Extreme Trailers Customer Service

I have been having problems with my Extreme trailer. I have taken it to the dealership where I purchased my 06 VLX 2 times for this problem without any fix. They told me that they could not find anything wrong with the trailer.

The trailer brakes lock up going forward, YES forward. Only when the boat is not on the trailer. So as soon as go down the slope of the ramp going forward the trailer locks up unless I am going under 3 mph. On flat land if the trailer goes over any bumps or speed bumps it locks up. The trailer brakes engage and starts to violently bounce, causing the tires to smoke. I have to completely stop and then slowly move forward at walking speed for it to not engage.

I called last year and they sent me some metal tab that fits in the nose of the trailer that stops the trailer surge from sliding back all the way and engaging the trailer brakes. This does not work and it still locks up.

I then called Extreme Trailer and talk to Tom who I was told is in charge of Customer Service. He told me that he has no idea what could cause this. He told me he would have someone else call me that new more about the surge braking system better than him. This did not happen.

I then called him 3 days later and talked to him again. He told me that someone should of called me and that he was sorry about that. He will have someone call me back. No call back.

2 days after that I called Tom back again since I had not heard from anyone from Extreme Trailers. I then left a message for him since he would not pick up. That was last week. I still have not heard from anyone.

I have made a bigger piece of metal that fits where the surge tongue slide back into the trailer. This make it so the surge does not slide back at all. I am hoping this will stop the brakes from working at all. I also found a electrical wire that looked pinched and cut the pinched part out and put a bullet connector in.

I may of fixed the problem, I won't know until I go out in two weeks, but I still can't believe that I have gone through all of this and still no call back. I should of bought the boat from another dealer since I knew better from my first boat I bought from them and I should of bought the cheaper trailer.

Brannon sorry about your troubles. You really need to call UFP, they will help you out. They manufacture all the brakign components and actuators for Extreme. Wouldn't surprise me if Extreme really didn't know anything about your issue. Give Lynn a call at UFP (760) 744-1610. It sounds like one of two things to me.

1. You are low on brake fluid in your actuator.
2. There is an issue with the electric lockout switch on your actuator, or the connection on your tow vehicle. You have to make sure that the plug is connected to the tow vehicle or it will lockup.

You don't need to disconnect the plug when you load/unload the boat.

Brannon,

I have been dealing with this for some time now as well. Mine is not as severe as yours but here is what I have learned:

Tony at Extreme is good to talk to. Ask for him.

The brakes are actuated by the pressure against the tongue. It is pretty common that they tend to lock up when the trailer is empty. Lots of people have experienced this and they tell me just to do the 3MPH thing when going downhill on the ramp.

If the tongue height is too low, and you go over some uneven surface, the tow vehicle will sort of act as a hinge on an uneven surface and you will get the brakes surging and then releasing repeatedly with every bump.

I had my brake lines drained and it seemed to help.

We also replaced the actuator, but it probably was fine. You should not be able to fully compress the surge mechanism by hand, or your actuator is bad.

That is my experience with that. I hope that helps. I may try to call UFP and see if they have any other ideas.

Mine does this too. And my MC trailer did it before. I just lock the brakes out when I'm pulling the trailer with no boat. No big deal.

Havae a friend that had this problem with his old Extreme trailer (towing unloaded). Used to make his trailer bounce all over the place. His solution was to install a switch in his tow vehicle that manually turned on/off the reverse lights. Flipped 'em on for towing unloaded (actuates the reverse override), worked pretty darn well.

I agree with Nu bu on this one...call Lynn @ UFP if all of the other suggestions here don't help. He is a the warranty supervisor for UFP and a stand up guy. And he calls you back right away every time. I had to get a new brake axle, brakes, hubs and actuator and he was very patient and answered all of my questions.

And as far as Extreme's customer service goes...it BLOWS! They don't call back, they don't pass along messages to eachother and every time you call they've got a different guy working there. Good Luck. BTW...here's a link to the manual for your actuator. It has alot of really good information including troubleshooting: http://www.ufpnet.com/PDF/A-60,%2075%20_%2084%20Actuator%20Maintenance.pdf

What a travesty. You're not going out for 2 weeks!

Here is a simple solution that works for me when going down the long steep hill to our ramp that causes the trailer breaks to over heat.
I put a small wire in the plug that jumps the running light terminal to the reverse light terminal. When I turn on the running lights it disengages the breaks just like when you are backing up.
Remove the jumper if towing at night and you want the breaks to work.

Is your trailer level? If the nose of the trailer is lower, it will cause the brakes to lock up. I had that on my first trailer, leveled it, G2G.

BTW, I have spoke with Tony @ Extreme a few times. He was easy to deal with. I had my torsion axle (UFP product) warrantied through them on both my 03 and 06 Extreme trailers. They even got the work done through a non-extreme dealer, but a UFP dealer, Nor Cal MC/Riverboat Marine of all places.

My extreme trailer did the same thing because the nose was down instead of level. Level it out or just a tad high and it will fix the problem.

Talltigeguy, Now that I think about it the guy I talk to was Tony not Tom. Thanks for all of your advice.

When the boat is on the trailer the trailer works great, no problems. If the bigger piece of metal I made locks out the break completely and the pinched wire I cut out make a difference I will be happy.

I still don't think it is right that we all pay a pretty penny for our toys and for us to have your trailer work it has to be rigged with a little piece of metal is a joke.

I hear what you're saying Brannon, I don't have these issues with my trailer you are having, loaded/unloaded. I do have the exact same issues when the trailer plug is not connected to the tow vehicle though. That leads me to believe it's an electrical issue.

Brannon - It's Ryan.

Shoot me an email if you get the chance.

Ryan I emailed you back on your regular email.

My extreme had a similar problem... but it was doing it while the boat was on it as well - solution for me was to replace the hydraulic brake system with electric (since I had the box already installed in my truck). I took it to a trailer repair specialist where they took out the inside components, inserted a pin into the hole that used to engage the brakes, and rewired the electrical to run off the box.

I can't even explain how much better it feels towing - the fact that the pressure's adjustable means you can just turn the brakes down when towing the trailer by itself, and up when you've got the boat on there.

Not the cheapest option, but it worked well for me and I feel much safer towing with this new system.