trailor brake issues

[devovino]

So recently my trailor brakes have been acting up, it seems everytime after we launch the boat and go park the trailor, when my wife goes to pick it up after boating she gets i'm to drive too the ramp the brakes are locked up somewhat and the trailot is bouncing up and down squealing the tires. This last time we felt like the brakes were dragging the whole way home. I did recently adjust the brakes, wonder if thay has something to do with it? These surge brakes have always been a PITA, and considered rebuilding them, or replacing them with electric brakes, just wondering if anybody had the same experience or if its just me?

[tg0824SSVGG]

Bouncing while backing or going forward?

If backing, they are working and you need to use the lockout to allow you to back

If forward, then something is stuck or too tight


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[devovino]

Yeah this bouncing happens when we get the trailer form being parked after backing it down the ramp. So it is going forward when it is bouncing, headed back to pick the boat up out of the water I have never used the "lock out" on the trailer, is it necessary to use this? I assumed since backing down the ramp all the weight is going backward and keeping the brakes from actuating since it the equivalent of going up a hill? Maybe when I adjusted the brakes they got to tight, however I did jack up each wheel when I adjusted the brakes, and freewheeled each tire to make sure it was not to tight? Is there auto adjust on trailer surge brakes like some drum brakes that when you are backing up you can step on the brake to adjust them?
Either way, I hope I can get it figured out simply enough, I trailer the boat 30 minutes each way to the lake, so trailering is a big part of boating for us- a necessary evil for us! ;-(

[92SupraComp]

do you really need the brakes???? i mean the boat cant be that heavy. our Martinique weighs 3500 lbs and then the trailer is about another 1000 or so lbs. so almost 5,000 lbs total behind our 1500 Suburban and it has no prob stopping with the boat. and the suburban weighs over 6000 lbs empty and with everyone and everything in the car its over 6800 lbs. so total that up to almost 12,000 lbs and it does just fine. it also help it you down shift going down hills and stopping. (use good brakes too! not cheap ones)

[devovino]

I dont think its a matter of needing the brakes or not, I tow with my Duramax 1 ton, so stopping, towing, and going is not a problem. Its more the fact that the brakes are not functioning correctly, and since there on the trailer might as well have them assisting with the braking. I also tow a horse trailer that has more weight when its loaded with 3 horses, but it also has electric brakes and there for a reason, to not put all the braking duties on the truck.

[92SupraComp]

i know they are there for a reason but they aren't really necessary if you use a towing vehicle. the three boat trailers we have, each one has brakes. none of them ever worked. and we have never had a problem with them or have had the need to get them working. i say just set them as far away from the drums as possible and just use the trucks brakes. we always use ceramic brakes and they never get hot.

the only non-tandem is the Supra trailer. its nice for turning but going down the highway it really likes to fish tail.

[wotan2525]

Sounds like they are sticking for some reason. They are self adjusting drum brakes. When you said that you "adjusted them" what do you mean? Did they work before that? Something is obviously up.

[devovino]

Yeah they got out of adjustment and everytime I would brake they would chatter and vibrate pretty bad. The mechanic at the Fire Station said it was a problem with the breaks being out of adjustment, and drums being out of round. So to adjust them there is a star/sprocket you can access on the back of each drum you can spin with a screw driver, it essentially pushes the brake pads outward towards the drums, and the vibration stopped, but maybe backing up made the brakes readjust and now they are causing the brakes to drag? I am tempted to just back the brakes all the way out and just use truck brakes.....

[Jetlink]

the only non-tandem is the Supra trailer. its nice for turning but going down the highway it really likes to fish tail.

Sorry for the thread jack but, I also have a single axle trailer for our comp and it never sways at all regardless of speed. Coming home from Michigan, glanced down and noticed I was doing 75MPH, new truck just makes towing so nice. Anyway, I bet you have a balancing issue with your trailer because I can't even get mine out of the shadow of the tow pig if I tried.

[devovino]

So I jacket up the trailer and checked the free-wheel of all the tires this morning, seems the front left was pretty tight, and it was not this tight when I adjusted it. SO I am wondering if it self adjusted too tight when backing and applying brakes, seeing that I now know they are self adjusting drums. So I backed off the adjustment and it now freewheels easier, and I am going to use the back up lock out system on the trailer when unloading at the boat ramp, see if it prevents the problem? Well we will see what happens, off to the lake for some mid 90 degree boating, if the wife agrees, pump up 2000 lbs and surf, via con dios!