times has this trailer this specific trailer done this? >> Today alone, >> probably about 20. >> So, now this is called, I guess, a mu split. Maybe I'm I'm probably butchering that like I do everything else. He does have to compensate in the steering for this, but watch. What makes this especially challenging is half the truck is on ice and half the trucks on dry pavement. So the brakes have to do all of the compensating. >> All right, here we go. We're going to watch the trailer from inside the cab. All right, guys. I forgot to film something and that is the difference in gain and the difference in the truck. So, the ABS system basically does everything for you. Let's put this down to three. So, we've got our gain set at three. We're going to go up to 45 and we're going to do a full panic stop. Check the tires for flat spots. Right, Dan the Man? >> That's right. >> And then we'll uh I'll turn around, get better speed, and then we'll um put the gain up to let's put it up to nine. And then then we'll give her another full hit stop. And then uh we'll do a 75 mph lane change panic stop. Oh crap, something's in the road type of a scenario. So let's do Okay, 45 gain at let's go. Okay, without changing anything, let's keep the camera rolling. Let's see if we flat spotted this empty trailer. Trailer is empty now. So we've taken the full load off. This is where we should see flat spots and we've got nothing. Okay, that's at 3 and 1/2. Let's go. So, hate to interrupt you, but can we film that going the other way so we don't have that vehicle uh in the background? >> Oh, you don't want to see your top secret vehicle? >> Yeah, we don't we don't want to film other our other projects. Dan's got top secret stuff going on. Okay, gain's up to nine at this point. All right, 45 full panic stop coming up. Gain nine. All right, let's see how that worked. When you look closely at the skid marks, you'll actually notice those are from the truck and not the trailer. Nothing. That's on an empty trailer. Didn't matter if the gain was at three. Didn't matter if the gain's at nine. The system does all of the compensating for a guy. All right, guys. You've seen it, Ralph. What do you do for these guys? >> So, I'm basically the brakes and chassis engineer for the trailer brake system. So, basically what what this is is a retrofitted automotive grade brake controller into a trailer. So, hydraulic ABS. >> Okay. >> So, it uses the hydraulic brakes. So, we have the calipers and the disc brakes. But in order to make the ABS work, um, we have tone rings and wheel speed sensors. So, I don't know if we can see it in there next to the caliper to the brake line, we have that other black wire. >> We got it right here. We can look at it. >> We have it right here, too. Yep. >> Okay. >> So, this here is the wire that goes into the wheel speed sensor. >> Okay. >> Goes to the bracket. And here, if you come in from this side, you can see the tone ring in here. That basically shows you the kicks. So 54 teeth on this and that shows you shows the system what the wheel is doing individually for each wheel. And that means you can regulate the pressure on each wheel separately from each other. >> But what does this mean to the end consumer? You were telling me that now when you apply the truck brakes, the trailer brakes will apply within 1/100th of a second. >> A tenth of a second. >> A tenth of a second. >> Yeah. So almost simultaneous >> pretty much. Yes. So I mean it feels like in the truck you hit the brake pedal and you can feel the trailer brakes come on right away. So there's a very very slight delay but it's almost not really noticeable. [clears throat] >> But now >> you're not reinventing the wheel with this thing, Ralph. >> No. So the controller here. So this is basically the heart of this. So this is the hydraulic electronic control unit >> that's in Mercedes-Benz. That's in Ford. in like Ford Explorer for example is one car. This is in the actual unit that comes out of those and you used it in this system. >> Correct. So this is a automotive grade proven FMVSS approved controller but it's repurposed for the trailer application. So obviously the software is different. It has a little bit of rework but the hydraulics all that stuff is the same. And one thing we can see here it's a one box design. So the the brake reservoir for the fluid, the computer, the hydraulic block, and the pump motor are all in one combined unit. So you don't have separate pieces all over the trailer. >> And you you can see you have four individual brake lines. >> So that so that means you can control each wheel and the pressure to it individually. >> And that's how you were able to keep control when we were on the skid pad. >> Correct. the operator didn't have to over steer worrying about what was happening