Trailer brake pin questions. And trailering questions

[NewBoater]

Fellas need some help with this stuff. Trying to get a hold of all of this before our first trailering experience this coming weekend.

There is a "lockout pin" I think it's called in the trailer and taped into the trailer. I also have a 5 wire setup.

When I picked up the trailer (without the boat on it as it is in the boatel until we leave for the trip) the kid that helped me put the trailer on my truck for the first time said never take that pin out and that's why it's taped on there.

I made it home with the pin in and the 5 pin connected to my truck with no problem and I don't remember having any weird braking issues or backing up issues.

Today I was told that lockout pin for the brakes should always be out when the 5pin lights are connected. So which is it? Always out or always in? Is it in but maybe it turns to activate the key but it's not turned? If supposed to be always out, why did it not give me any problems coming home and backing into the driveway?

If always out? What situation/s would you ever put it in and use it?


Also any tips for my first trailering experience for a few hundred miles would be much appreciated. I hear cut a noodle in half and put on front window under the mooring black cover. Should I install anti pooling poles or not?

Took some pics of my setup and I appreciate any and all help explaining this stuff to me.

Thanks!

 

[mrmeaniemeateaterman]

Remove blue tape and take pin out when pulling boat. Put pin in when backing up, if you unplug wiring.

It didn't give you any problems pulling it home or backing, but you also had no trailer brakes with pin in.

 

[Bruce]

The brake lockout pin should be out. It prevents the brakes from working.

The most logical reasons I can see for the lock out is for backing down boat ramps with the wires disconnected or if you experienced an electrical issue.

Anti pooling poles will tear the cover when trailering.

 

[mrmeaniemeateaterman]

http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4913651_surge-brakes-work.html

 

[MIDLIFECRISIS]

Make sure that the noodle covers the windshield bumper and the canopy hook loops. forgot to cover my bumper and now the tarp has a hole there.

 

[NewBoater]

Thanks for the quick replies fellas!

So when I brought it home and backed it into the driveway the brakes on the trailer weren't working at all?

 

[mrmeaniemeateaterman]

Correct. You had essentially locked them out with pin installed. Forward and reverse.

 

[NewBoater]

http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4913651_surge-brakes-work.html

This is where it gets confusing for me in this link. It says to always have the pin in when backing up. So leave it out while driving down interstate but if you are backing down the ramp you have to put it back in?

I say this based on reading below from that link.

1. 
   Trailers with Surge Brakes
   • A trailer with surge brakes cannot be backed up without inserting a pin in the neck of the trailer. When the tow vehicle is in reverse, pushes in on the trailer neck, which would activate the surge brakes. Inserting a pin in the neck of the trailer prevents this from happening while the driver is backing up. If the pin is left in the neck of the trailer, the surge brake will be disabled. The pin must be removed when the vehicle is ready to travel.

 

[Bruce]

The surge brakes are electronically disabled by the fifth pin in your wiring harness. If the wires are connected there is no need to lockout the brakes.

 

[subysti]

If you have the 5 pin hook up you don't need the pin. The pin is a mechanical meathod of stopping the surge actuator from moving. I've never used the pin. If you have LED lights on the trailer then you can leave them plugged in. Regular bulbs tend to pop when submerged in cold water that's why people disconnect them when launching. The pin is used when backing up anytime you don't have the lights plugged in as the surge actuator will get pushed in applying the brakes. The 5 pin connector electronically bypasses the brakes in reverse by using the backup light signal to open the solenoid. As far as trailering with the poles in I've never had a problem with a couple thousand miles.

 

[NewBoater]

Awesome, thanks for the quick replies and help
as always!

 

[NewBoater]

So what would have happened if the pin would have remained in and I had backed down the ramp for the first time?

 

[mrmeaniemeateaterman]

Your boat trailer would be wet.

Don't overthink this. If pin is accidentally left in place its not the end of the world. I have left it in accidentally and lived to tell about it. Enjoy your new boat. You will have lots of things to learn. Some lessons are cheaper to learn than others.

