surge brake problem

[ofo]

I launched my boat yesterday , when I came back to retrieve the boat my brakes locked up in forward , reverse worked freely.

I dragged the trailor over to the launch(noisely!) and once the boat was on it they freed up. I just read-up on how they work and Im guessing the front 'reciever' part was just stuck a bit back.

I have it on a jack and the tires spin freely and when I push back on the piston with a tire iron they stop.So it seems like everything is fine now. I just don't want to launch again and have this happen again so just looking for a biot of advise.Its a double axel trailer with a 23 boat on it . drum surge brakes only on back axel.


thx all

 

[burp]

Re: surge brake problem

You don't indicate the age of your trailer....but a corroded wheel cylinder can cause the brakes to drag/not release. Usually, it's only one wheel cylinder which causes the brakes on one side to not release, but I guess it's possible to have 2 wheel cylinders that are corroded.

On one of my trailers with surge brakes, there was a small medal tab behind the hitch ball opening. If you pushed up on the tab, it would release any brake fluid pressure. This would quickly isolate any brake dragging problems to the master cylinder in the coupler or at the wheel/wheel cylinder.