Electric brakes for boat trailer, nice upgrade.

[Dave R]

I changed my surge brakes to electric brakes last year, used them for a whole season, and could not be happier with them. The brake assemblies were very inexpensive and easy to install. It's nice to be able to control the braking and they are substantially more effective than the system they replaced. I love having trailer brakes that work while backing down the ramp, it's much safer on steep ramps. It's also nice that they don't automatically engage while I'm backing up a hill.

[Winnipesaukee Divers]

My trailer has 4 wheel disk-surge breaks... At first I had mixed feeling about how effective they would be. I also didn't like the slop in the trailer connector. But after living with them for three years and towing several thousand miles, I've come to like them very much. It's great feeling when you step on the breaks and that 9,000 pound beast behind you behave like it suppose too. The slop in the connector is pretty much un-noticeable. The disks are built for repeated submerging in salt water. There is no break fad on long grades. Since they work so well you can't back up the trailer unless you have it plugged into the truck. It uses the back-up lights circuit to activate a lock-out solenoid.

The only part I don't like is, the truck doesn't know the trailer is back there (via electric break feedback) and the trailer stabilization system doesn't work. After towing my new camper for 6k miles this past winter I've really come to appreciate that feature of the new Ford tuck with it Max Tow package.

I've sold my boat, due to be delivered next week, so I'll be looking to bum rides to my favorite dive sites this summer...

[upthesaukee]

....do you mean I will not see my favorite larger sailboat on Winni not parked at the Alton docks, waiting for the Alton fireworks, anymore? Always a great sight.

Back to the thread on brakes....

[Winnipesaukee Divers]

Originally Posted by upthesaukee

....do you mean I will not see my favorite larger sailboat on Winni not parked at the Alton docks, waiting for the Alton fireworks, anymore? Always a great sight.

Back to the thread on brakes....

I hate to break it to you Uppy, I sold Valkyire two years ago... I bought a 32' pontoon boat thinking it would be a lot easier for me to handle, I have a degenerative nerve problem with my hip and was becoming very unstable on deck. As it turns out the pontoon boat was even more of problem for me, so I'm now down to just my kayaks and the RV. At least the RV doesn't move under foot and when I fall off I don't have to swim so far to get back on.

I'm still around the lake... just not so noticeable anymore.

Edit: Make that "Three" years ago... Time flies, doesn'tit?

[Dave R]

Originally Posted by Winnipesaukee Divers

My trailer has 4 wheel disk-surge breaks... At first I had mixed feeling about how effective they would be. I also didn't like the slop in the trailer connector. But after living with them for three years and towing several thousand miles, I've come to like them very much. It's great feeling when you step on the breaks and that 9,000 pound beast behind you behave like it suppose too. The slop in the connector is pretty much un-noticeable. The disks are built for repeated submerging in salt water. There is no break fad on long grades. Since they work so well you can't back up the trailer unless you have it plugged into the truck. It uses the back-up lights circuit to activate a lock-out solenoid.

The only part I don't like is, the truck doesn't know the trailer is back there (via electric break feedback) and the trailer stabilization system doesn't work. After towing my new camper for 6k miles this past winter I've really come to appreciate that feature of the new Ford tuck with it Max Tow package.

I've sold my boat, due to be delivered next week, so I'll be looking to bum rides to my favorite dive sites this summer...

If had disk brakes, I would have gone for electric over hydraulic. My trailer has drums though, so pure electric made much more sense for me.

[Winnipesaukee Divers]

I've been reading about the new Electro-Hydraulics up-grade kits for trailers and find it very interesting and thought provoking. My new RV trailer is 10Klbs and came equipped with over-sized breaks, which feedback information to the truck's ABS system. The truck interacts with the trailer through the trailer stabilization system. If the trailer moves out of alignment it applies the trailer breaks in a hart-beat and pulls it back into line. I don't think the electro-hydraulics would work with this system as there would be little feedback if at all.

It's amassing how all this new technology works. It really improves life.

[Belmont Resident]

I was told the reason for not having electric brakes on boat trailers is because if you use them in salt water they fail from corrosion, is this true?
Are all the electronics sealed in case the ramp is shallow and you have to back in beyond the coupling?
Any info on them?
I have an 8K dump trailer with electric brakes and they work sweet, I’d love to have electric on my wife’s boat trailer, at 8K it would stop so much easier.

[Dave R]

Originally Posted by Belmont Resident

I was told the reason for not having electric brakes on boat trailers is because if you use them in salt water they fail from corrosion, is this true?
Are all the electronics sealed in case the ramp is shallow and you have to back in beyond the coupling?
Any info on them?
I have an 8K dump trailer with electric brakes and they work sweet, I’d love to have electric on my wife’s boat trailer, at 8K it would stop so much easier.

The electric brake parts on my Dexter axles are made of the same materials as the hydraulic brake parts. The only difference is the electric brakes have a sealed electromagnet actuator that grabs the the brake drum and uses the rotational energy in it to apply the brakes. The only potential for problems that's different than hydraulic is the wiring to the magnets. If it's not executed in a "marine wiring" manner, it will corrode from being submerged and fail. Frankly, I expect the electric brakes to last longer than the hydraulic brakes, which I had to repair numerous times. If they do fail, I can get complete replacements for 37 bucks a wheel.

