Surge brakes problem

[carl gagnon]

Hi guys!

Took my boat out of storage this week. When I brought it home everything seemed ok but when I baked it up, the surge brakes came on. I couldn't back it in. We looked the wiring over, lubed up the pins, etc. Finally, we unpinned it from the truck, we played around with the safety wire that turns on the brakes if the trailer comes off the truck during tansportation. We backed it in ok after that. My driveway has a little incline going up.

My boat and trailer are procraft. 210 SuperPro, tandem axle trailer 2001.

Any ideas on why this could have happened and what I should do next? Don't want this to happen during a tournament.

Carl Gagnon

[bandit53]

Where to start looking depends on your particular brake setup. If your trailer has a 5 pin electrical connector, this would imply that the backup circuit of the tow vehicle is used to lock out the trailer brakes while reversing. Most late model trailers have disc brakes and have this setup. Given your rig is a 1991, I would guess this to your setup. If so, one of the first things to check is to make sure you are getting power through that circuit and to the solenoid. If you listen closely, you can hear the trailer brake solenoid clicking when it locks out. If you aren't getting power, then check the fuse on that circuit (probably located in a box in the vehicle engine compartment). If you are getting power to the solenoid, but it is not locking out, then possibly the solenoid needs replacing.

If your connector is a 4 pin, this would imply you need to manually lock the brakes out when backing. This is normally done by placing a lockout device in the slide portion of the trailer actuator. I don't know about ProCraft trailers, but on my Skeeter trailer (actually Trailers Inc.), even though I have disc brakes and the solenoid electrical lockout, I can still lock the brakes out manually by installing the lockout device I referred to.

Hopefully this will get you started. You can also get in touch in Lyn at UFP (contact info on this page) who is great with these problems.

[Lyn O. Dyer]

GIVE ME A CALL AT 800-854-1905 EXT.107, LYN

[carl gagnon]

Thanks bandit! Still not sure about this problem. My trailer is a 2001 model and not 1991. I'm assuming just a typo lol. I'll have to bring it to a shop to get the solenoids checked...Yes, the trailer is a 5 pin.

Thanks for the input!

Carl

[bandit53]

Yeah, Carl, just a typo, i.e 1991 vs 2001.