surge brakes

[jackhammer]

what would cause surge brakes to lock up on my boat trailer?

any help would be appreciated.

[ironhead70]

the hitch on mine was not releasing all the way i finally disconected them to save my wheel barings

[HURRICANEBOB]

what would cause surge brakes to lock up on my boat trailer?

any help would be appreciated.

Going forward or backing the rig up? Some trailer surge breaks have a feature that keeps the brakes from working when you are ramping in/backing the rig up. Ohters use a "lock out pin". A pin you put in the master cylinder on the trailer brakes that keeps the surge breaks from activating when you are backing up to ramp in. Could be a faulty shock absorber if your trailer is so equipped with one at the master cylinder. Its there to cushion the little pushes and pulls like when backing up slow, and if faulty, it may make your trailer master cyclinder and there fore trailer brakes hyper sensitive.

Another possible culprit:
Make sure your trailer is level when it is attached to the truck. The height
of the tongue should be at the same height as the trailer frame in the back.
If the tongue is high, it will cause the brakes to come easier. This is due to
the *brake pedal* being hinged. For the same reason, make sure your trailer is properly loaded. Ten percent of the trailer weight should be on the tongue. For example, it your loaded trailer weights 2500 pounds, the tongue weight should weight 250 pounds. If the tongue weight is less, the brakes will come on easier.

[HURRICANEBOB]

http://www.championtrailers.com/brkart.html\

This link will give you a much better feel for how your brakes work.