with the trailer because each axle was operating independently. >> Well, not just each axle, each wheel. So, if you're >> That's what I meant. >> If you're on the split mu where you have half of the trailer on a high grip surface, half on a low grip surface, that means you can dump the pressure on the lower grip surface >> to not lock the tires and therefore you can keep the trailer straight. >> But now, it's not all right here. It's also here. >> Correct. >> What is this? This is the so-called interphase module. And the reason why we have this is so we get an analog signal from the truck, which is your blue wire, the 0 to 12 volts. And that gets into the trailer normally actuates the brakes. But since this is an automotive grade um component, it needs a CAN signal, CANbus signal to be triggered. So what this module does for one is it converts the analog signal. So the 0 to 12 volts into a brake request in percent 0 to 100% to the brake controller >> and then that actuates the brakes. Your gain still works. So that still changes the the application. >> Your breakaway works through this. So if you pull the breakaway pin that actuates with 50% brakes and this also then gets the warning lamps in the diagnostics from this unit. So if there's a fault in here, you can trigger warning lamps that in a production would be mounted somewhere in the front of the trailer. So you can see it in the rearview mirror and it would be able to diagnose. So you can plug a scanner into it and then if you have any faults you can read the faults, clear the faults and then do the maintenance or if you change the pads you can relearn the system afterwards. >> Tell me about the future of this. Where do you see this? What are you going to be doing with this? Is it going to be standard on every trailer? What where is this go? Where is this headed, Ralph? >> Well, so if if it was my wish, it would be on every trailer and it would be mandated. But um for now, I think it's it will start in the more expensive trailers. That's just, you know, because it's an expensive system at the get-go. But I see this in RVs, travel trailers, the big gooseeneck hot shot trailers that haul expensive equipment, expensive boat trailers, race car haulers, that type of stuff first and then it might trickle down from there. >> Now, straight out of the factory installed or is this something that a person could retrofit themselves? >> You could do both. So, I mean, obviously it would be an option for some trailer manufacturers to incorporate that, but since the system relies on disc brakes, and currently there's disc brake conversions out there, you could retrofit this to a standard trailer you already have right now. >> Be possible. >> So, what you do here is we take these four brake lines, we come out, and then we go to each >> each wheel. >> Mhm. >> And each wheel, the wheel speed sensor also feeds back into the unit. So that means we have one hydraulic line running to each wheel and we have one wheel speed sensor from each wheel running into the controller giving live feedback of what the tires are doing. >> Okay. What else do we need to know about this system, Ralph? >> Well, so this system for one again it's automotive grade. So it's been tested shockproof, salt, spray water, cold weather, hot weather. So it's a full automotive grade system. It is a twocircuit system. So you have front and rear axle separate. So, if you lose one circuit, that means the other axle is still capable of breaking and it's still capable of breaking with ABS. And also, the system is smart enough to detect leaks. So, if one caliper leaks, it can detect that and it could just isolate that one wheel. And that means you can still run brakes on all three remaining wheels and just isolate that one and you're not dumping all the fluid out over time. So, why did it seem like it operated the same no matter where the gain was set at, Ralph? Would it didn't make a difference if I had the gain at three or I had the gain at nine? Why? >> Well, because through the wheel speed sensors, it detects slip on the tire, and it's going to give you pressure until it notices slip. So, as long as the tire has enough grip, you can put as much pressure in there as you want before the tire slips. And so that means if you set the gain higher and there's more pressure available or more grip available to make the pressure work, that's why you can set it to a higher gain without locking it or doing anything different. And if you set it at a lower gain, it's still going to try to get you to a certain limit off where the tire starts to slip. >> All right, guys. I'm going to jump in here because this is kind of an important point and Ralph the engineer wanted to clarify this a little bit further and now so I'm going to read you exactly what he sent…