as i was headed to chatham sat am ,one side of my brakes lock up on rt 6 and i hear and feel the trailer, when i pull over tire is trashed and slashed. i take if off run to ramp on 3 tires go fishing. catch sh it, but get trailer home ok on 3 wheels . now repair trailer w/ tire and x-tra. but new brakes are 350 more. i told him to repair w/o the brakes ... i think i dont need them i hope ....boat is about 4000 lbs loaded and i drive a tundra what do u think about surge brakes. good or bad ???....dave

pucker factor :) made me laugh.

3500 no brakes with a ford explorer. its ok for me

I have a 23 foot Sea Ox No breaks here, Just leave some space you will be fine.
Breaks just another thing to break any way!!

I'm in the process of switching from drum to disc. They are junk after 1 1/2 yrs.
Go disc if you put them back on, do it yourself, it's a piece of cake.

I agree just take them out and drive carefully.
My buddy went through this....
Even after they are new, they hardly work at all after a few dunks.

I'm in the process of switching from drum to disc. They are junk after 1 1/2 yrs.
Go disc if you put them back on, do it yourself, it's a piece of cake.

He is right,,,,, Sounds like a good winter project,,,, I would put them back on if you can,,, Better to be safe than sorry especially if you trailer your boat a lot.

My break system was trashed.. ripped the safety tether off one time (in a rush and only undid the chains...:fishslap:), and a few of the fittings completely rusted out as well...

To me, break systems and salt water are just about as compatible as trailer lighting and saltwater...

I've been w/o them for a while and the combo of a Nissan Titan and a 20' SeasHunt Triton seems to do fine.

Take it down 10-15mph from normal, leave space, pay attention.

I agree....I had drums on my trailer and two of them completely rusted and locked up. I had them all removed and its been fine (although I only use it twice a year to launch and haul)

I definitely give myself even more room now, but really haven't had a problem.

21' Hydrasport W/A on a tandem axle trailer pulled by a 2004 V8 AWD 4-Runner

If you are in a slip and just use the trailer to get in and out of the water 2 times a year, don't worry about fixing them.
If you trailer all the time, FIX THE BRAKES!

I agree just take them out and drive carefully.
My buddy went through this....
Even after they are new, they hardly work at all after a few dunks.

I couldn't agree more, my boat weighs just under 5,000 and I bought a brand new $4,000.00 trailer for it with disc brakes ... after 5 times being submerged in the salt they are now junk. I hosed them off too after all 5 dunkings but they are frozen solid as a rock. I just put a little space between me and the meatheads that try to cut you off because they don't want to be behind a trailer.

I threw out my brakes 2 years ago too. 19' boat. I just pay real good attention and pray a lot. I am sick of replacing them every year but wonder what my insurance company would say if i crashed. Its a gamble.

Take them off, live on the edge, if the trailer sees the salt much, they wont work too long anyway no matter what you do.

If you do decide to replace them, go with Kodiaks. Stay away from TieDown and other cheap brands.

no more brakes .... no more headaces......... i hope

My trailer had drum brakes that were somewhat corroded when I purchased in 2002. They are surge actvated. I had a feeling they weren't helping much so in 2005 I replaced them myself with stainless steel disc brakes. One of the primary reasons for going with disc is that the brakes are exposed and more easily cleaned. They are also ore effective. I carry a pump sprayer with a mix of simple green in my truck and I take 5 minutes to spray down all moving parts on the trailer after dunking so it is not sitting for a day/all weekend before I get it home to do a final wash. My brakes are currently as good as when I put them on in 2005. Stainless steel has made a difference.

Oh and by the way, the disc brakes made a HUGE difference. I had to install a reversing celanoid so that when the truck goes into reverse a valve opens that dumps the fluid out of the surge cyclinder as it is compressed. This way you are not backing up and applying the trailer brakes at the same time.

I would recommend this setup and to do it yourself. It is really not a hard job. Just be careful of the edge of the discs they are very sharp.

My boat is 22 feet and I think it weighs about 7500 lbs fully loaded with fuel and equipment including the trailer.

Good luck!

"but wonder what my insurance company would say if i crashed. Its a gamble."

And that there is key... Accident reconstruction that would be written down that the trailer brakes were disabled. Liability is now 10 fold just keep that in the back of your mind...coming from someone who came VERY close to losing their boat on the highway last year...

And, there is the key! If it is an injury accident, say good bye to life as you know it and bye-bye to the boat.