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Pocahontas, Illinois | I'm in the market for a used bobcat trailer. I've found one I kinda like but it has hydraulic surge brakes. How do these work? All the trailers I have are electric brakes. Are they better or worse than electric? Reliability? I'll usually have this on an '02 F150 with towing package and a total trailer wt. of 8k. or less. This trailer would mainly stay within 30 miles of the farm with a trip or two every year of 100 or more miles away. Thanks |
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Wyoming | I have used a trailer with surge brakes (with and without a Bobcat on the trailer - exactly your kind of load) only once, but in that one time, I did not like surge brakes at all. At some speeds, it is possible to set up an oscillation where the brakes come on, then off, on/off.... as you go down the road. It is more than a little annoying. When it came to just stopping, they worked OK, I guess. As long as I was acclerating, the brakes were off. But when going down the highway with the cruise control set? Oh man, did that get tedious.
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NW Washington | Here is a link to a discussion of the pros and cons of surge brakes. http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/309592-surge-brakes-vs-electric-b...
For short trips and flat country you would probably be OK. One thing for sure they should be easier to keep working than PITA electric brakes which always seem to be developing some kind of mysterious problem. |
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Central / West Texas | Dont try to back up a hill with surge brakes. I am not a fan of them, rarely do they stay working for very long. |
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Chebanse, IL..... | I disagree. We seem to have LESS maintenance issues w/electric brakes than we do with surge. We've got a few trailers w/electrics. |
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North Central Ohio | do'nt know if you are going to run on slick roads but they surge do'nt work on slick roads when the truck is sliding,makes jacknifing real easy.I prefer electric for that reson. |
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Northeast Indiana (Auburn) | Surge brakes work good on hopper wagons if they don't rust up. I don't think DOT will allow the use of surge brakes on any new trailer. The main problem people have with electric brakes is the wire connections. The first thing I do on any wire connection is to solder them. Also I run a ground wire from the trailer plug to the ground wire for the brakes and every light on the trailer. |
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| The soldered connections will break sooner than crimped. A dollop of silicone dielectric grease on each connection and connector will keep out corrosion. Particularly on the trailer to truck connector.
Gerald J. |
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Northeast Indiana (Auburn) | I don't know about solder connections breaking since I have never had one break but I do know most trailers don't have silicone or dielectric grease on the connections from the factory. Dielectric grease is good on the truck and trailer connectors if you can keep dust out of the ends. |
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Brazilton KS | I'll take hydraulic every time. Our car trailer which got rear ended last spring was hydraulic...settled for electric on the replacement because finding one with surge brakes is about like finding hens teeth.
There were some issues with surge brakes regarding some particular regulation which required the brakes to be applied by a control in the cab. I believe that was repaired through lobbying, mostly by rental businesses. |
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outside looking for more corn cobs | I've never liked the surge brakes. The whole principle of usingthe difference in deceleration rates (forces) between truck & trailer just doesn't appeal to me.
I do know that they suck to back up even a slight incline, and it's worse the heavier the trailer is.
Then we had a rental trailer with surge brakes freeze. All 4 wheels locked up solid. The technician came out and backed the brakes off completely. We didn't know it until them but the brakes had been dragging for days while we were using it. It pulled so much smoother and easier. The braking was longer without having the surge brakes, but it was actually easier because it was predictable.
Electric brakes are pretty simple to me. On the trailer you have some wires, an electromagnet, brake shoes, and a drum. The surge brakes also have shoes & drums, so the difference is do you like hydraulics and linkage mechanisms to run them, or a few wires and a magnet?
The electric brakes using the controller are usually adjustable when they apply, and how much the trailer braking force is increased as you press the pedal, making them fairly easy to tune in to your liking.
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Surge Brakes -vs- Electric Brakes