 

[NewBoater]

Your boat trailer would be wet.

Don't overthink this. If pin is accidentally left in place its not the end of the world. I have left it in accidentally and lived to tell about it. Enjoy your new boat. You will have lots of things to learn. Some lessons are cheaper to learn than others.

Haha I appreciate it! Just don't want this to happen lol

 

[mrmeaniemeateaterman]

If you zoom in close enough on that pic you can clearly see his surge brake lockout pin is taped in place with blue tape.

I'm sure he told the cops, "well the kid at the marina told me to NEVER take the pin out. That's why it has tape on it."

 

[NewBoater]

If you zoom in close enough on that pic you can clearly see his surge brake lockout pin is taped in place with blue tape.

I'm sure he told the cops, "well the kid at the marina told me to NEVER take the pin out. That's why it has tape on it."

Haha

 

[Ronnie]

On my first Yamaha jet boat the reverse lead was disconnected so putting the tow vehicle in reverse would not electronically disable the surge brakes. I had to put the "D" key in place in order to back up the driveway or the weight of the boat would cause the trailer tongue to compress and activate the brakes. The same thing would happen if I had to back up a grade before backing down a ramp. If the ramp didn't have a positive grade at the front of it I could sometimes back up it without the brake engaging. It's hard not to notice when the brake is engaged, they make a hell of a lot of noise, some times the wheels lock up entirely and they always make it harder to move the trailer.

Make no mistake, as others have stated, if the D key is taped in place your trailer breaks are disengaged completely in forward and reverse. FYI if you lose the key a nickel will fit in the spot perfectly.

 

[Matt Phillips]

The kid at the marina said to always leave the pin in because he likely never has it connected to a vehicle and back it with a forklift. Thanks that pin or your trailer, put it in your trailer trash box of the tools, plug in your 5-pin and enjoy your boat.

With LED lights on our trailers you also don't need to worry about unplugging your lights when backing down there ramp as the water won't hurt them.

 

[msavold]

@NewBoater, Yep, kid's an idiot.

We have a four pin harness and the work to wire a 5-pin is way more than I care to tackle or pay for! To wire the fifth pin, I'd have to go to the reverse lights which are in the tailgate (PITA). Reverse lights come on, 5th wire energized, brakes stay off when backing up. So, only without the 5th pin do you need the doohickey to back up. With a four pin harness (or when not hooking the trailer up at all because you're using the boatel fork lift to move it...), backing up has the same effect as slowing down going forward as far as the trailer tongue is concerned - either way the trailer is pushing on the hitch (or vice versa) and the brakes come on.

I've left some pretty fantastic skid marks when backing up to the ramp and the little doohickey had fallen out (or, cough, not been put in) without my knowing it.
Drive with it in? No thanks! 5,000 lbx of trailer with no brakes. A quick stop could lead to some "amusing" driving: google "why do trucks jacknife" for videos!

Edit to add trailering tip that you probably already know: between truck and trailer, you've got one big-ass vehicle - lengthwise and width-wise. And yet people seem to ignore that! Stay extra alert, conscious of what's around even more than when just driving without towing A number of posts here from members that have had their boat pranged by some ass! I've almost been given membership to that club a few times. (Last one was guy in lane to my left, slowing down as he realized he's about to miss exit, and as soon as my SUV goes by I see him start to swing right - except that there was 26' more behind me... Clueless! I went right, he went left, no harm, no foul.)

 

[Ronnie]

On some trailers I've seen with four pins there is a blue/5th wire spiced in near the start of trailer side of the wiring harness. This is the reverse lead to the brake solenoid connection which is supposed to electronicslly disable the surge brakes and the lead is usually cut but connctorized at both ends so that the circuit may be completed or terminated manually when needed. I'm pretty sure this was how my first Yamaha jet boat trailer was set up. It may be worth checking the trailering harness on your shore lander (?) trailer to see if it is set up this way as an alternative to rewiring or using a D key/nickel. These wires may be hidden in a sheath / wire protector which should be easy to remove and reinstall.