surge brakes

[DThibault]

I have a 2001 with a Jordan controller and a 1991 with an antique electronic controller and they work pretty good but I recently bought a used boat with stainless steel disc surge brakes and they work so well I am surprised that there is any other type. Can anyone tell me why the industry drifted away from such a good system. thanks

 

[illflem]

I agree they work great, U-Haul uses them on their thousands of rental trailers. Problem is federal regulations cover any vehicle with a gross weight of over 10k or any vehicle used in interstate travel. These rules require a vehicle's brakes to work at all times and under any condition. Surge brakes do not meet this criteria because they only work when a trailer is moving forward. When the forward motion stops, the brakes are released. The brakes do not work at all when a vehicle is going backwards. Under 10k and they're legal and fine but not in all states.

 

[klenger]

The surge brakes would not stop the trailer if it disconnected from the tow vehicle either.

 

[tgbol]

The bigggest problem with surge brakes is they don't meet DOT requirement that they can be controlled from within the cab. There is a company that makes an electric master cylinder system that does meet DOT.

 

[Scot]

I will try and post the picture of a dana 60 axle tomarrow. It has a textbook spiral fracture. It was ruined by a defective surge brake on a U-Haul 6x12 trailer.



A neighboring fire department has an short heavy breathing air trailer with a surge brake. You talk about one miserable trailer to pull. Every bump sets the brake to some extent.

 

[Mopar_Mudder]

Plus they are really fun to try and back up a steep hill then loaded

 

[DThibault]

The modern surge brakes are equipped with an electronic lockout valve that is tied in with your backup lights so there is no problem backing up. So far in the posts the only real problem is there are no brakes if the trailer comes unhooked from the tow rig. They just work so smoothly, the harder you stomp on the pedal the more pressure goes to the trailer's master cylinder. It is like the trailer is not even there. I am not about to switch all my electric brakes to surge, but so far there has been no maintenance keeping these babies going even in salt water.

 

[Mopar_Mudder]

I wonder what happens up here in the great white north when the roads are snowy and icey. Hit the brakes and the truck slide not enough force to apply the surge brake so the trailer feels free to shove you on down the road, could be interesting

 

[tgbol]

Scot

I have seen the carnage you speak of. Tongues, Hitches, Frames and much more.

Like anything else surge brakes need to be maintained properly. If the controller (M/C) is not lubed, worn or tweeked the brakes will not apply smoothly. Also most have a shock absorber to control the jerkyness if the system. If this shock is to heavy the brakes will not apply at slower gentle stops. If it is bad or too soft the brakes will over-apply release and reapply cause a BAD jerking motion. As for break away all of the ones I have seen have a cable or chain the is connected to a lever that jams the M/C on when it is yanked.

 

[dshockley]

We have a 26' stock trailer that weighs in around 24k loaded. It occasionally gets pulled with the 3500 4x4 ctd. It is equipped with a vacuum over hydraulic braking system. After pulling that trailer, I would not have a high GWR trailer with any other braking system. It is absolutely seamless and will STOP right now even when fully loaded. I used to pull it with a 1970 D500 that had 4 wheel drums. The truck and trailer would stop faster than just the truck even when fully loaded. Deffniately worth the extra $1000 for the trailer and $600 for the controller!



Just my two cents.

Dan

 

[illflem]

Dan what did you do about the vacuum pump?

When I had my 30' GN that hauls 26k built I had the option of vac/hydraulic or electric. Trailer guys said that the stock Dodge vacuum pump wasn't enough and that a belt driven one would have to added at considerable expense. Also said that these pumps were prone to failure. I went with electric.

 

[dshockley]

We have a 5 gal tank on the trailer for reserve and use the stock vacuum pump. We have had no problem. He have a vacuum gauge in the cab and it has never dropped into the problem zone.



It has worked great for us, and when we were switching the control unit from the D 500, there was no concern raised. .



Dan