surge brakes

[robert pierce]

how can you tell if your surge brakes are working on your trailer?when i rotate the wheel i can feel brake shoes rubbing the brake drum and i can also tell the hitch is moving the pump when stopping, but how do you tell if brake are actually working and moving brake fluid?first owner did not maintain brakes.thanks

 

[Mike B]

The advice I got

was to jack up a wheel, then stick a screwdriver in the hole just ahead of the plunger, and jam it such that the plunger is actuated, then verify that the wheel can't be turned. I was also advised not to actuate the emergency lever since a rebuild is necessary once that is triggered. There is another type of coupler out there, and may require a different procedure.

 

[Andy Hansom]

testing surge brakes

See if you can back up a hill. This always caused my surge brake to lock up and bring me to a stop. Andy Hansom

 

[Ed Allen]

drive on to the dirt

drive onto a dirt road and put on the breaks hard the trailer wheels should lock up and slide. you can tell if one or both ar working.

 

[Mike B]

Backing up a hill doesn't work if you have

freebacking brakes. Check pg. 660 of West Marine catalog to see if yours look like this. If both shoes look about the same, then backing up a hill should be a good test.I'm gonna try the dirt test this weekend - sure would be easier than jacking up the trailer.

 

[Jay]

Even easier

Similar to the first response, but a bit easier: hitch up to your car/truck, and then remove the pin which holds the tow bar (the straight thing with the ball on it) to your trailer hitch. Pull forward, so now your tow bar is hanging loose by the ball, not connected to your car. Now jack up a wheel, and use the bar to actuate the braking mechanism while spinning the jacked up wheel. In other words, the bar makes a nice strong lever arm, which makes it much easier to pump the brake cylinder. This method came from the guy who inspected our trailer: I couldn't do anything with a screwdriver, myself.cheers.