Electric Brakes?

[rangerdog]

My new truck is equiped with electric brake control. My question is has anyone ever converted their trailer to electric brakes? Its a 2003 EZ Loader with the enertia brakes.

 

[Porkchunker]

Having watched Internet marine boards for several years now, I'd have to say that electric brakes are bad news on marine trailers...especially in salt water.

I converted my hydraulic surge drum brakes to Kodiak cadmium disks a couple of years back. I converted the surge mechanism to accommodate the disks. Here is the link to my well documented conversion: http://www.classicparker.com/phpBB2/vie ... isk+brakes

When I move to VA which requires brakes on both axles of this heavy of a boat-trailer combo, I'll add disks to the second axle and convert the surge to an electric over hydraulic actuator. I will not go with truly electric brake mechanisms.

Dave

aka

 

[Megabyte]

Having watched Internet marine boards for several years now, I'd have to say that electric brakes are bad news on marine trailers...especially in salt water.

Ordinarily I would agree, but I have been hearing good things about electric over hydraulic systems on some of the new, high-capacity trailers.

Eastern Marine sells the parts.
http://shop.easternmarine.com/index.cfm ... goryID=309

 

[MaxOut]

Having watched Internet marine boards for several years now, I'd have to say that electric brakes are bad news on marine trailers...especially in salt water.

Ordinarily I would agree, but I have been hearing good things about electric over hydraulic systems on some of the new, high-capacity trailers.

Eastern Marine sells the parts.
http://shop.easternmarine.com/index.cfm ... goryID=309

I think you misunderstood Megabyte. Porkchunker was referring to electric brakes where the actuators are in the drums (like on most equipment trailers and over the road trailers). Some people have been trying these on boat trailers. Bad Idea In Any Water. Electric over hydraulic are the best brake combo out for boat trailers...I Love them. Similar to a surge system but instead of a surge actuator you have an electric pump on the tongue that is controlled by your tow vehicles brake controller. No electrical parts of the brake system are in the water. This system is especially nice with the integrated brake controller on newer Super Duty Ford Trucks (Tow Command). This system enables you to manually activate your trailer brakes from inside your truck and control the amount of braking desired under normal driving. Ford is the first company to integrate the brake controller into the antilock brake system on the truck and gives you true proportional braking. This is the set up I use and is the smoothest most powerful brake set up I ever had on any boat trailer. I also have Kodiak stainless disc brakes on all 4 wheels. I can activate the trailer brakes from inside the cabin of the truck and use them to stop the entire 18000 pound rig with ease. I never have to guess if my brakes are working like with my previous surge systems. I highly recommend this system especially if you have a Ford with the Tow Command.

 

[rangerdog]

In thinking about it, I agree with Porkchunker and maxout. Putting the magnetic control in the water wouldn't be good at all.

This system is especially nice with the integrated brake controller on newer Super Duty Ford Trucks (Tow Command).

This is what I have now I am more interested in your trailer braking system, electric over hydraulic...

Thanks.

 

[jeffnick]

I've been using totally electric brakes in saltwater for over 2 years and love 'em.

I can't for the life of me figure why anyone would go electric over hydraulic, I wanted to make things simple and cheap. a complete rebuild w/ electric is $50 per wheel = 4 bolts and 2 wires...no broken bleeder screws, no moving/clunking parts in the actuator.

Completely sealed magnets at the drum don't know whether they're in salt or fresh water or air.

 

[MaxOut]

I've been using totally electric brakes in saltwater for over 2 years and love 'em.

I can't for the life of me figure why anyone would go electric over hydraulic, I wanted to make things simple and cheap. a complete rebuild w/ electric is $50 per wheel = 4 bolts and 2 wires...no broken bleeder screws, no moving/clunking parts in the actuator.

Completely sealed magnets at the drum don't know whether they're in salt or fresh water or air.

Are the magnetic actuators DOT rated for underwater/marine usage? Are you launching in fresh or salt water? Many people have tried this with poor results (water intruding actuators). Do you know of any trailer manufacturer who offers electric brakes on their trailers? I do not. They are much simpler and have less moving parts including no surge. Seems like it would be quite a bit cheaper to build a boat trailer this way but makes me wonder why (if it works well and is safe) they don’t do it? Interesting topic. I wonder if it against DOT regulations? I will see if I can find out.

 

[jasperdog]

When I ordered my Sierra 2500 Diesel last spring I opted for the electric brake controller package.

I happily hooked up to my Contender 31T (my other boat) with electric over hydraulic brakes on the trailer and set off down the hill to the ramp. No brakes!!! I know I should have checked them first but I didn't. We made it without incident but it was unpleasant.

