Bass Fishing Forum - Westernbass.com

On my court I have to back my boat and truck down the court in order to put the boat away. As I started to back into the court the boat went through the little runoff depression at the beginning of the street and the trailer brakes locked up. It's never done this in the two years I've had the boat. I pulled forward and started again. Same thing. I pulled further up the street and this time the brakes locked right away. I had to use the manual un-lock on the trailer to back the boat. Any idea on what caused this? Nothing happened going in and out of the water, just when I started backing down the court.

Thanks,
Kentuck

Check your connections on the trailer wiring - sounds like you jiggled the connection loose enough so that the solenoid was not getting enough voltage to disengage.

Also try checking the fuse in ur truck. When I used to sell boats I had blown that fuse in my truck cuz one of the boats I had launched had an exposed wire on the trailer harness and caused it to blow. Good luck.

Scott

Probably what Scotty said. Remember that most newer trucks have fuses in the cab and fuses under the hood as well. I went round and round with my suburban until i realized there were more fuses under the hood. Replaced the right fuse and was good to go. Hope thats all it is.

Checked the fuses under the hood and all looked good. Haven't had time to look to much further. One thing that came to mind was when I was hooking the trailer up that morning I backed into the end of the trailer. Not hard so I don't think that should be the problem but I did remember doing that. Didn't have a problem unloading and loading at the ramp, just when I got home and started backing down the street to the house.

If the fuse is okay my next step would be to use a test light to check the trailer connector at the truck to make sure the pin is getting power when the truck is put in reverse. Look for a wiring diagram on the trailer connector or your truck manual to see which pin is the backup lights.

Do you have a 4 wire plug or a 5-6 ? If you only have a 4 wire then your problem has nothing to do with elec. as surge brakes are manual not elec. Jack

Jack, you're right about surge brakes being manual however there is an override function to keep the brakes from locking up when the truck is in reverse. This is an electrical signal triggered by the connector.

I have the 5 pin. I did look at the plug from the trailer. The wires look ok but there was a crack in the plug body. Will put a new one on. Interesting that it worked going fishing, thankfully, but stopped working after I started backing up. Also, this system has disc brakes.

With the 5-plug connector you have a 12V signal going to a solenoid on the trailer so the brakes don't engage while backing. My recollection is that it is either the blue or the white wire that will have 12V on it when you are in reverse. The signal comes from the reverse lamps on the tow vehicle. Newer vehicles have a fuse specifically for that voltage that is usually located in the engine compartment.

Hi Jeff, I just bought a new boat with surge brakes( E-z Load trailer) the over ride is manual. It is a lever on the trailer tongue. I was not aware of elec . over ride on some. Jack

This isnt the first time i have heard or seen of this.

The solinoid to lock out the brakes on the Ranger Trailer has a blue wire that connects to a red wire that goes to the trailer plug. Check that connection between those two wires. It is similar to a "butt" connector and the wires could have pulled loose.

Mine did the same thing. Look under the trailer tongue where the electric selenoid is at. The wire coming from the plug to the selenoid has a pin connector that can come loose.

JW

Took this advice and some from another website. Found some corrosion on the hot wire in the plug. Cleaned it, exposed some fresh copper and reassembled it. Backed it in and out of the parking spot a couple of times and it worked so it looks like it's fixed. Thanks for all the info guys.