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?