Removing surge brakes?

[jrou111]

*Let me start out saying that I'm not a newb when it comes to towing trailers. The V is little in comparison in both size and weight to some of the stuff I have towed. Stopping a 14,000lb truck while pulling another 14,000lb truck on a towbar with no brakes on the towed vehicle is slightly more difficult. I always drive with no distractions(radio, phone, etc.) and keep my eyes focused way down the road. I plenty of leave room for stopping. (try driving a big army truck in traffic in the rain)*

So apparently after a better look at the trailer I've discovered that the surge brake system is shot. The PO has already disconnected it at the drums. Since there's no brake fluid or pressure the sliding part of the hitch moves and bangs back and forth in traffic alot.

I'm aware of the implications of towing a 4500lb trailer without brakes, but I want to know if I can simply just replace the coupler with a non-surge one. It's got the 3 cross bolts at the bottom and I've never seen a standard couple like that.

BTW, I'm towing with a 2004 F-250 Superduty Crew with the powerstroke. At 2x the weight of the towed load, the truck is more than capable of stopping without the non-functional surge brakes.

[macojoe]

Thats all I did for my trailer. But you might want to remove the guts of the breaks as soon as you can as they will rust and start falling part at some point, causing problems.

[Steplift 72']

Pro's and con's of surge brakes are debatable. I had to knock the drums off with a sledge hammer in the dark one morning when I hooked on and the brakes were locked. There are some nice kits these days that are less prone to corrosion.

Now I've got to tell a great "war story". I was heading south on the 42 mile trip to the Gulf of Mexico pulling a 248 Offshore on a triple axle trailer and was passing one of those bicyle guys with the helmet and real bike stuff, he was really moving and I gave him a full lane when I was passing. When he saw the back bumper of my F-150, he decided to pull in behind the tailgate and "draft" my truck. The problem was ther was a big boat and trailer occupying that spot. I locked up the brakes at the moment he realized he'd really messed up. If it hadn't been for the operable surge brakes he would have died at that moment and the family survivors would have had a field day with me in court. He and his bike cartwheeled to the ditch, embarassed but alive.

Lots of different rules on trailer brakes around the country, but around here the law requires at least one axle with brakes on trailers of 3000 pounds and over. It's the only time I can say the surge brakes saved a life.