When I called the trailer manufacturer he knew about the problem. The GM controller did not "see" the E over H brakes. Apparently some older Fords have this problem too according to him. He said just bypass it and put in a Tekonsha system. The first trailer place could not make it work nor the shop that does our truck maintenance. Finally, the dealer (who knew all about this) took the truck for a day and completely uninstalled the factory system and installed the Teknonsha system.

But the low bidder got the order to supply the brake controllers for GM, you can bet on that........

 

[MaxOut]

When I ordered my Sierra 2500 Diesel last spring I opted for the electric brake controller package.

I happily hooked up to my Contender 31T (my other boat) with electric over hydraulic brakes on the trailer and set off down the hill to the ramp. No brakes!!! I know I should have checked them first but I didn't. We made it without incident but it was unpleasant. Nice thing about this set up is you can (could have) check the brakes from inside the cab with the controller. Even in reverse when you have no brakes with the surge. I have seen heavy boats pull trucks backwards down the boat launch as they stand on the brakes of their tow vehicle. Lesson learned I guess lucky there was no incident.

When I called the trailer manufacturer he knew about the problem. The GM controller did not "see" the E over H brakes. Apparently some older Fords have this problem too according to him. He said just bypass it and put in a Tekonsha system. The first trailer place could not make it work nor the shop that does our truck maintenance. Finally, the dealer (who knew all about this) took the truck for a day and completely uninstalled the factory system and installed the Teknonsha system. There is a fix for this issue that is much simpler than ripping out your existing system and installing new controller. A little late now I guess. Did the trailer dealer know to install the 30/40 amp fuse under the hood to activate high current side of the factory circuit? I know that the fuse is not installed even if you get the tow package. I have installed E over H brakes on a friend of mines Chevy with the factory installed brake controller and this fuse was missing. Put the fuse in and it works. This is the ignition switched 12V circuit that goes to pin # 4 in your trailer connector. The electric pump on the trailer tongue gets its power here and is activated by variable voltage Brake output at pin #2.
But the low bidder got the order to supply the brake controllers for GM, you can bet on that........

 

[jasperdog]

The dealer just changed out the controllers with no mention of this fix. I am surprised the trailer manufacturer didn't know about that fix as he told me he had several customers with this issue.

It is not like GM didn't charge enough for this option on their top of the line flagship pickup that they couldn't install one more fuse.

 

[MaxOut]

The dealer just changed out the controllers with no mention of this fix. I am surprised the trailer manufacturer didn't know about that fix as he told me he had several customers with this issue. I found the fix on a truck forum and was posted on the E over H controller manufactureres web site. It involved a capacitor/resistor added in line to the brake output wire of the controller to satabilize the signal. I didn't need it as Ford is using a upgraded version of Tow Command in 2006 - present SD trucks.
It is not like GM didn't charge enough for this option on their top of the line flagship pickup that they couldn't install one more fuse. I was thinking the same thing?? Although it is a $5.00 fuse:wink:

 

[jasperdog]

The trailer guy just sold me what I ordered. When my new truck with the top of the line everything could not see the E over H brakes he told me how to make it work for sure and it does.

GM on the other hand sold me a truck equipped with an electric brake controller that I assumed (yeah, I know) would work as well as an aftermarket controller. At least I thought it would work at some level.

There is no mention in any manuals furnished with the truck of this problem. Their GMC dealer did not suggest a fix or mention that a fuse would fix the problem.

I guess the real problem is mine for thinking that GM would equip their truck for real world use. These E over H brakes are on lots of trailers besides boat trailers.

 

[Porkchunker]

Electric over Hydraulic is my next big conversion project. I need to add disk brakes to the second axle before moving to VA. Since this stuff costs way too much money, will have to spread it over two years. E over H is the first step since I already converted the one axle from drum to disk a couple of seasons ago.

Dave

aka

 

[jasperdog]

Upon rereading my earlier posts I was not very clear.

The trailer manufacturer only told me how to fix things. All he said was that customers had reported to him that GM's new optional system did not work and that he knew that a specific Tekonsha system did work.

My local trailer hitch dealer that does a lot of work for my construction company thought they could just do the old fashioned GM hookup, as did the local auto repair. Those guys tried and failed.

Finally the GMC Dealer bypassed the original manufacturer's system completely and was able to make the aftermarket system function. They never mentioned a fuse that would fix things.

Sorry for derailing the original thread and for not being absolutely clear.

 

[MaxOut]

Electric over Hydraulic is my next big conversion project. I need to add disk brakes to the second axle before moving to VA. Since this stuff costs way too much money, will have to spread it over two years. E over H is the first step since I already converted the one axle from drum to disk a couple of seasons ago.

Dave

aka

Here is a pretty good deal on the what you would need to complete your conversion. The breakaway kit included is also required under VA law for trailers with electric brakes (another advantage over surge). This is a good deal and they have SS or coated rotors. Just a FYI.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/KODIAK-E ... 4628783548