My Dad has a big pull behind boat trailer. It is a triple axel.He wants to convert it to a 5er. The problem is that it has surge brakes. Would he need to convert it to electric? and if so, how can he do that reasonabley? He would keep the surge if it would work ok.....<br><br>Thanks,<br><br> Bob...

 

For boat trailers keep the surge. Electric brakes and water just doesn't mix.<br> Did I read this right? A bumper pull to a goose neck?? Why?<br><br>MikeyB

 

[quote author=brassbulldog link=board=10;threadid=14872;start=0#139431 date=1053232744]<br>My Dad has a big pull behind boat trailer. It is a triple axel.He wants to convert it to a 5er. The problem is that it has surge brakes. Would he need to convert it to electric? and if so, how can he do that reasonabley? He would keep the surge if it would work ok.....[/quote]<br><br>Surge brakes and a fiver are mutually exclusive. I'd prefer changing over to a Gooseneck before a fiver.<br><br>I'm not sure what your definition of reasonably is, but if he's thinking of converting a tag-along to a fiver, he should look into electric over hydraulic brakes. He can continue to soak his current juice brakes in the water, and add an electrically actuated master cylinder up out of the way near the fiver coupling. Electric brakes and boat trailers don't mix, even in the fresh water of the great lakes.<br><br>I've seen a couple of GN's used to pull Fountain 47's, and maybe a couple of raceboats, but thats probably the only time I've seen GN's used. The raceboat trailers did have electrics, but those boats are craned in and out of the water. God forbid getting the axles wet!

 

Why is a goose neck better than the 5th wheel hookup?<br>Where can he get the electric over hydraulic master cyclinder at?<br>He wants to get away from the bumper hitch because it tows terribly... Thanks for all of the help!!!

 

I don't have any url's here at home, but go search thru the major trailer supply houses, or visit a high-end trailer store for info. If converting a trailer to a fiver is reasonable, so should converting to elec over hyd brakes. If he doesn't have disk's, now would be a good time too. He'll need an electric brake controller too.<br><br>I never said that GN's were better than fivers; only that I preferred GN's. I would prefer them for the same reason GN's seem to be preferred for horse trailers, and many heavy equipment trailers. Generally, fivers seem to be reserved for RV's.<br><br>How big of a boat is it? What do you mean it tows terribly? <br><br>BTW, my brother tried electric brakes with a WD hitch and sway bar towing his Cigerette. Towed great, but didn't have reliable brakes.

 

Is the trailer equipped with a load leveler hitch and anti sway?<br>If not this could be the reason for the terrible towing.<br><br>MikeyB

 

[quote author=MikeyB link=board=10;threadid=14872;start=0#139535 date=1053270673]
Is the trailer equipped with a load leveler hitch and anti sway?
[/quote]
WD hitches and sway bars are not compatible with surge brakes. They prevent the surge brake coupler from operating correctly.

Using elec over hyd juice brakes WITH a WD hitch &amp; sway bar would be a significant improvement, and probably significantly more cost effective than converting to a GN/fiver.

The trick to doing this is modifying the boat trailer to work with the load leveling bars. Most boat trailer tongue design's won't accomodate this without some work (not your typical RV A-Frame design). If this was reasonable to me, I'd have done this already.

Now I'm thinking about converting over to new brakes....

 

That is some good advice BulaBula!<br><br>My dad would be not opposed to spending $1000 to $2000 for the transformation...that is the number he wants to stay around.<br>

 

BrassBD, your welcome.

My boat trailer tracks like an AMTRAK behind me - 3 axles too. Is your dad running P-metric (passenger car tires) on the trailer, and is he running them inflated properly? I've never pulled a 3-axle boat trailer that didn't feel solid behind me (3 trailers - mostly with dooleys; but my current truck is SRW - and it wiggles more than the dooleys). I'm thinking that if he was using car tires, the soft sidewall tires may contribute to an unsteady towing situation.

A tongue weight of 5 - 7% is ok for boat trailers too.

 

Bulabula, you're right, my bad.......<br><br>MikeyB<br>

 

Try one of these. I don't sell them, and I haven't tried one myself, but I am certain that electric brakes on a boat trailer is a very bad idea. This product apparently allows you to convert to electrically actuated hydraulic brakes.<br><br>http://www.carlislebrake.com/hydrastar.pdf