UnrepentantSinner
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Not sure what kind of braking system this is, whatever it is, it's been unhooked. Anyone have any thoughts on it?
Picked up a trailer not sure on brakes..
- Thread starter UnrepentantSinner
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Not sure what kind of braking system this is, whatever it is, it's been unhooked. Anyone have any thoughts on it?
yeehaw
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surge brakes, they are good and bad. My skidster trailer has them, they are great cause you almost always know when they are working. But with mine, if it is slick out they lock up pretty easy.
UnrepentantSinner
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Thanks, haven't ever seen surge brakes, just heard about them. Is there a way to convert them over to electric easily? Otherwise, I'll have to see if I can find a schematic and get these this operational again.
Our bobcat trailer has them. I hate them. If there is not enough tounge weight the brakes will go on and off when braking. In a bind they really make your knuckles turn white, the brakes activate when backing up a driveway, and there is no braking when backing down a driveway.
1ofakind79
New member
Also if you were to stop on a hill facing up like at a traffic light all of your holding power is from you trucks brakes. If you tow one of these trailers alot your trucks brakes will not last aslong as if you had electric brakes on the trailer.
Got the same setup on my flatbed. Mine are unhooked as well, almost lost it in the snow 2 years ago and decided that was enough. I looked into converting to electric but couldn't fine anything for 8 lug axles. If I used it more I'd get rid of mine and get a gooseneck.
more or less, yes.... electric brake backing plates bolt right up in place of your current hydraulic backing plates and then you just have to run the wiring....
what i have done when i convert a trailer from surge to electric is I weld up the slider portion of the tongue so it doesnt slap back and forth....
PM me anytime, my day job is a trailer mechanic.
Do you have a source for parts. Id like to convert mine.
4.0l sahara
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etrailer.com
You could convert to electric over hydraulic too.
You could convert to electric over hydraulic too.
yes i do... pm me.
personal opinion, not the best option.... the list of reasons why is long and distinguished but thats just my opinion. only the extremely high end, overly expensive actuators lack the lag between applying the brakes and actually actuating the trailer brakes, and have the consistency that i would expect from such an expensive system....
nothing wrong with electric brakes if taken care of.
well if someone would get that giant pile of @#$@ off of it, it might get fixed
opcorn:
94.5 Stroker
New member
You can always do electric over hydraulic set up
GCncsuHD
New member
As mentioned, they are surge brakes, you can bolt on electric brakes in place of the hydraulic brakes. I would prefer that method for simplicity, because you will know what you have and the condition. Electric over hydraulic will actually stop a little harder than electric only, but the setup is more expensive then buying new electric brakes, and you may wind up having to replace several of the hydraulic components to get it to work anyhow.
I have one surge brake car hauler trailer (ex-uhaul trailer) while I do agree, it isn't as predictable or nice to pull as our electric brake trailers, but the versatility is nice. Not every one of our vehicles has a brake controller, so the ability to hook it to one of those, or lend it to a friend and still have braking is nice. Other than the annoying clunk, I have never had an issue with it, our surge brake system "free backs" meaning when you first reverse, it does lock down the brake, but they release once the wheel rolls backwards like they should.
Also, I would check out your braking system closer, the fact that the hookup has been changed to a 7 way, and I'm not sure what the black box on the left is, but it looks sorta like a electric breakaway system, I wonder if it hasn't already been converted to electric?
I have one surge brake car hauler trailer (ex-uhaul trailer) while I do agree, it isn't as predictable or nice to pull as our electric brake trailers, but the versatility is nice. Not every one of our vehicles has a brake controller, so the ability to hook it to one of those, or lend it to a friend and still have braking is nice. Other than the annoying clunk, I have never had an issue with it, our surge brake system "free backs" meaning when you first reverse, it does lock down the brake, but they release once the wheel rolls backwards like they should.
Also, I would check out your braking system closer, the fact that the hookup has been changed to a 7 way, and I'm not sure what the black box on the left is, but it looks sorta like a electric breakaway system, I wonder if it hasn't already been converted to electric?
if the actuator is "clunking" its not working properly.... that means it is bottoming out which in turn means your either low on fluid and have air in the system, or your brakes are out of adjustment/wore out.....
GCncsuHD
New member
It isn't bottoming out, isn't low on fluid, pretty sure no air in the system, and the brakes are adjusted. The clunk is not when you are stopping, but when it releases as you take off and the actuator extends. Completely normal, I have never pulled a surge brake trailer that didn't do that on take off with the exception of a much quieter "clunk" when using those fancy shock absorbing ball mounts.
Im not arguing, I agree its rather normal, but if all the bushings and everything are tight, it wont clunk.... now on my truck I get a clunk with everything because I have over loaded my reciever hitch and slightly ovaled out the pin hole....
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