How Do Boat Surge Trailer Brakes Work?

This quick segment explains how a boat’s trailer brakes work and why they are completely separate from the vehicle. A boat trailer uses surge brakes, which are when the truck that is pulling the boat hits the brakes, a piston moves inside the tongue of the trailer and pushes fluid down and squeezes the calipers on the brakes which makes the boat stop.
Now you’re a better boater.

[@JCDRUM]

quick and to the point, just perfect! Thank you and I will not ask again....

[@fishorstarve6803]

Appreciate your comment!

[@raysmith5426]

Nice video, but the useless music is drowning out your voice. Why????

[@AnxiousCowboy]

He’s regarded

[@rocketsurgeon1746]

Appreciate the information and the effort. It would be nice if the music was quieter so I could hear you better. Thanks again

[@user-vz7eu8kg4x]

Why the music, did creater watch this ??

[@wgibson86]

I have no idea why the music is such a focal point in the comments. Didn’t hear him ask for feedback on his content creation style. Good video and thanks for the valuable information!

[@BobbyJensenJr]

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You !

[@Guitardrumr]

When you can't hear some of what is being said because of the music, it's a pretty fair complaint. I'm glad to have the information, but it was hard to hear what he was saying at points.

[@scottbraico9300]

Great explanation! Thanks

[@matthewmcpherson1]

Thank you for the explanation on why my brake controller doesn’t operate the trailer brakes, no one else out there has explained it better!

[@hav1byte]

if you have surge brakes, you dont need a brake controller

[@HN-gj2iq]

You the man, explained it in 3 mins what Uhaul, several other sites can't explain in 5 paragraphs. BTW the uhaul trailers which do have brakes have surgebrakes.

[@fishorstarve6803]

Thanks for being appreciative!

[@michaelbiever2092]

Thanks for doing the video. Im picking up my new boat in a couple weeks and I really didnt know what the 5 pin did. Now I do. Thank You.

[@danielquinn5027]

Everyone's complaining about the music, I was so focused on the info the dude was telling me that I didn't even realize the video had music lol

[@fishorstarve6803]

Thanks you! Very much appreciated

[@billware6721]

I also had no difficulty getting the information out of this video. As a first time owner of this style of system it was a big help. I do agree however that the music was an unnecessary distraction. Good video nonetheless.

[@watcher206]

The sound mixing could really use some work, in some parts of the video the music is louder than the speech, it kind of ruins the point of a infomercial if you cannot hear what is being conveyed.

[@Anonymous-md2qp]

That is a clever design. I always thought it relied on the vehicle brake pedal. Thanks for taking the time to make this video.

[@fishorstarve6803]

Your very welcome! thanks for the nice comment!

[@les2596]

Great Video! I was worried the surge brakes on my trailer were sub-standard to electric breaks. This video took that worry away. Thanks!

[@darylmatilda733]

I love that he said " Don"t ask me again" at the end that made me laugh!!

[@billandcaroltinge824]

Brilliant. Super useful. Bizarre that the video music overpowers the commentary,

[@scottfiliau6155]

Thank you for the great information!

[@ArmadaJspec]

Thanks for being original and explaining knowledge in a simple manor. 👍👍

[@R3IMYSS]

My trailer just has a latch that you can flick either on or off. It simply blocks the pneumatic system from being pressed and engaged. :)

[@villavids2785]

Whoop! New boater here. I learned something here. Thanks so much!

[@matthewmontague535]

I like the information in your video the music in the background which basically blocks out most of what you're saying is a pain in the ass

[@fishorstarve6803]

Sorry about that, was a mistake in the editing.

[@tonyhernandez9632]

WTF is with the loud music drowning out the guy's voice??

[@JoJo-bn6iy]

New boater! Thanks. Very helpful. Didn't have sound on. Missed all the great music I guess!

[@preston5381]

i cant hear you over the music bruhhh

[@greghawkins549]

Thank you!

[@zhelko]

I feel like I just discovered the hot water. Thank you!

[@ngeleta1]

Is there any harm in bypassing the surge brakes with the key provided on trips? I figure why increase brake wear on trips where I don't have many hills or alot of braking. I've had trailers that didn't even have brakes so I wasn't sure if there was any harm in it? I'm towing a 21 aluminum fishing boat with a 200hp four stroke

[@danlux4954]

The brakes won’t work if you bypass them

[@denden760]

I was SO upset which I finally got my new boat trailer only to find when I squeezed the truck brake pincers inside the truck the boat brakes didn't work!! NOW I know why!! They DO actually work b/c they're not electrically activated they're motion activated when the tow vehicle slows down and the solenoid opens and let brake fluid go to the brakes!! Ahaloula!!

