Surge Brakes

[Diamondpilot]

A recent development (last 10 or so years I think) is electric over hydraulic. No magnets and electric stuff at the wheels, just normal hydraulic brakes (either disc or drum) and instead of the surge coupler actuating, there is a electric controller at the front of the trailer, making the folks that like electric happy and still able to handle the demands of boat trailers.

These are by far the worst I have used. I tow 3 boats equipped with them each year about 300 miles total distance. One is 25,000#, one is about 18,000# and one is 15,500#. All 3 are towed using my 06 F-350 4x4 Diesel with the factory Ford Brake Controller. The brakes on all three trailers suck. It beats the crap out of the tow vehicle because there is a lag for everything to happen. When you go to slow down the truck gets pushed for about 1 second by the load then the trailer brakes do its thing and it yanks the truck. I have found not using the trucks brakes at all and just using the manual brake lever on the controller smooths things out.

We have actually timed the brake application and its about 1.5 to 2 seconds. Does not sound like much but at 55 mph its a lot and with that type of load pushing you it sucks. Give me pure surge or electric any day over the electric over hydraulic stuff any day.

Another issue is cost. You must maintain 2 systems. We had the hydro unit go out on the 18,000# trailer and it was about $1000 to replace with us doing all the work.

Chris

 

[oldballs]

It was good to read on in this post. For I kept scratching my head wondering what and where there was something to adjust on my surge brake. ... ... There isn't any! Right? They are factory adjusted with no maintenance required, unless something is broken. You folks with more experience sure have helped this discussion.

 

[Diamondpilot]

It was good to read on in this post. For I kept scratching my head wondering what and where there was something to adjust on my surge brake. ... ... There isn't any! Right? They are factory adjusted with no maintenance required, unless something is broken. You folks with more experience sure have helped this discussion.

All trailer brakes, no matter surge, electric, or a hybrid system need to be adjusted annually or every 3,000 miles.

You need to jack up one side of the trailer, crawl under the trailer so you can see the back side of the brake, remove the rubber plug at the bottom of the backing plate, and while spinning the wheel in the forward direction adjust the star adjuster until you feel a slight drag. Another way of doing it is adjust until you can not move the wheel then back off 8-10 clicks.

Here is a video to help. Same for both electric and surge. This vid shows surge. YouTube - How To Bleed Trailer Brakes And Adjust Trailer Brakes Its at about 2:35 seconds for the adjustment procedure.

Chris

 

[oldballs]

Oh yes, darn it. I forgot about the star wheel and shoe wear. Thanks again.
And if I was really looking for something to do, I'd replace the shoes with pads. But not yet.

 

[77bronco]

My only experience with surge brakes was on a U-Haul trailer a number of years ago. The brakes worked fine except when we came to a long gradual down slope and I let off the gas to keep my speed down, then the surge brakes applied just slightly due to the compression of the tongue. This started slowing me down on the highway so I had to power down the grade if I didn't want the brakes to slow me to a stop on the road.
Just remember that every time you let off the gas the trailer is going to try to slow you down, even if you just want to coast down a slight incline. Not necessarily a bad thing, just something to be aware of when using them.

 

[Eagleview]

The coil spring in the coupling was probably broken/weak in that case , it should be strong enough to keep the trailer back until real breaking force is applied .

 

[podagrower]

don't blame those electric brakes just because YOU don't take the time to properly adjust them when you start heading down the road. Takes mere seconds to adjust your controller to reduce braking power to a level that you feel the brakes engagfe and pull.. but not lock up.

Once you get loaded, then you readjust for that load. For cheap controllers..like hopp and drawtite it's 1-2 dials.. IE.. intensity and onset. for more advanced controllers like a prodigy, it's likely a couple buttons and a dial... no big deal.

soundguy

Hey, hey, hey. Don't blame my laziness for the brakes locking:laughing:

Fortunately (or unfortunately), I don't pull my trailer often enough to know when enough trailer brake is enough (especially empty), so it's pretty frequent to look up at a stop light and see that little smoke trail.

