Surge Brake to Electric Conversion

roscoe

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I understand the difference between the two controllers. I am going to try the one I ordered and if I feel I need something else I will get it. I understand and appreciate your opinions regarding the controllers. However, not everyone tows the same weight with the same vehicle, therefore the demands you place on your brake system will differ from person to person. I have had no trailer brakes to this point and adding brakes, even with a time delay controller will improve my stopping efficiency. Something I had not mentioned is the weight of what I'm towing, fully loaded with gear my boat and trailer are about 4200lbs. Not all that heavy compared to what a lot of folks haul around.



I added brakes to my trailer, and also went with time-delayed controller.


Works fine for my situation.

I am towing much less weight than than just about anyone with trailer brakes.
Trailer is only 2000#, behind a 4700# tow vehicle.

But what a difference the brakes make.
 

JJBoatr

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I added brakes to my trailer, and also went with time-delayed controller.


Works fine for my situation.

I am towing much less weight than than just about anyone with trailer brakes.
Trailer is only 2000#, behind a 4700# tow vehicle.

But what a difference the brakes make.


Thanks for your input. Since I've never had brakes on my trailer I doubt I will be dissatisfied. My tow vehicle is very similar in weight to yours and my Four Winns like to push it around a little. It's surprisingly heavy on the hitch for a small boat.
 

Mischief Managed

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Like the OP, I have a trailer that came with surge drum brakes and the cheapest and simplest way to upgrade them was to convert them to electric. In my experience, the difference in reliability between surge drum and electric drum brakes is that the electric brakes are more reliable and much easier to deal with. Dipping them in salt on occasion is not a big deal, especially if, like me, you dip the trailer in freshwater more often than salt water. If you plan to use a trailer solely for salt water, don't bother with drum brakes at all.
 

JJBoatr

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I got all my parts from etrailer yesterday and I'll be putting everything together today. Hopefully the rain holds off so I can hook up and dial in the controller.
 

fhhuber

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I'm not sure any brake system likes frequent salt water...
I worked in a shop next door to a Navy small boat unit, appx 22 ft (estimating) boats on tandem trailers. The boats were launched an average of 3 days a week. They were rebuilding/replacing the trailer disc brakes every 6 months on each trailer. They must not have had much over 500 miles on a set of brakes.
 

JJBoatr

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I'm not sure any brake system likes frequent salt water...
I worked in a shop next door to a Navy small boat unit, appx 22 ft (estimating) boats on tandem trailers. The boats were launched an average of 3 days a week. They were rebuilding/replacing the trailer disc brakes every 6 months on each trailer. They must not have had much over 500 miles on a set of brakes.


I agree. Salt water is an environment that very few mechanical things thrive in. Much like the salt on the roads in the winter up here in CNY. It's very hard on vehicles and requires A LOT of effort to keep things functioning properly while also mitigating damage to the body. Luckily, I never launch in salt water and don't plan to. Even though I won't be in the salt, I know I'll still have maintenance to perform on the brakes by way of at least an annual inspection. Not a big deal to me as I always remove my hubs to repack the bearings at the start of the season. Last year being the only exception because I got lazy and wanted to use my new boat...lol.
 

Lou C

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I'm 100% salt water Long Island region so I will stick with surge brakes which work well for my purpose. However I noticed something interesting while browsing over at e trailer dot com....a 12" x 2" dacromat electric trailer brake! Id think these would have to be more corrosion resistant than plain extricate brakes.
 

Lou C

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I'm 100% salt water Long Island region so I will stick with surge brakes which work well for my purpose. However I noticed something interesting while browsing over at e trailer dot com....a 12" x 2" dacromat electric trailer brake! Id think these would have to be more corrosion resistant than plain electric brakes.
Lol I meant electric brakes...and....why can't we edit posts....
 
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JJBoatr

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I got everything installed yesterday and took it for a tuning drive. How did I not have brakes on boats I owned before? What a difference! It's gonna take some learning to get the gain set right, the drums seemed like they were getting a little too hot to me.
And just to make things easier when the trailer is empty I put a toggle in line with the signal wire from the brake pedal. Makes it so I can just kill the brakes instead of adjusting gain down for the light trailer.
 

Lou C

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How is the manual adjustment on the shoes? I set mine so that you can hear slight scraping but there is no actual drag.
 

JJBoatr

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How is the manual adjustment on the shoes? I set mine so that you can hear slight scraping but there is no actual drag.

That's how I set mine as well. I think on my initial run yesterday I had the trailer do too much of the work. I had the gain at 3.5 on the slowest input speed, stopping felt smooth and almost effortless. I think I need to dial the gain down some more. I'm thinking it's because my brakes are rated for way more weight than its hauling. Boat and trailer are about 3600 as it sits now. Axle is rated for 5200 with 12" brakes. I posted that my axle was 6000 earlier in this thread and I was mistaken.
 

Lou C

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Aha so you could use those dacromat coated electric brakes I saw on e trailer dot com.....as far as I know they only come in the 12" size.
 

JJBoatr

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Aha so you could use those dacromat coated electric brakes I saw on e trailer dot com.....as far as I know they only come in the 12" size.

What are dacromat brakes?
 

JJBoatr

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Ah...I just looked them up. Had I known about them I would've gotten them. They're about the same price as the ones I got that aren't coated. Maybe next time around.
 

Lou C

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Even in freshwater they would be a good idea as far as longevity. My boat stays on a mooring in salt water all season so my trailer does not have to go in salt that often. If I was a trailer boater I'd probably have to switch to all stainless disc brakes ($$$). For my use the drums work fine and are much less $$ to repair.
 

JJBoatr

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Even in freshwater they would be a good idea as far as longevity. My boat stays on a mooring in salt water all season so my trailer does not have to go in salt that often. If I was a trailer boater I'd probably have to switch to all stainless disc brakes ($$$). For my use the drums work fine and are much less $$ to repair.

Thanks for the info and I would've gotten them if I wasn't a new guy when it comes to brakes...lol. I'll see how things are after this season, my trailer only gets dipped about 15 times per season. I'll most likely pull the hub's to see how things look when I winterize the boat this fall. Then again the following year for summerization to see what corrosion has formed during storage in my pole barn. This will help me establish an effective maintenance routine that will hopefully keep my brakes functioning properly through their intended life span.
Thanks for your contributions to this thread, you've been very helpful.
 
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