Question regarding Surge-brake slop

I have a 2001 Mastercraft 209 and trailer. The trailer has a ton of miles, but is in great shape. When I start from a dead stop, there is a lot of movement in my surge-brake coupler to the point it actually can make a loud slamming noise if I start too fast. My brake pads are in great shape (inspected them when I repacked my bearings this spring)and the fluid level is at the right point in the master cylinder. When I am backing up the trailer, the area where the coupler slides is virtually at furthest point it can travel. This makes me think I am not getting much stopping power as I brake. Is there a way to adjust the surge-brake's or should I look into replacing the surge-brake master cylinder? All ideas are welcome.

Sounds like you need to bleed the brake if you have air in the line the coupler can act that way. I had the same problem and bleeding thm solved it.

Jason:
Do you have the electric backup feature? If so, then the coupler should slide in as far as it will go when you back up. The reason it does this is because the electric backup soleniod valve allowed the brake fluid to bypass the brakes.

A good test to run is to NOT use any backup feature and see if the trailer brakes actually work. Some trailers have a feature that is called "free backing" that basically doesn't have the brakes work in reverse, so if you have this style then you can't run the simple test.

If you have the type that either requires you to put a pin in the coupler to back up, or uses the backup light signal from the tow vehicle then test is trival: Don't put the pin in, don't connect the electrical, then try to back up!

If you can back up without any problem, then your trailer brakes are NOT working!

If you move a couple of feet and the trailer brakes lock up solid, then they pass the test!

Question: Did you adjust the brakes after you repacked the bearings last spring?

Any slop in the brake shoes will translate into coupler movement.

Had that same problem last year. Purged the line and found air. Since it was clear I added all new fluid. Problems solved. brke shoe slop will NOT translate into coupler movement.

One thing to check is the coupler itself. I am going through the pains of replacing my entire brake system, everything except the lines.

My coupler is a UFP A-60. Inside the coupler is the master cylinder and sping/piston assembly with solenoid, and a shock absorber to balance this out.

If your brakes are not working properly, definately bleed them as a first precaution. It's not that hard and most manuals tell you how. Definately check the reverse thing to see if they are locking, that is a great indicator and is the easiest.

From dissassembling my actuator (which was completely rusted and shot), I took a look at the backup solenoid. Basically it just diverts the fluid straight back into the master cylinder when reversing. There will be virtually no resistive hydraulic pressure when you back up, so the actuator will likely fully compress.

Check to see if you have a shock absorber in your actuator, it may be weak and letting the system buck around when you stop and go.

My trailer is an 02'. We made the mistake of not checking the pads and looking the thing over. We fried our rotor hubs with beat pads. There was alot of corrosion and all the rubber boots were shot on the calipers and in the actuator too. There was rust on everything as well as inside the amster cylinder. 650 bucks later, I am changing the entire system out except for the lines (Calipers, Rotors, Pads, Actuator, Seals, repack bearings), FUN!!!!

Another good thing to do is call the trailer MFG and talk to their tech/parts guy about your problem. Most of the parts are cheap and easily replaced, none of them are made to last forever.

I will say this though, I am fine with going through some pains to do all this myself. I learned alot about the trailer. On the road with bad brakes or a burnt bearing is no time to figure this stuff out.

Find out what kind of setup is on your trailer. DHM online has a great selection of replacement parts from UFP, DICO, etc.

If your trailer starts acting funny, you should definitely get it fixed before more damage follows.

The "shock absorber" on my 04 X2 trailer was defective right from the factory. Every stop would be followed by an unnerving jolt as I'd start to move forward again. I just learned to live with this obnoxious trait instead of getting it fixed.

Well, here I am a year later and the constant beating from the non-functioning shock absorber completely destroyed my master cylinder. Now I'm towing a 4500lb boat with a 4300lb truck, and absolutely no trailer brakes!

Listen to Joe, the shock is like 30 bucks. I just got off the phone with Ken at DHM trailers. He is a super nice guy and chatted for a few with me and confirmed my order was heading out. Their site has a ton of replacement parts:

http://www.dhmtrailers.com

If you have a 5 yr old trailer and do some traveling, you probably need to go through the whole system and look for wear and tear. You can even replace the whole actuator for under 200, it's good piece of mind.

MB Tom, Rod, Notidad,Flux, Joe,

You guys are the best. Thank you for helping me out. I had forgotten about the reverse mechanism on the coupler. Disconnected it and the brakes appear to be working well, as they were engaged as I backed up. I am going to bleed my brakes, and more then likely replace all the fluid just for maintenance sake. Based on what I have heard here I will replace the shock absorber and see if that clears up the "unnerving jolt", if not I will replace the entire actuator. Thank you for spending so much time helping me out. I hope I can return the favor.

Jason,

Here is a link to the instruction manual for the A60. It also has a great explanation on bleeding the system. I just had to do it on my 209 Trailer and it made a huge difference.

http://www.ufpnet.com/PDF/A60-70Maint.PDF

Chris,

This PDF article is excellent. This will prove to be very helpful. Thanks for the link.

sorry to hijack thread, but I have question. One post was mentioning the jolt at the beginning of every forward movement. I had that on mine. 22 ft ski centurion trailer. last trip out when I unhitched the boat I noticed fluid all over my rear window. the area where all the fluid goes (master cylinder I think) had lost the cap and was completely empty. How do I fix, replace. thanks

Chris thanks for the PDF.....