[@FISHONOVERLAND]

Great explanation thank you 🙏

[@hav1byte]

awesome explanation...thank you!!!

[@snowmass970]

Man wish I saw this before I bought and installed a brake controller in my truck. And then took the trailer and truck to a shop to have them tell me what is wrong. Lol

[@fishorstarve6803]

Aw man! 😬 Subscribe so you don’t miss any other videos!

[@hav1byte]

same here, guy at a certain trailer place told me i needed a brake controller, no!! i dont...but didnt know any better at the time...

[@rockit690]

Same here, oh well...lol

[@smatthews1999]

Brilliant. Thank you for this super clear explanation. I have surge breaks that I need to work on... but until now I didn't even know how they work. If you have a video about how to fill and bleed these systems I'd love to hear it.

[@ThePapabear2012]

I was really wondering why my truck said traler brakes were not connected. Thanks for the video!

[@samjackson884]

Lose the music next time. Good video otherwise.

[@MrGeorgeferreira]

Thanks..good explanation. Right to the point

[@fishorstarve6803]

Your welcome and thank you for the nice comment!

[@Lmarcanov1978]

Thanks buddy!! clear and straight to the point!!! I wonder why RV / camper trailers don't use this same type of breaks??

[@DanMalouf]

Good info about the extra wire on the connector.

[@GuitarGuru357-rz9eb]

I had mine lock up while putting my boat into storage over the weekend. I’m kind of wondering if it’s because I didn’t plug the cord into my truck, as it was just in my yard that I moved it. I generally don’t hook the chains or electronics up on a trailer if I’m only moving trailers around less than 50 feet on my property. It seemed to fix the issue when I plugged it in. Also, there’s a little pin that will block the actuator from sliding, but I’ve yet to find a way to keep it in place. Great video!

[@dmitrygear]

Easy and helpful explanation! Thanks!

[@fishorstarve6803]

Thank you!

[@rodneyfentress5042]

Great explanation!!! Thank you sir. I really wish my boat dealer would have explained this to me!

[@fishorstarve6803]

Thanks for the nice comment!

[@joshvanderley6277]

Can you get rid of the music?

[@fishorstarve6803]

Sorry there is no way to edit it out now

[@Omardottcom]

Thank you! This was very helpful.

[@gr8dfender742]

This is helpful. I bought my fist boat with surge brakes on the trail. I only have a four pin harness on my SUV for lights. What step must I take to have a five wire?

[@Rouge_Wolf]

Sorry couldn’t really understand over the music. What about reverse? Because I’m getting that thing replaced, the previous owner cut the brake lines. And honestly think mine only 4 pin since it 96 model

[@justaguy1576]

What you covered was good information, but you didnt mention the "Break Away". If the trailer becomes disconnected from the vehicle towing it, how are the brakes applied?

[@danlux4954]

My boat trailer doesn’t have a breakaway switch, that’s on on trailers with electric brakes.

[@worldsgreatestdad4994]

If you experience the braking surge, can you just unplug the electrical connector entirely and back it up? Or will the trailer not move at all if there is no electrical connection?

[@BobbyJensenJr]

Nope, it will lock up, most trailers have a way to lock them out manually. If it’s equipped and you have a vehicle with the reverse it shouldn’t lock out in reverse while plugged in.

[@worldsgreatestdad4994]

@@BobbyJensenJr Gotcha. Thanks a lot for clarifying. I appreciate it.

[@DonaldGallagher-pn6pn]

Get rid of the music!!!

[@dumbyramen52]

Who talk about instructions with music playing in the background? I’m sure he knows exactly what he’s talking about, but I’ve never had to comment on a video before. Not good

[@trilobite3296]

The music keeps drowning you out.

[@fishorstarve6803]

We'd be happy to fix it if we could.

[@kanha916]

Can you make a video on refilling the fluids? thanks

[@BrnTanHides]

Great info! Im curious if you can park the trailer with the surge brakes staying activated. Like a parking brake. Or do they only compress enough to help slow the trailer down and then loses compression on their own whether the cylinder is still compressed or not?

