Surge brake actuator replacement or rebuild?

V

volkey

Cadet
Joined
Aug 6, 2010
Messages
14
Took the boat out Friday, had a fairly significant clunk when taking off from a stop.

Upon returning home I was able to manually push and pull the hitch mount by hand, assuming I have no surge brakes at all.

Here's the unit itself:


Actuator by FifthMike, on Flickr


IMAG0238 by FifthMike, on Flickr

Can I just replace the whole unit with this and perhaps the drum assemblies as well and be done with it?
 
Bob's Garage

Bob's Garage

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Apr 10, 2008
Messages
590
Re: Surge brake actuator replacement or rebuild?

the short answer is "yes".

However, seeing as how you have steel brake lines that are probably as old as the actuator, you should be prepared to replace them as well.

And as long as you are going to be doing all that, perhaps you should look into improving your setup and go with disc brakes, Kodiak of course.
 
JSMoore

JSMoore

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Sep 5, 2010
Messages
110
Re: Surge brake actuator replacement or rebuild?

I just went through this with my boat trailer. "Bob's Garage" is entirely right. Replace it all! I started out with the idea that I'd just replace the actuator. By the time I got done replacing parts that were bad, I had replaced the whole thing. Here's the source for trailer parts I used - easy to deal with - reasonable price - quick shipment. E-Trailer
Cheers!
JSMoore
 
Bob's Garage

Bob's Garage

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Apr 10, 2008
Messages
590
Re: Surge brake actuator replacement or rebuild?

volkey said:
How about Titan?

http://www.easternmarine.com/TITAN-Swing-Away-Disc-Brake-SA-Complete-Kit-4843300-0/
Click to expand...

I can't speak to the Titan brakes but my trailer came new with a Titan actuator and Tie Down disc brakes and they only lasted 2 yrs before needing replacement. If you search you will find others that have had the same problems as I did and we all switched to Kodiak brakes. In my area of Florida I could not even buy replacement parts for the Tie Downs.

Further more, do yourself a huge favor and go with high pressure rubber lines, they are easier to work with and don't rust. As long as they are rated for 1600lbs psi or greater they will work fine and hold up just as long.

One other thing, if you do disc get the 2 part hub/rotor for ease of replacement in the future. I went solid and later started thinking about having to replace a hub and the associated cost and hassle and realized I had made an error. Also, the SS set is apparently worth the money, although I went with the cadmium and have had no problems.
 
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