trailer coupler

[Jcris]

Hello,
Been working on the boat (1996 fish and ski Glastron with 4.3 Mercruiser) and now that it seems to be sorted I'm looking at my trailer. It's a single axle with surge brakes. I'll admit I'm on the fense, should I change over to disc brakes or stay with surge. I went to bleed the system and found a very rusty master cylinder that just flat needs to be replaced. It's a 20 year old trailer that wasn't used much. So the whole system prolly needs to be rebuilt, new coupler, brake lines, drum cylinders and shoes. The boat weights about 2300 loaded plus trailer. What have you guys used and been satisfied with I'm willing to spend to get a long lasting reliable product. Suggestions, Please.
Thanks,
Jcris

 

[thumpar]

You might as well just buy the whole backing plates for the brakes. I replaced mine with UFP. For the actuator I used an Attwood. The rust probably came from the hard brake likes. I replaced mine. There is a local shop that made mine while I waited since I didn't have the tools.

 

[Jcris]

Yeah I just looked at UFP and they look decent. I'm looking for a complete package. Might as well do it all at once
Jcris
I've also just checked out championtrailers.com and their site is very informative

 

[wrvond]

The disk brakes on my bow rider are surge brakes.

 

[Illinoid]

Most states don't require trailer brakes under 3000 lbs. I would recommend them if you are towing with a smaller vehicle, in hilly terrain or tow a lot.

 

[Baylinerchuck]

Complete backer plates for drum brakes are a much better option than individual parts, and really inexpensive on-line. Surge brake coupler and master cylinder parts and rebuilds are also readily available. Searching online will give you several inexpensive trailer parts suppliers.

 

[frantically relaxing]

For 37 boating years I've dealt with crappy surge brakes and the leaking master cylinders, rusted and seized wheel cylinders that when the piston finally does move, it won't move back (hello, brake fire), all of which applied to our Regal we bought last January. Brakes were totally null and void. Master cylinder empty. Filled it, bled each line, still nothing... That is, until I got to the lake and one wheel started braking but wouldn't stop...

And I don't like surge brakes even when they're working good. So I decided to switch to electrics, and last weekend that's exactly what I did...

============

Off with the old, on with the new. Didn't take long. And the entire brake assembly, for my 5000# axles, with self adjusters, were $47.95 each to my door. Less than $300 for all 6 wheels. And the smaller assy's are cheaper, and if you can do without the adjusters, that'll save another $10 each. $120 will get you a decent brake controller, and you'll have brakes that work, and that YOU have complete control over. Very simple how they work, and a little rust won't stop them from working.

My truck already has a brake controller from my 5th wheel days. But I do need to get one for our motorhome.
I've towed 3 RV's with electrics, there's no comparison.

 

[bruceb58]

I wouldn't install drum brakes on a trailer if they were electric or hydraulic. Kodiak discs are the only way to go.

On my trailer i use electric over hydraulic but surge work fine with them.

BTW, high end 5th wheels aren't using electric drum brakes anymore. They are using disk brakes with electric/hydraulic control. There is a reason for that...electric drum brakes suck. My parents had a 3 axle 5th wheel with many magnet failures.

 

[Jcris]

Hello,
I've decided to go with Kodiak surge disc brakes with a UFP A-60 actuator.
I removed both drums last week and found all components were absolutely trashed. The axle spindles looked good though. I just cleaned them up with some
scotch brite pads and they look new. I'll post some pic's next week.
Thanks guy's,
Jcris

 

[bruceb58]

Good choice

 

[wrvond]

For 37 boating years I've dealt with crappy surge brakes and the leaking master cylinders, rusted and seized wheel cylinders that when the piston finally does move, it won't move back (hello, brake fire), all of which applied to our Regal we bought last January. Brakes were totally null and void. Master cylinder empty. Filled it, bled each line, still nothing... That is, until I got to the lake and one wheel started braking but wouldn't stop...

And I don't like surge brakes even when they're working good. So I decided to switch to electrics, and last weekend that's exactly what I did...

============

Off with the old, on with the new. Didn't take long. And the entire brake assembly, for my 5000# axles, with self adjusters, were $47.95 each to my door. Less than $300 for all 6 wheels. And the smaller assy's are cheaper, and if you can do without the adjusters, that'll save another $10 each. $120 will get you a decent brake controller, and you'll have brakes that work, and that YOU have complete control over. Very simple how they work, and a little rust won't stop them from working.

