Surge brake frustrations backing uphill

B

breausaw

New member
I have an EZLoader Trailer with Surge brakes and have a heck of a time backing up my driveway. If I start off with the trailer on flat ground I’m usually ok backing uphill, but if I have to pull forward at all on the hill there’s NO way to get the brakes to release without chocking the trailer tires and pulling forward. When I use the manual lock on the hitch it works until I take it out of reverse then I have to chock the trailer tires again.
I park my boat next to my garage and my driveway is steep and curved, so there’s no way I can back it up with one shot.
Am I doing something wrong or is there some trick to this?
 
I park also have an inclined driveway that has a curve too it. My street however is pretty flat so I usually stop in the street and put a pin in place that prevents the surge brake from activating. It won't activate at all until I pull the pin out (which you can't do until there's forward pressure from the trailer). I'm not sure why your having trouble if your over riding the surge brake unless the solenoid really isn't releasing like it should. The only reason I used the manual over ride was mine would fail to disengage when the reverse lights were on. I have since run a ground to all the lights and solenoid from the trucks pinout rather than grounding the trailer and having the lights attach to it. Now I no longer need to do the manual over ride. Not sure I helped at all.
 
Jay, I am not familar with the ezload trailer manual lock but on my King and the last trailer I had I found the right size bolt to just slip in the trailer slider. I would just slip it in when I did not have the solenoid elec. hooked up and when I had a solenoid go bad. just pull the bolt out when you have completed backing and you are set. Good Luck Ron
 
Jay,

There is a backup solenoid you can purchase but you will need a signal from your backup lights to activate it. Basically, when you put your car in reverse, the solenoid is activated, preventing hydraulic fluid from activating your brakes. Most 7-pin trailer wiring has a pin for the backup signal. If you are only using a four-wire plug in, you will have to convert to the 7-pin or wire up to the backup wire. Once you put the back up solenoid in, you will also have to bleed the brakes.

Back up solenoids can be found on the internet, try championtrailers.com

If the wiring is too complicated, put a hydraulic mini valve between your reservoir and the brake line. Whenever you want to block out the surge brakes, just manually turn the handle on the valve and that should do it. The danger in this is you may forget to turn it back on and will have no trailer braking action when you expect it. Be sure to go to a hydraulic house to get this valve and tell him it needs to be rated for at least 900-1,000 psi.
 
I realize the backup light energizes the solenoid that’s suppose to prevent the surge mechanism from ingaging the brakes, but if the surge mechanizum isn’t all the way forward the solenoid wont work.
Maybe I’ll call tech support at EZLoader and see if they have any suggestions, or perhaps I’ll fashion something that will block the surge mechanism.
 
Like some of the others, I just drilled a hole at the back of the slider when it was all the way out, I have a pin with a ring attached that I slip in the hole before I back up. When not backing up I have the pin zip tied through the attached ring to the trailer.
 
flapbreaker":372t9wb0 said:
I park also have an inclined driveway that has a curve too it. My street however is pretty flat so I usually stop in the street and put a pin in place that prevents the surge brake from activating. It won't activate at all until I pull the pin out (which you can't do until there's forward pressure from the trailer). I'm not sure why your having trouble if your over riding the surge brake unless the solenoid really isn't releasing like it should. The only reason I used the manual over ride was mine would fail to disengage when the reverse lights were on. I have since run a ground to all the lights and solenoid from the trucks pinout rather than grounding the trailer and having the lights attach to it. Now I no longer need to do the manual over ride. Not sure I helped at all.
Click to expand...
This does help Spencer; I’ll check the ground and perhaps run separate ground to plug. My lights work fine though so not sure if there’s a problem there.
So from what your saying it’s possible to pull downhill put the truck in reverse and back up? I was thinking the solenoid lock-out would only work if the surge mechanism was all the way forward.
Thank got we don’t have to launch our boat up hill. :shock:
 
I had the same problem, just could not back up. Trailer hopping, tearing up brick pavers. etc. :evil: :evil: I modified a "C" clamp to fit in the slot on the surge brake where the actuator slides back and forth and clamped it in the open position whenever I needed to backup. That was a reasonable fix but a pain. I found that the blue wire for the backup lockout switch was wired to the wrong pin on the 7 point hitch connection. I rewired that and installed a dedicated ground throughout the trailer (EZ Loader had used the trailer frame). That fixed the problem. NOTE: For any of this to work the trailer absolutely must be parallel to the tow vehicle when at rest. If it is nose down/up the brakes will lock up. Converting to electric over hydraulic is high on my wish list.
 
