You can also drive around and make several stops to see if the drums warm up fairly evenly. They do need to be manually adjusted to near drag or slight drag. They have adjuster wheels inside the access holes.
It turns out a good running start is the only way.
I've seen some that don't even have a release for backing. I cracked up watching my friend try to back his 27' boat uphill into a shop with the trailer brakes locking up.
), but there is a lockout piece you put in/on the coupler to keep it from working so you can back up.
The newer boat trailer are either 5 flat plug, or the round 7, both with a wire tapped into the reverse lights to release the brakes.
Truthfully, i never had problems wiht my old drum surge setup (well, never problems backing up
Could have been a wiring issue, especially since he was pulling it with a Stupid Duty.
I'm used to seeing a manual lockout lever or a plate to flip up, but I didn't see anything on his brake assembly to lock it out. Maybe it was supposed to release with the backup light power, but that would defeat the whole purpose of surge brakes on a trailer (so they don't rely on electricity when you're gonna dunk it in the water).
I haven't talked to that guy in a year or so anyway, but thanks for the info.