 

[Bird]

U Haul and other rentals like surge brakes because there is no brake controller needed in tow vehicle.

A U-Haul trailer has been my only personal experience with surge brakes, too, but they worked quite well, as intended. If I were buying a trailer, I'd want electric brakes, unless it was a boat trailer, in which case I'd want surge. But if I had a trailer that already had surge brakes, I sure wouldn't change.

 

[brokenknee]

Something else to consider, when considering surge brakes.

 

[oldballs]

:ashamed:I don't understand what is being established here. What's a "Power Unit"? My trailer has a GVWR of 9,900 lbs. It weighs 2,200 lbs. To me that means it can only carry7,700 lbs. So what's a Power Unit got to do with it?

 

[Diamondpilot]

:ashamed:I don't understand what is being established here. What's a "Power Unit"? My trailer has a GVWR of 9,900 lbs. It weighs 2,200 lbs. To me that means it can only carry7,700 lbs. So what's a Power Unit got to do with it?

First this chart says its for COMMERCIAL OPERATORS so it does not apply to us unless you are for hire. Its a good guide though.

As for power unit I think they mean tow vehicle.

Chris

 

[brokenknee]

:ashamed:I don't understand what is being established here. What's a "Power Unit"? My trailer has a GVWR of 9,900 lbs. It weighs 2,200 lbs. To me that means it can only carry7,700 lbs. So what's a Power Unit got to do with it?

The power unit is the vehicle that pulls the trailer (usually a truck). The size of the power unit comes into play because when you are going up hill surge brakes efficiency is diminished. You can argue that gravity helps slow you down in this instance, I will not argue that. This is a chart/formula the feds came up with and I think it should be something one should consider when considering surge brakes.

You are correct on the load capacity of your trailer.

Yes the chart is for commercial vehicles, however if you were in a crash and a good attorney gets a hold of the information, who do you think they will find at fault.

 

[hawkeye08]

Surge, electric, air. Seriously, keep what you have. Converting to electric would be expensive, and you'd need a controller for each vehicle. The only complaint I have with surge brakes is backing up in some situations.

My boat trailer had a gap that I could put a 2x4 in. I had a piece of 2x4 with a wire on it, when I needed to back up, just wired the 2x4 in place and presto, no brakes. Remember to take it out or presto, no brakes when you need them later...

Backing down a hill is fun, especially on loose material like gravel on a boat ramp...

 

[Eagleview]

Roger your last , they are deadly in that type of situation . The trailer will pull your vehicle over the side and far far away .

 

[Renze]

I would like to add some about surge brake maintenance:

As said by somebody else, adjust for brake shoe wear, usually by stars which you can pry with a screwdriver to extend them untill the wheel drags, then slacken a bit.
When thats done, also make sure that the pull rod and bowdens arent too sloppy: When these are too sloppy, you'll ruin the gas strut in the coupling head, causing the brakes to bump.
The biggest cause of poor functioning surge brakes are bad bowdens. as any steel cable, they may get stuck because of dirt, rust or because the steel wires start to brush off. For my 2.5 ton trailer, they cost 13 euro each. replacement should allways be done per axle, and preferrably for the whole trailer to keep the brake force equal to all wheels.

At market sales trailers we renewed brake bowdens every 2 years, because they drove with a continuous 200% overload. (a company had a 5 ton generator kit on a 3.5 ton trailer) At normal use, brake bowdens will last at least 10 years before they age and drag.

when you have one way brakes (backmatic) the backmatic release mechanism likes some copper grease every couple of years to keep it smooth.

 

[Soundguy]

Hey, hey, hey. Don't blame my laziness for the brakes locking:laughing:

Fortunately (or unfortunately), I don't pull my trailer often enough to know when enough trailer brake is enough (especially empty), so it's pretty frequent to look up at a stop light and see that little smoke trail.

man.. I bet those brakes hate you....

soundguy