TERMIUM Plus®

The Government of Canada’s terminology and linguistic data bank.

OVER-RUN BRAKE [1 record]

Record 1 2023-12-22

English

Subject field(s)
  • Braking Systems (Motor Vehicles and Bicycles)
DEF

A brake fitted to a trailer or other towed vehicle that prevents the towed vehicle travelling faster than the towing vehicle when slowing down or descending an incline.

CONT

The principle of an overrun brake is very simple. If the car slows down or brakes, the trailer, caravan, boat trailer or horsebox wants to push forward. This is called overrun. In order to prevent that the towed object going too fast for the car due to its mass, the overrun brake kicks in. There is a sliding piece mounted to the drawbar near the coupling. This contracts as soon as the towed object tries to overrun the car. As a result, the brake cables are pulled and the towed vehicle brakes. The result is that the trailer, caravan, boat trailer or horsebox slows down. Increased pushing force results in increased braking force.

Key term(s)
  • over-run brake

French

Domaine(s)
  • Freins (Véhicules automobiles et bicyclettes)

Spanish

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