Atwood Surge brake

[Keven]

I recently had a mishap where the emergency cable was re-attached to my truck . As I left for work I hear the strange sound of the cable pulling the brakes to stop the trailer. After inspecting the cylinder assembly and actuator, it doesn't appear to be damaged anywhere. I refilled the reservior which was bit low, connected to to my tractor and everything seems to work fine but I can't tell for sure if the brakes are really applying. Does anybody know how to check these to see if they are actually working ?

 

[ahein]

Re: Atwood Surge brake

Atwood surge brake actuators use a pivoting action to apply pressure to the master cylinder rod, as opposed to a straight pushing action of other actuators. <br /><br />To check your brakes, jack up one side of your trailer to get the wheels off the ground. Have someone spin the tire by hand while you push down on the ball coupler. The easiest way to do this is to use the ball and mounting bar that slides into your trailer hitch receiver. Lock the ball and bar into the trailer's coupler, then use it as a lever to push down on the actuator. The wheel should stop spinning and not budge when the brakes are fully activated. <br /><br />Atwood actuators are proportional-braking systems, meaning that the more the actuator in depressed, the more the brakes are applied. This is to prevent trailer brake lock-ups when the tow vehicle slows down.