Trailer follies

Am 15.06.2012 15:30, Bill D wrote:
On Jun 14, 11:05 pm, Eric wrote:
On 6/13/2012 7:56 AM, Grider Pirate wrote:

I totally agree! Ever tried to back up a hill with your mechanical
surge brakes?? Good luck with that!
My tow vehicle weighs roughly 5 times my trailer with the glider in
it. I don't really think brakes are all that helpful.

My understanding is the brakes release when the wheels turns backward.
Doesn't that happen when you back up a hill?

I have 170,000 miles on my Cobra trailer, and I can't recall ever having
trouble backing up; however, I don't recall how steep the inclines were.
I did have dragging brakes on one side from misadjusting the brake on
that side, but I don't know if that is also possible with electric brakes.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to
email me)

The Cobra brakes have the traditional "star wheel" which automatically
tightens up the brake adjustment when applied in reverse or when
backing up hills with a surge hitch. Surprisingly, the trailer shop
tech said there was no hole in the back plate for manually adjusting
the brakes.


There are a few axle/brake system manufacturers on the market that may
work different in how to adjust, You can get detailed drawings and
instructions for almost all systems, all you need for that is the brake
type (you find that usually on a small type plate riveted onto the brake
base plate, near where the cable goes inside the brake), If you tell me
the type of your brake, I can give you a link to the drawings and tell
you more about it. I have worked with those brake system for several
decades on different trailers, and I can tell you for sure it is not
rocket sience, and usually very easy to fix.

As I understand it, the surge hitch has an air spring inside which
must be overpowered before the brakes come on. If this is working
properly, brakes shouldn't activate anytime except on hard braking.

It is not a air spring, it is just a damper. If on a hard brake your
trailer quickly changes between full brake and no brake, that damper is
no longer working and has to be replaced. Takes about one hour of work
if you know how to do it.

--
Peter Scholz
ASW24 JE