[@donnyfleischmann4784]

Please repost without music!

[@Manuel_Z_Kayaks]

Great information but camera was pointed at you more than the braking system.

[@yoster77]

I'd also recommend people buy a lockout key, even if you have this reverse lockout feature. Why? Very long, downhill grades, even if going slow and not braking at all, those surge brakes are JUST barely pushing against your trailer hitch due to the simple fact that it's trying to roll downhill.. so you end up getting very slight brake drag all the way down the hill.. which can create a LOT of heat over several miles (like instantly boil water heat). I have cooked my fair share of surge brakes on hills with loooong declines (until I purchased a lockout key). Electric brakes obviously don't have this problem of 'braking when your truck isn't breaking' - but we aren't so fortunate with our boats and these surge brakes :) I certainly don't use it all the time or on most hills, but there's a few specific areas in my state that it comes in handy for. And yes I get the concern of locking out brakes for a hill.. but that's where your own common sense needs to kick in.. go SLOW AND EASY and use your own best judgement.

[@caryslape8811]

Very helpful- thank you for taking time to make this video and explain this!

[@fishorstarve6803]

Thank you for the nice comment!

[@joefbiden7123]

Got it! Thanks for the explanation.

[@mathewdavis-adventuresandd6643]

Dang it man!! The music is so dang loud. I need a video like this to show my father how these brakes work.

[@terryhites1]

I was going to comment about the music, but I didn’t want to beat a dead horse... but I’m guessing the 7pin adapter is a new type to 5 pins versus the old 4 pin... great feature!

[@bolerdweller]

Mine has a battery box on it. Is this just to power the solenoid if the tow vehicle doesn't have the right connections?

[@stilltuckered]

Love to have a means to add a hand parking brake to the boat trailers. Hand brakes could be very useful, such as a lockable one to help prevent theft or to help out when changing flats, etc.

[@BobbyJensenJr]

That is actually a great idea! It could be used for a lotta reasons.

[@mcconn746]

Good video, but.... I am hard of hearing. The noise in the background made it hard to understand you. I wish you well.

[@jjmcg9688]

Rookie question, if the electrical is what allows you to go in reverse, would unplugging it at the boat ramp stop the trailer from reversing?

[@crappycarracing]

That’s exactly how it works. Have to have the plug or else it won’t move in reverse, the plug is basically a bypass, without it on, brakes will lock in reverse.

[@layneloper7145]

So what do you do when you put it in reverse and it locks up the brakes. It’s not deactivating the brakes.

[@CHIPPOFISHING]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/qmXZfKyJjcp9fNE

[@danlux4954]

There’s a pin that you put to deactivate.

[@rotfan77]

I do have a question, do surge trailer brakes need to be lubricated, it would seem like you would be smart to shoot some WD-40 or something in the sliding mechanism or possibly some lithium grease maybe? Also I have a certain model made by trailer buddy I think (A- 75, that book was in my paperwork but doesn’t look exactly like mine), it seems to have an aluminum box around the place where you would put a pin in to stop it from sliding back if you’re Solenoid is not engaging or you had a different truck or the adapter stopped working? I want to figure out how to put the bypass pin in there just in case something was to ever happen and the power to the solenoid was not working correctly? Thanks

[@chuckcurtin]

That was a great informative video except for the unnecessary music. I want to hear you talk.

[@fishorstarve6803]

Sorry about that. It was a mistake in the editing of the video.

[@Devast8r34]

Fantastic thank you!

[@mauriceb77]

Great info.

[@fishorstarve6803]

Thanks man

[@free1leads679]

The music is way to much.

[@javierbouzada3788]

1 in a million????? hahahaha How can I take you seriously after that statement?

[@rok-n-rob]

I was looking for information on boat trailer brakes. But I guess I stumbled on a MUSIC VIDEO instead.

[@fishorstarve6803]

Sorry

[@timj9350]

The music was definitely too loud

[@VelvetYeti]

Couldn't hear you over the music

[@libby-eu3sc]

Get rid of the useless music.

[@kevincote8072]

Well that was helpful thanks

[@jasonhenn7345]

No sound

[@timphibbs5779]

good video, just turn down the music, or don't have any at all. I put on subtitles

[@fishorstarve6803]

Thanks, glad you liked it!

