Anybody REALLY happy with trailer?

bluegene":ov0smag3 said:
Please explain "free backing brakes", [someone]. And/or the problem with surge brakes in reverse. I have surge brakes on my trailer. I back up slowly down ramps and into parking spaces, so I'm not aware what happens with the brakes in reverse, if anything. I'm curious about these last two posts about surge braking in reverse.
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A tab in the trailer hitch activates the trailer brake(s) when the trailer decelerates and puts pressure on the vehicle hitch. The same pressure occurs when backing the trailer up a hill or up an upward ramp but not backing into a down ramp (like launching your boat). Apparently, there is a way to deactivate this mechanism either in the hitch (with a screw driver?) or by having a modified brake installed.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Aye.
 
I can't speak to one particular product (if that's what Free Backing Brakes are), but I can say that both of the couplers I've had on my surge brakes had solenoids that automatically disengage the brakes when I want to reverse. They are tied into a specific wire that's also tied into the reverse shifter on my tow vehicle. I believe it's typically a blue wire. It's not something I had to come up with; rather it's a typical installation.

There are two types of solenoids. I forget the details but my original Tie Down actuator had one kind, and my current Titan has the other kind. They both allow me to reverse without a second thought (although the trailer plug has to be hooked up). I think the Tie Down one was slightly more sophisticated (for backing up a hill) but I forget the details right now. There is also a way to manually defeat the brakes, IIRC (e.g. you put a pin in a slot on the actuator and then the ball socket cannot be pushed in, thus the brakes cannot be activated).
 
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