At 02:12 17 May 2007, wrote:
My new (to me) Ventus C came with a decidedly old Cobra
trailer. When
I pulled the wheel drums (one was cracked) the surfaces
resembled a
dirt road after the spring run-off. I replaced drums
and brake shoes
and was back in business. My first towing adventure
included the long
downgrade into Calestoga at the end of which I stopped
for gas, and
casually rested my hand on a Cobra wheel hub in an
experimental sort
of way. EEEyooouuuugh! I barely avoided second-degree
burns.

Why had this happened, I wondered? I drive a stick
shift Volvo and had
followed my usual practice of engine braking with intermittent
use of
the car's brakes. A little thinking convinced me that
the Cobra didn't
know this. Once the surge brakes were applied, they
stayed on so long
as no acceleration was applied to the Volvo. The message
of the wheel
hub was that the surge brakes had been engaged all
the way down that
grade.

Fortunately, another mountain lay ahead of me, and
after towing to the
top of Mt. St. Helena, I applied a new technique to
the down grade -
tapping the accelerator briefly after each application
of the brakes
so that I could feel the surge piston disengaging.
Sure enough, when I
stopped at the bottom for a (very cautious) testing
of the wheel hubs,
they were only mildly warm.

Most of us know enough to tie down the Cobra's hand
brake, which has a
nasty habit of springing shut during a bumpy tow, but
I've never heard
anything about handling surge brakes on mountain grades.
Is this new
lore, or have I misses something that everybody knows?

Matt Herron


Hi Matt,

You probably don't want to hear this, but it is
my opinion and I'm sure everyone else with surge brakes
is going to hate me too, but here goes.
GET RID OF THE SURGE BRAKES. Replace them with electric
ones, with a GOOD brake controller like a Tekonsha
Prodigy or an equivalent. They are much more reliable,
require much less maintenance, are much more flexible,
and bottom line just plain work better and this is
why. (IMHO)
1. Easy to install
2. Easy to maintain
3. Brakes on trailer can be applied independently of
brakes on the car, in addition to working in unison
with the car's brakes, It is just plain nice to have
the option of tapping just the trailer's brakes when
a semi with a 20mph differential speed sets you trailer
wagging :-) BTW I could not disagree more with using
engine braking on any vehicle under 12,000lbs, that
has hydraulic brakes on it. Brake pads cost $20-$40
a set. A transmission costs more like $4,000 and the
same with a motor. Clutches are not cheap either. Just
use the brakes on the car, never ever the engine or
transmission. You are not a big rig truck, and it is
quite unnecessary for safe operation.
4. Electric brakes work as they are supposed to while
reversing, meaning they only engage when the car's
brakes are applied, as opposed to engaging during changes
in acceleration (again, at least with a good controller)
5. They never accidentally engage, like surges will
while driving down a hill sometimes
6. You keep a breakaway backup battery system in the
trailer so the brakes automatically engage in the unlikely
event of a total separation, stopping the trailers
movement and holding it there (20 minutes at max hold
is usually the typical minimum requirement for the
breakaway kit's internal battery) as opposed to it
free rolling like what would happen with surge brakes.
Good breakaway kits have a built in charger and a charge
indicator test light, that charges automatically while
engaged to the tow vehicle.
7. You can adjust the brakes, WHILE DRIVING, to suit
ever changing road conditions, like mountains, hills,
curvy roads, thick traffic, open road, etc; meaning
the voltage they initially engage at and how quickly
they ramp up to full holding power is adjustable while
in motion, and quite easily. (most good elec brake
controllers have this feature, coupled with an output
voltage readout)
8. Much more reliable after sitting around unused for
a season or two, and are easily tested. I know more
than one person that has been in a rear-end incident,
because unknown to them the finicky surge mechanism
froze up or got sticky (Dick Johnson is one of these
people, but it was not his trailer and he was not driving).
I'm sure there have been worse accidents due to this,
but that is just my speculation.
9. Parts are readily available, and do not need to
be ordered form Germany
10. The system is inexpensive, my brake system cost
me less than $400 (smart shopping that is, but it can
be done even dumb shopping for less than $600) including
a new axle and a top of the line controller.

I would be more than happy to put together a parts
list for you, or anyone else interested in converting
their trailer to electric brakes, based on the individual
trailer. It is quite an easy conversion, and there
are many benefits to this type of system. Me personally,
I want to do everything in my power to protect my aircraft,
and electric brakes is one way to do that. Again, this
is all IMHO, and I have no ties to the brake industry,
or any others. Bottom line it that good electric brakes
can by far outperform any surge system, in the short
or long term. It is clearly a superior design. Sorry
to anyone with surge brakes that this offends. Lucky
for you it is usually cheaper to switch over to a full
electric system than to fix problems you will run into.
The only disadvantage I know of is the trailer can
then only be safely towed (if you consider brakes a
necessity for safety, which you should) by the vehicle
with the controller installed in it. A small price
to pay I'd say.

Paul Hanson


"Do the usual, unusually well"--Len Niemi