Dumb trailer question re converting to electric brakes

[BlkGS]

Going to be rebuilding my trailer next weekend, kinds came up out of nowhere but that's the plan.
My trailer has a hydraulic actuator, but all the lines were cut off. For the short term, I'm converting to a straight up electric drum brake (against my better judgment vs a disc brake setup). It's just the easier and faster option right now as I can buy a pre-made kit and be more or less good to go.

The question is, can I continue to use the hydraulic actuator coupler on the trailer for now? Will it work fine for just attaching the trailer to the ball, or do I absolutely need a standard coupler?

Thanks in advance.

 

[dgfreeze]

So you’ve got options, really. The best setup to be had is electric over hydraulic. That would be a unit that is activated by the brake controller of the tow vehicle, and converts it to hydraulic line pressure like the surge coupler on the tongue does. You can get them for either disc or drum, the only difference is line pressure. Either way, you can certainly keep using your current coupler on the trailer, but if it’s hosed, I’d recommend welding it so doesn’t slide back and forth. All this said, I wouldn’t think fixing your disc brakes would be too much more money than switching to drum brakes. Drum brakes will rust up and fail much sooner than disc, and you’ll have to run a brake wire to your plug, and if you don’t already have an RV plug, you’ll need that instead of the flat five. All this said, in order the switch to drum, you’ll need two drums, two backing plate assemblies (brakes), the wiring, and that’s about it. Welding the coupler would be just a comfort thing, so it’s not slamming back and forth. The coupler doesn’t care which method of braking you choose.

 

[BlkGS]

Thanks for the insight. It's actually a little more complex, my axles appear to have been replaced and at that point they cut the lines for the brakes and went with idler axles (how nice of them). So I'm starting from square 1 and trying to get something together pretty quickly.

 

[dgfreeze]

Oh dear... yeah, drum brakes will get you much safer for a lot cheaper. I’m guessing the coupler is hosed, if it’s been run for a period of time without fluid. If you’re not in salt water, drum should last a fair while, but if you’re in salt water, I’ll be surprised if they last more than a couple years. Best of luck!

 

[2kwik4u]

Couple of things.

Your SS should have a female plug under the dash to accept the bake controller. That will wire into whatever controller you get. Check with the guys at TBSSowners.com. I'm sure I've seen a thread over there about it. You've already got the 6-pin plug at the back.

In terms of the coupler, the first thing I would check is if there is a lockout mechanism of any sort. If you can simply "lock it out" then I would do that, Just to keep the coupler from moving around on you and making noise. Welding it is a more permanent solution. Likewise you can most likely buy a new bolt on unit for not many dollars that will solve the issue all the way around. I would do that if there is cash and time in the budget.

Last. See if you can figure out a way to put a flush port on the back side of the flange that bolts to the axle. This would allow you to hook a hose to it when you get home (you're in Florida right? I'm assuming you're going to be dipping in salt water here), and rinse the salt out. This will greatly extend it's life and keep some cash in your wallet in the long run.

 

[BlkGS]

If I make it a few years of salt water use, I'd be pretty satisfied by that! I think I'm going to keep it mainly freshwater for the next year or two... Maybe. I can keep it in NC for free, vs Florida which will cost me to store it. Honestly I think I would like to go electric over hydraulic disc's at some point... But I don't have the time to replumb hydraulic lines at this point.

What do you mean about the flush port on the back side of the axle flange?

 

[2kwik4u]

What do you mean about the flush port on the back side of the axle flange?

Years ago there were a set of electric brakes made for boat trailers. They had a JIC fitting (garden hose style) on the backing plate. You could screw the end of your garden hose into it, turn on the water, and flush the interior of the brake drums with fresh water.

I would think you could easily add a JIC bulkhead fitting to the backing plate to emulate that setup.

I can't find a link now, but remind me tomorrow and I'll lookup the fitting on McMaster.

 

[BlkGS]

Small update. I ended up deciding to order idler axles. I talked to etrailer and the rep said that they don't recommend electric brakes fo boat trailers, and that they often will fail on the first dunk in the water. I figured I would just replumb the hydraulic lines on it and either do surge or electric over hydraulic on disc brakes at some point, as the boat is going from the marina to storage with my parents, so I've got some time to figure out the full setup.

 

[dgfreeze]

So your axles are bad? I didn’t gather that throughout the thread, but either way, as long as the new axle(s) have what is called a brake flange, you should be able to purchase all the braking components later on, and just bolt it all up. I rarely deal with disc brakes on trailers, but we convert idler axles to (drum) brake axles periodically, it’s no big deal at all.