Boy, I really need to proof read before I hit submit. Anyway, if you are already on an incline and the surge brake is somewhat activated then I don't think putting the truck in reverse will release the brake pressure. I have had someone stand between the boat and truck while I quickly released the pressure from the boat/trailer combo (basically a short roll forward) so they could quickly insert the pin. Not ideal but it works in a pinch. By the way, on my king trailer I am able to use the same sized pin that my hitch is secured with. I just keep an extra one in the glove box. Or a socket wrench handle can work too.
 
If there is not a hyraulic selenoid lock out, you can go to the 5 pin flat (or a converter from 7 spade to 5 pin flat--the 4th pin being the trailer selenoid lock out. It is very possiable that the truck is wired differently than the trailer--that is fairly easily checked with a light soldered to alligator clips as a test light.

I carry chain vise grips, which will wrap around any trailer tongue and work even if there is not a hole for a pin to keep the accentuator from acting in reverse.
 
Solved the problem, no voltage coming from backup lights on truck. I have a 7 to 5 flat adapter that lets me plug directly into my truck, but for some reason there’s no voltage going to the blue wire. So instead of trouble shooting my 7 way RV plug I’m going to wire in a separate 5 plug, that way I’ll know its working right.
I have the A-70 Buddy Hydraulic Actuator on my trailer, and from what I read and from information on their web site, when you put the tow vehicle in reverse the solenoid allows the hydraulic fluid to bypass. Will be nice having it work the way its suppose to.
I lit yea know…
 
I got very week voltage when I tested the blue wire on two different chevy pickups, thats when I drilled my hole for the manual disconnect. Why would there be a weak or no reading from two late model rigs??
 
I also had problems with low voltages from a GMC but no problem with
the Dodge. I used a piece of wood and a c clamp before I discovered the
right part in the trailer package that the dealer gave me. Put it in before
you put a load on it. My only problem was my boat has a low cross piece
that will drag in the dirt if the height is wrong and on the GMC it was.
Bob Heselberg with a 06 3700lb Ez loader in Eatonville Wa
 
Not all trucks are set up with the selenoid hook up on the 7 pin plug. I had to rewire my son's explorer, and on my Ford V 10 RV, the gray wire is reverse lights, so it had to be rewired. The reason I suggested the light as a check, is that volt meters can read a low voltage--but with very low current, not enough to activate the selenoid.
 
K7MXE":7cb3ta9e said:
I also had problems with low voltages from a GMC but no problem with
the Dodge.
Click to expand...
On my 2008 GMC with tow package, there were two red wires under the hood that had to be connected to the battery to activate the tow package. They were taped to other wires near the battery. Apparently GM ships the tow package in a dormant state until the owner hooks it up. Maybe the low voltage was from the two tow package wires under the hood not being connected to the battery and just enough juice feeding the vehicle lights and nothing more. The red wires were a heavier guage and might help to aleviate the voltage drop of smaller wires of the lights that go to the back of the truck. They might feed more voltage directly to the trailer plug.
 
Something else you could do is to wire in a toggle switch on your dash that provides power directly from a switched power source to your wire on the trailer plug. This way you can be on level ground, activate the switch then pull up to your driveway and back in. You just have to make sure to ALWAYS turn the switch off when not in use as it will disable your brakes.

I would wire this in parallel to the normal backup lights. IE: When you flip the switch it will turn on the back up lights too.
 
I fixed my surge brake problem last week. When checking the master cylinder after the winter I found it full of rusty water. So I took the brake line loose, unbolted the surge hitch assembly and threw it in the garbage. Replaced it with a standard 2" hitch assembly....no more brake problems.
 
Jack in Alaska":3gvq1pfc said:
So I took the brake line loose, unbolted the surge hitch assembly and threw it in the garbage. Replaced it with a standard 2" hitch assembly....no more brake problems.
Click to expand...

So -- no brakes now?

Warren
 
Warren,

Yes no brakes now. In 1983 I towed it to Alaska (2500 miles)on the original trailer which did not have brakes, towed it for 24 yrs. w/o brakes and bought the new trailer with brakes that failed after the 2nd salt water dunking. Back to no brakes.
I only tow it now from my house to the launch and back,
approx. 1/4 mile, with a 1 ton dually, so there is no problem in my opinion . If I towed it on the freeways at 65 mph and in big city traffic I would need brakes for sure. I did not want you to think I was being flippant about that subject.

I am just glad it is finally boating time in Alaska and I can splash my boat again.
 
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