My truck already has a brake controller from my 5th wheel days. But I do need to get one for our motorhome.
I've towed 3 RV's with electrics, there's no comparison.

New stuff always looks so nice!
Did you also install a break away cable with battery?

 

[Blind Date]

And I don't like surge brakes even when they're working good. So I decided to switch to electrics, and last weekend that's exactly what I did...

Me too. I did the exact same thing you did to the tandem trailer under my SeaRay 3 years ago and haven't looked back. You just can't beat the simplicity of electric drum. And with a proportional brake controller the stopping power/control is excellent. The downside IMHO to electric drum is that you have another battery to maintain for the break-away system. But I'll take that over a hydraulic brake system any day of the week. I've got hydraulic surge disc on the trailer under my Carlson. I prefer electric drums over that system.

 

[Jcris]

This was not an easy choice but I hope the surge system will work better with the actuator I've selected
Jcris

 

[redneck joe]

Proportional controller for sure

 

[bruceb58]

This was not an easy choice but I hope the surge system will work better with the actuator I've selected
Jcris

You will be very happy. Unlike drums, you can easily rinse after saltwater use and very easy to inspect and replace brake pads.

 

[hemi rt]

The biggest problem with surge brakes is you have no control over the braking of the trailer. Fully electric brakes can be controlled fully, going down inclines I use the trailer brakes, manually, to slow down saving the tow vehicle brakes for when I really need them, never had a problem and some of the grades were pretty steep and long. I have seen trailers with surge brakes actually lock up the trailer brakes when going down a steep grade and there isn't any way to get them off until you reach flat ground; and don't stop part way down a grade or you may not be able to pull the trailer as the brakes will be on fully.

 

[bruceb58]

I have seen trailers with surge brakes actually lock up the trailer brakes when going down a steep grade and there isn't any way to get them off until you reach flat ground;

That is complete BS. If you saw surge brakes that were locked up, it was because something failed. BTW, same thing can happen to electric drum brakes that fail and they are way more likely to fail than Kodiak disk brakes. I have a home in Lake Tahoe and go down two very steep mountain passes, one of which is over 7K feet down to sea level. NEVER had an issue with surge brakes doing what you say and that is towing a boat that weighed close to 9K.

I use the trailer brakes, manually, to slow down saving the tow vehicle brakes for when I really need them,

That is a very bad idea. Very easy to overheat your trailer brakes doing that. Shift your vehicle into a lower gear is a WAY better way to slow you down. I am very curious of what size boat you tow and with what type vehicle.

 

[hemi rt]

I tow with a 1990 GMC Sierra right now and pull either a 32 foot travel trailer or our 20 foot Glastron Ski Machine. I'm also a licensed RV tech (45 Years experience), I wasn't comparing drum versus disc brakes at all so I don't know where you got that idea. When I've seen surge brakes (drum type) lock up is when the tow vehicle is lighter than what is being towed and going down a steep grade, nothing failed except the trailer was trying to push the tow vehicle down the hill thus applying the surge brakes which eventually locked up the trailer brakes and would not release until it made it onto a flat area - at the bottom of the grade, tires were flat spotted after that. Also most trailer brakes (drum style) are not set up properly - both surge or electric.

 

[bruceb58]

If trailer tires actually locked up(not rotating and skidding), you will have more that flat spotted tires, you will have a fire as the tires wears through the tread and then explode from all the heat. It's actually impossible for a proper working surge brake system to ever skid a tire since as the brakes are applied, the braking force pulls the coupler back and releases the master cylinder pressure.

The weight of the tow vehicle has absolutely ZERO bearing on how the surge brakes work going down a hill.

So many wrong statements here!

 

[hemi rt]

If trailer tires actually locked up(not rotating and skidding), you will have more that flat spotted tires, you will have a fire as the tires wears through the tread and then explode from all the heat. It's actually impossible for a proper working surge brake system to ever skid a tire since as the brakes are applied, the braking force pulls the coupler back and releases the master cylinder pressure.

The weight of the tow vehicle has absolutely ZERO bearing on how the surge brakes work going down a hill.

So many wrong statements here!

I' glad you are such an expert on this - what is your training?????????????????????