help with surge brakes - Maxum Boat Owners Club

NSWCAEGF7 · 02-15-2009, 06:29 PM

Hello to all. We just drove 6 hrs to pick up our new toy and are on our way home. We got a 2100 sr that came with an Escort trailer with surge brakes. It seems to be tugging on the truck a lot when the road is bumpy. Not sure if its the surge brakes engaging or we're just not used to it. It does it even when going uphill. The truck is a ford f150 5.4 L. Got at least 5 more hrs on the road so any advise would be appreciated.

Stressleave · 02-15-2009, 06:38 PM

Are your hubs smoken hot when you stopped to check them.
Do both sides feel the same temperature?
A bumpy road could cause some weird feelings on the truck but not going up hill.
When I had a sticky brake on our old trailer we also had some vibration to go with it.
Check the brake fliud on the trailer, you could have a leaky cylinder.
Hope this helps
Paul

Flying_Maxum · 02-16-2009, 11:52 PM

I had the wheel cylinders on a couple of mine lock up completely. Could still pull the trailer, but it was like the brakes were partially engaged the whole time. Turns out my whole brake system was a mess. The previous owner did not use the trailer much apparently, I had to completely bleed the system of all the old fluid, replaced all four wheel cylinders and replaced one brake line. They work great now, the only issue I still seem to have is trying to back up, I thought there was some kind of reverse lock out, but I get resistance. Might have to switch to electric brakes one day. If your wheel cylinders are locked, you wont be able to easily find the parts around town, except from a boat service center. The auto parts stores around here and the trailer dealers dont carry marine stuff. Seems like I ordered my parts from Boatfix.com, but I am not sure. What year 2100 do you have? I have a 97 2100 SR2, great boat for the family, plenty of room.

tglee · 02-17-2009, 02:54 PM

Quote:

...I thought there was some kind of reverse lock out, but I get resistance.

You should see a selenoid with a wire coming from it. This is what connects to your reverse light circuit. If you are using a 4-pin flat plug for your tow vehicle connection, then you need an extra wire to connect the selenoid.

This is a typical reverse lock out kit:

I get my trailer parts here, they have everything:
http://shop.easternmarine.com/

Flying_Maxum · 02-17-2009, 05:51 PM

Well thats just skippy, I dont have one of those. This is my first experience with trailer brakes, I thought the reverse lockout might be mechanical. Doesn't look like it would be too hard to install, might have to pick one up.

tglee · 02-17-2009, 06:34 PM

Here is a link to installation instructions: http://www.tiedown.com/pdf/a152.pdf

Flying_Maxum · 02-18-2009, 05:15 PM

I see that most of these are for disc brake setups, mine are drums which are supposed to apply only part pressure in reverse. One of these solenoids says it is compatible with drums as well, so now I have no idea if I should use one. Sorry to have hijacked this thread, still waiting to hear from the author what the outcome was!

Stressleave · 02-18-2009, 11:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flying_Maxum

I see that most of these are for disc brake setups, mine are drums which are supposed to apply only part pressure in reverse. One of these solenoids says it is compatible with drums as well, so now I have no idea if I should use one. Sorry to have hijacked this thread, still waiting to hear from the author what the outcome was!

Have you had your drum brakes apart?
Are both your front and rear shoes in each brake the same?

Some drum brake systems have free backing shoes on the forward shoe in each brake. This is a two part assembly which allows the front shoe to swivel back when aplied in reverse thus having no brake action.
The rear shoe is a solid one piece shoe.
In forward braking the shoe connot swivel so you have normal braking.
In this system you do not need a solinoid on the brake cylinder.
I had this system on my last trailer and it worked fine.
Paul
http://drydockboat.com/ProductView/Boat ... cking.aspx

NSWCAEGF7 · 02-19-2009, 01:07 PM

We made it home, but it wasn't pretty. After checking the temps on the hubs (cool to the touch) we made it about another 3 hours then all hell broke loose literally. The hitch jumped off the ball, the boat and trailer swayed violently from side to side until the winch strap broke then the chain broke the bow eye. Next thing I know I’m looking at my boat sitting on the pavement blocking 2 lanes of I85 in North Carolina. Luckily I had gotten the truck slowed to around 30 to 35 MPH by the time it came off the trailer so it just slide about 50 feet and did not flip. So far everyone that has looked at it say they are amazed at the condition there really is minimal damage for what it went through, I’m taking it to the repair shop today hopefully they say the same thing. I had the brake actuator replaced before we got back on the road and the ride is 100% better so I think there was something wrong with the actuator that was on it, but not having any experience with surge brakes I wasn’t able identify it and just had the I’ll get it home and figure it out mentality. Kind of a rough learning experience but at least I had put insurance on it before I left the hotel. Sorry for such a long post but I thought the story was worth sharing.

seapuppy · 02-19-2009, 01:51 PM

wow!!..thanks for sharing and glad no one was hurt!!..also glad the damage was minimal....which also translates to not expensive..

keep us informed and take pic's so we can see!!.

SP

Stressleave · 02-19-2009, 07:48 PM

Hey
I am so sorry to hear about your aweful experience after you made a attempt at finding the problem through us.
That has to be every trailer boaters worst nightmare.
We all feel your pain when it comes to looking at damage to our new toys. I am glad it looks minimal and hope you get a perfect fix and have a great season on the water.
Cheers
Paul

tglee · 02-20-2009, 07:46 AM

Glad to hear you are ok and the boat isn't that bad.

What do you think actually caused the trailer to come off the ball?

It seems like the safety chains worked to keep the trailer off the ground, even though the end result was less then desirable. Learning that the bow eye broke is disturbing, I thought that would have held the boat on the bunks once the strap snapped.

Thanks for sharing your experience with us.

NSWCAEGF7 · 03-07-2009, 01:24 AM

Holy crap fiberglass repair is expensive!!!!! We just got back the estimate from the shop and insurance adjuster and was told that we were only a couple of hundred from them totaling the boat (almost 11K). And all that for basically cosmetics, they haven’t found any cracks or structural problems, but thankfully the insurance company has approved the repairs and they should start soon. After talking to the shop he explained that they have to repair the hull and the trailer back to the condition it was in before the accident and since there is no way of telling what damage was there before he said they had to return it to new condition. So I guess in 4 to 6 weeks I should have a shiny new hull. On a different note my wife says we need to name the boat Mad Max II (The Road Warrior) I know that isn’t real original for a Maxum boat but considering the history it’s pretty appropriate.

seapuppy · 03-07-2009, 03:13 AM

haha....now that's funny!!..good luck with the fiberglass work....how bout taking some pic's of the damage before and after!!..

SP

tglee · 03-07-2009, 05:49 AM

I was still wondering. What do you think actually caused the trailer to come off the ball?

NSWCAEGF7 · 03-07-2009, 07:36 PM

No pics of the damage, you really can't see much anyway. Just the bottom scratched up a bit. I do wish I would have taken some pics of her on the road but at the time it really wasn't something I wanted to remember.

As far as what caused it I think it was the brakes. The constant tugging or lurching of the trailer snapped the pin holding the handle down and then it released and came off the ball then we were all along for the ride from there out. That's my guess anyway. What really sucks is we where looking for a place to stop for gas, lunch and check the brakes and trailer to make sure everything was still connected and working. I guess I waited just a little too long. I will post some pics when we get her back home. I did post one from the dealer, not sure if its working because I get a server error when I try to open it on the site.

Mad Max · 03-09-2009, 02:45 AM

Ouch! So much for 'cosmetic' budget repairs. At least no 'skin' was hurt or damaged.

I approve of the 'Road Warrior' reference (Mad Max II).