There is no reason to fear dunking electric brakes in fresh water, if you see how they work, you'll understand why. The "electronics" are just a big sealed hockey-puck-like electromagnet on each wheel If you routinely dunk in salt, SS disc brakes would probably your best bet. I rarely dunk my trailer in salt water.

[Dave R]

Originally Posted by Winnipesaukee Divers

I've been reading about the new Electro-Hydraulics up-grade kits for trailers and find it very interesting and thought provoking. My new RV trailer is 10Klbs and came equipped with over-sized breaks, which feedback information to the truck's ABS system. The truck interacts with the trailer through the trailer stabilization system. If the trailer moves out of alignment it applies the trailer breaks in a hart-beat and pulls it back into line. I don't think the electro-hydraulics would work with this system as there would be little feedback if at all.

It's amassing how all this new technology works. It really improves life.

I'm confused about how electric brakes could feed any information back to the tow vehicle. I was under the impression the trailer stability feature was handled by yaw sensors (the same sensors used in the vehicles standard stability control system) that detect sway in the tow vehicle and simply apply the trailer brakes a little with the built in electric brake controller. Electric over hydraulic would work fine in this system. The one downside of this system that if you are routinely abrupt with your steering inputs, you'll use a lot more gas because the system will keep putting the trailer brakes on.

[NoBozo]

Originally Posted by Dave R

Electric over hydraulic would work fine in this system. The one downside of this system that if you are routinely abrupt with your steering inputs, you'll use a lot more gas (AND brake material) because the system will keep putting the trailer brakes on.

(Parentheses above are mine.) This makes total sense. Like dragging a bucket behind your boat while underway. NB

[Winnipesaukee Divers]

Originally Posted by Dave R

I'm confused about how electric brakes could feed any information back to the tow vehicle. I was under the impression the trailer stability feature was handled by yaw sensors (the same sensors used in the vehicles standard stability control system) that detect sway in the tow vehicle and simply apply the trailer brakes a little with the built in electric brake controller. Electric over hydraulic would work fine in this system. The one downside of this system that if you are routinely abrupt with your steering inputs, you'll use a lot more gas because the system will keep putting the trailer brakes on.

Here how it was explained to me by Ford's engineer; the truck's ABS system reads the amperage draw from the brakes and measures it against the stopping power of the truck and makes corresponding adjustments. The truck know which trailer is behind it, it learns it over time and repeated adjustments. Example: when I'm plugged into my new RV it turns the gain down to 5 and we stop smoothly. When I plug into my older five ton dump trailer, it turns the gain all the way up to 10, once I dump the load it runs itself back down to 6 or 7. In the past with the older truck I would manually make the changes to the aftermarket break controller and almost always forget to reset it, only to be slammed into the seatbelts the first time I step on the brakes (lots of skid marks leaving my driveway).

For the stabilization control the truck's sensors gyro sensors do most of the work, but the ABS system takes into account which trailer is back there and the speed of the rig and only applying enough braking power to the trailer to correct the attitude.

On a recent trip down to Florida we got caught in 40 mph cross winds and the trailer stabilization system was activated 6 times. The first time it caught me by surprise as I had forgotten about it , the rest of the times it a relief to know the truck was helping to keep us safe. There is a warning chime, then a display in the message center on the dash then the brakes applied. It happens so fast, I think the warning is just to tell what just happen.

When I'm hooked to the boat trailer with the surge brakes there is no feedback and therefore the truck doesn't known how to respond to being push around, although it does a good job, just not a smooth or easily. I sure the electro-hydraulics would supply some feedback, I'm just not sure how well it will work.

[Belmont Resident]

Originally Posted by Dave R

The electric brake parts on my Dexter axles are made of the same materials as the hydraulic brake parts. The only difference is the electric brakes have a sealed electromagnet actuator that grabs the the brake drum and uses the rotational energy in it to apply the brakes. The only potential for problems that's different than hydraulic is the wiring to the magnets. If it's not executed in a "marine wiring" manner, it will corrode from being submerged and fail. Frankly, I expect the electric brakes to last longer than the hydraulic brakes, which I had to repair numerous times. If they do fail, I can get complete replacements for 37 bucks a wheel.

There is no reason to fear dunking electric brakes in fresh water, if you see how they work, you'll understand why. The "electronics" are just a big sealed hockey-puck-like electromagnet on each wheel If you routinely dunk in salt, SS disc brakes would probably your best bet. I rarely dunk my trailer in salt water.

I just called Joe at Trailer outlet and inquired about this. Unfortunately with disk brakes on the trailer it is not an option. Actually it is an option but very expensive. He says there is an electronic actuator that activates the surge brake. So it is an electro-surge bake.
Very expensive to buy and install from what I was told. For the 2 times a year the trailer is used not at al worth it, although we are taking the boat up to Moosehead lake this year for vacation and thought it would make it an easier trip from here to 95 on all those back roads.