[@stilltuckered]

The music is louder than his voice.

[@norcal8718]

Turn the damn background music off!!!

[@bykergus]

Great video .. just wished the audio would have worked properly throughout ..

[@fishorstarve6803]

It was a mistake in the editing and cannot be changed now, sorry

[@kellymccann369]

Please turn OFF the music. Can't understand what you are trying to say!

[@fishorstarve6803]

Sorry about that, I can't change the music

[@fastdadgarage-northsouthch4418]

Thanks

[@Cliflyri]

This is a great video, but please skip any music next time.

[@Don-tz2rh]

Great video, but two questions. What activates the breakaway emergency brake, or do they not have one? Why the annoying back ground music that makes it very difficult to hear you?

[@BobbyJensenJr]

Yeah Don they do often have a break away and it’s mechanical. So it ratchets up when break away cable gets pulled. The music is the only way you would have seen this video, it annoyed so many people that they commented and boosted the video way higher than any other video we have. It was our simplest video and highest watched because of all the annoyed commenters. Funny scenario.

[@noonebutdonaldduck]

@@BobbyJensenJr I could care less about music, thanks for the video with simple explanation. I was too lazy to google it. I must have had dozens of trailers, never bothrered to look up how they work. TODAY I LEARNED,.

[@BobbyJensenJr]

@@noonebutdonaldduck you bet and we appreciate you letting us know it helped!

[@hookzsettv4842]

I need to put brakes on my trailer looks like the previous owner took them off know where I can get a kit with everything, cables etc?

[@BobbyJensenJr]

There are full kits available, but hey, you can use any parts that still are in working order.

[@hookzsettv4842]

@@BobbyJensenJr ya looking like that’s the method, just wanted to do one purchase instead of several lol thanks man

[@markoyl]

background music ruined good video

[@fishorstarve6803]

Sorry it was a mistake in the editing

[@davidmarconi528]

Thanks for the explanation but the music overrides you...next time lower the music overlay or skip altogether...just some constructive criticism...

[@jonlittrell8329]

Music is too loud

[@BobbyJensenJr]

Agree

[@SemiatAlarape-yw5ed]

Thanks F

[@johnpetrea]

How do I energize the 5th pin as my solenoid doesn’t seem to be working and I have to manually lockout surge brakes for reverse??

[@MikeJones-pg1lz]

Check the fuse in your truck to start with

[@WhiteTrashNobodies]

Ever figure this out? I got same issue and when connected to my 7 to 5 pin nothing works. When connected to 4 pin lights and surge breaks work but gotta get out and put in pin to reverse

[@johnpetrea]

@@MikeJones-pg1lz fuse is good

[@johnpetrea]

@@WhiteTrashNobodies i haven’t yet but hope to soon…

[@WhiteTrashNobodies]

@@johnpetrea i checked mine out yesterday. Don't think my round 7 to 5 flat pin connector was getting good contact on the truck side. Checked voltage and got 12vdc when truck is put into reverse so think i got it. Haven't tried backing yet tho.

[@garylowry7731]

Music is so unnecessary.

[@frutflys8946]

The background music is too loud.

[@devinwalsh3627]

WHAT? CAN'T HEAR YOU

[@Rouge_Wolf]

So wait? You can’t go in reverse?

[@stevengreen3143]

Very annoying music makes this video much less useful than it could be.

[@fishorstarve6803]

Yeah sorry there was a mistake in the editing. It can't be changed now.

[@matthewcooper1558]

the music is nice just WAY WAY, too loud

[@matthewcooper1558]

REGARDLESS, great video, with simple and clear information. Nailed it for a great informative Vid

[@nevermind8694]

Couldve and shouldve gone without the music that shit ruined it all what was the point of the lame ass music it was like flipping thru the stations on the radio

[@fishorstarve6803]

Glad you enjoyed the video!

[@AdamL459]

Really wanted to hear this explanation but music keeps drowning you out.

[@fishorstarve6803]

Sorry it was a mistake in the editing

[@usmarinecorps05]

Well now I know lol..thanks

[@abandonedhope2606]

I want ro party with whoever created the vid

[@BobbyJensenJr]

Best comment yet!

[@FundsSeeker-fy5rv]

Yes pretty much wasted with the loud inappropriate music. A joke

[@R2D242D]

Music!!! Lol algorithm!!!

[@karenthomson9749]

Better no music..