I replaced my brakes last summer with free backing drum surge brakes on my single axle trailmaster boat trailer. I just had regular surge drum brakes previously. I replaced them with a kit with the backing plate, wheel cylinder, pads, drums, and bearings. I bled the brakes and adjusted them. Everything seemed ok, towed fine down to Deep Creek and back, but now I am starting to notice an occasional severe locking/vibrating when the brakes activate. It doesnt happen all of the time, just sometimes. Its usually noticable when they start to get hot.
At first I thought I warped the drums, but it doesnt happen all of the time. Its also not just me being paranoid about a minor pulsation, its actually so bad that Ive lost the wooden steps and braces on off of my trailer when braking and its so loud that it sounds like a rig is jake braking.
I took a look at the brakes, and everything seems ok. Nothing is loose or super rusty and I used locktite on the backing plate bolts when I installed them. I guess I could put a gauge on the drums and see how bad they are.
Has anyone had an issue with free backing brakes like this? Any ideas to correct this before I take it to the shop?
I would think that your problem is the the master cylinder on the trailer itself. There is a spring and a shock inside that hold tension, and if they are not working properly I would imagine that your problem is there.
I just replaced mine on my trailer and I love the surge brakes.
Thanks FlapJaw. Its been a while since I made that post. Since then I took it to Push n Pull for an inspection and asked them to check it out. They said everything was fine and couldnt find any issue. They did replace the bearings and adjust the brakes.
Well, it seemed ok for a little while, and at the end of the season it started doing that jake braking again. It seems to be worse after a lot of braking.
I am also thinking the master cylinder. Is the tension spring adjustable? Did you replace yours yourself? Looks easy enough, or at least easier than doing one on a truck. Anywhere good to get parts?
There is no adjustment on mine maybe some of them there is. I'm sure there is many different styles. Replacing it was simple and it only cost around $100 for the whole unit. I also get all my parts online.
I don't have any photos of the unit I bought but it only required drilling 2 holes to mount it.
I had problem after problem with the surge brakes master cylinders changed everything work for a while then fail. I changed everything over to full electric with a break away. I haven't looked back and will never go back to surge brakes again. I had to do an emergency stop this summer when a truck in front of me lost his tarp, if I had anything less than an f250 and electric brakes I would of run the guy over. I get all my parts from etrailer.com.
Aside from the obvious things you`ve already checked (adjustment, full of fluid, brake drums not rusty) since this is a new setup, are the bleeders on the top? I`ve seen some wheel cylinders where the bleeders are near the center and wont purge all the air. One more thing, just out of curiosity.... was there a difference between the backing plates.... maybe on the wrong sides? hope this was some help. Chuck
another thing that is nice besides backing down boat ramps is when towing it doesn't sound a piece of junk with all the rattling of the brake lines in the frame rails. Several of us have made the switch to electric and none of us have had any trouble at all. Also if you get a leak in the system the brake fluid will eat your paint off the trailer and boat if it is painted. I still have a die-hard who has refused to make the switch and he just told me his brakes quit working again.
The electric system is certainly the way to go, but there are a whole bunch of surge brakes out there that work perfectly.... just go rent a u-haul.
The system I just bought from Long Run has a long hose that runs all the way from the m/c to the wheels. It wont rust, but I bet it`s going to be a little mushy. Thats a lot of hose to expand when you slow down and apply pressure. Stainless hard lines are the best, but of course the most expensive.
My bet is with a good adjustment and bleeding it should be fine for a whole summer.
Thanks for all of the posts everyone. I guess I will need to decide on an electric conversion once I pull my boat out this spring and its in the water.
The bleeders were on the top of the wheel cylinders. Everything seemed to bleed ok and I have good pressure at the tongue. The drums looked ok, no rust and the backing plates were marked R/L, so I put them on the corresponding sides as if you were sitting on the axle looking forward at the tongue.
I really should have gone electric when I changed everything. At the time I just didn't want to mess with buying a brake controller, new wiring, etc.
Buy a good brake controller and if your tow vehicle is set up with the tow package there should be a plug under the dash so all you have to do is get the right pig-tail and it is a plug and play installation. Piece of cake.
Trailer Brake Issue
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