Surge Brakes

[chris75h]

I was able to get a boat last year and have it ready to go but I am wondering what to do with the trailer. The trailer I got was from family and it sat for 20 years in the backyard on blocks. Every couple of months my grandfather in law would hand rotate the wheels and make sure the bearings were greased.

When he put the trailer on blocks he emptied the brake fluid out of the cylinders and it has sat like that since. I trailered our new boat a few hundred miles without any fluid in the cylinders but I am wondering if I am doing any harm. The trailer will "catch and slide" when I stop and go and I dont like the feel of it on my truck. I dont need the extra brakes. The boat is an 1981 19' Cobalt. My truck is fine pulling and stopping.

Should I replace the whole mechanism or just drill a hole and bolt the thing shut to stop the "catch and slide"?

Any input would be appreciated.

Chris

[NYBo]

Welcome to iboats!

Personally, I would fix the brakes. The extra stopping power can only be a good thing.

Running the master cylinder dry like that has probably damaged the seals, so it will likely need to be rebuilt or replaced.

[JB]

The brakes are probably on there because they are required by law.

Even if they aren't you need to fix them. The only time you "need" them is when they prevent a crash. Sort of like insurance.

[chris75h]

I can see them being usefull for sure. They may have been required by law for the original boat it was made for. It was made for a 23 foot IMP and I have fit it to our 19 foot Cobalt. I cut 4 foot off the back to fit it correctly.

Has anyone rebuilt the brakes on an old trailer like this? Is it expensive or difficult? I have always owned smaller bass boats and never had a trailer like this.

[cribber]

I'd also replace the tires while your at it... twenty year old tires are past their time on the road. Fresh rubber all around will keep you on the road. After ya redo the brakes. Ya gotta have those with a setup like that.

[chris75h]

Ha yeah those tires looked great when I picked up the trailer but I didnt trust them at all. The tread was great and the tire shop guys couldnt figure out why I was changing all 4 til I told them how old they were.

[JimMH]

Definitely fix them. I have been pushed through an intersection on a rainy day by a 3000LB boat. Not fun at all. The extra stopping power will help when you have an emergency stop.

[mike343]

All you need is one semi-emergency stop to prove you need brakes. get them fixed.

[tractoman]

I re-did the brake system on my trailer. The master was totally rusted and full of crud. I replaced the master and a few parts on the actuator and replaced the drum brake assemblies entirely. I could have done just the bad components but it was easier and cheaper to replace the assemblies. I towed home about 80 miles with no brakes on the trailer and it felt fine too but they were all repaired before we took the boat out for the forst time. It's not worth the risk of hurting someone. If you ever need them, you'll be glad you have them. If you can do the work yourself it'll be about $250 to get the brake system functioing well again. Plus you won't have any more "catch and slide" to worry about.

[Outsider]

The brakes are doing something if the trailer does 'catch and slide'. I'd get'um fixed, panic stops aren't fun even with good brakes on the trailer ...

[lingcod]

I am in the process of rebuilding the brakes on my trailer right now. I am doing this cuz I had an incident last summer where the trailer hitch pin came out and the trailer came unhooked from the truck. with the whipping trailer behind me the boat then broke loose of the trailer. I had a 21' trophy with a brand new and I mean brand never seen water new 150 yamaha sliding down the freeway at 65mph. came out of the whole thing about $1500.00 in repairs but the brakes would've prevented all this. when the emergency brakeaway cable pulled, there was no brakes. I, like you, thought I didn't need them f-350 crewcab, big camper, no way this boat was gonna cause me any troubles. well, I was wrong. go to Tiedowns website and lok at all their brake parts, figure out what you need and jot down part #s. then do a web search for individual #s. I found alot of good prices as long as I was willing to order from multiple sources.

lingcod

[chris75h]

Great info thanks everyone.