law says I have to go electric brakes

candrive55

candrive55

Member
So some one told me if my boat is more than 6000 pounds I have to have electric brakes. if true where does one get marine grade electric brakes. I looked at etrailer.com but dont see anything for marine electric brakes. What is everyone else doing.
Thanks
 
Presently 7000 lbs. on the trailer when fully loaded. To date I have been keeping my hydraulics, I may have to convert to electric over hydraulics, but its damn pricey. I too look forward to reading what others are doing.
 
If you have to convert -do not go electric and RV brakes are not the same as marine electric. What have you got now? Surge hydraulic? I saw a complete kit electro hydraulic the other day for 699 from etrailer-fabulous deal and not hard to do yourself. You will have nothing but trouble with marine electric-I had them for years and the maintenance is mind boggling!! some guys will tell you discs are the way to go and that could be true , and perhaps you should look at that option but that is still electro hydraulic-whether you go drum and perhaps keep a part of your existing system or disc-it is all electro hydraulic. Very reliable and reasonably trouble free. Whatever you do-do not try and save money and go straight electric as in an RV you will be converting within 2 years-guaranteed!!!
 
spring fever said:
If you have to convert -do not go electric and RV brakes are not the same as marine electric. What have you got now? Surge hydraulic? I saw a complete kit electro hydraulic the other day for 699 from etrailer-fabulous deal and not hard to do yourself. You will have nothing but trouble with marine electric-I had them for years and the maintenance is mind boggling!! some guys will tell you discs are the way to go and that could be true , and perhaps you should look at that option but that is still electro hydraulic-whether you go drum and perhaps keep a part of your existing system or disc-it is all electro hydraulic. Very reliable and reasonably trouble free. Whatever you do-do not try and save money and go straight electric as in an RV you will be converting within 2 years-guaranteed!!!
Click to expand...

What he said^^^^^

My understanding is over that certain weight you have to go electric OVER hydraulic not straight electric. There are kits out there for doing this and they aren't cheap but they look fairly easy to install.

Here are some of the more popular ones from what I have read.

http://www.easternmarine.com/Electric-Hydraulic-Brake-Actuators/

I'm sure some members on here have done it. There are some good threads on other boards as well like The Hull Truth.

Cheers,
John
 
Price like everything else marine $$$$$$$
 
Yes I know marine is more expensive but the parts on boats are mostly identical to RV. And everyone I talk to says RV work great on boat trailers
 
Greger said:
Yes I know marine is more expensive but the parts on boats are mostly identical to RV. And everyone I talk to says RV work great on boat trailers
Click to expand...

I don't see too many people backing their RV's into the salt chuck every weekend. I think there must be a difference. Just sayin'.
 
Well I haven't been able to find one person that disagrees. So hopfully someone here has a good answer other then" they just are"
 
Electric over hydraulic and disk brakes is by far best . I know a quality trailer builder in lower mainland we deal with and it's the same answer . Whatever you do don't put just electric. I just put electric over last season as the dealer had no clue as most salesmen don't know what there selling other then the what's listed . The one I bought was 1000 just for the electric hydraulic actuator.
 
Greger said:
Yes I know marine is more expensive but the parts on boats are mostly identical to RV. And everyone I talk to says RV work great on boat trailers
Click to expand...
I would say that it would be the materials they are made from. Materials being the type that don't rust in the marine environment.
 
pacific spring and axle in Langley has all the knowledge and parts you may need
great guys to deal with
 
Ok -the difference between an electric marine brake(which is totally legal by the way) and an RV brake is actually quite a few things. The backing plates on marine are galvinized, The magnets/ actuators are waterproofed, The spring adjusters are larger-The connectors have a larger more waterproof boot. In general the whole shoe backing plate assembly is more robust. Does this help-not really-this system was never designed to go into salt water-nothing is stainless and from personal experience the marine stuff is more repairable and you can patch it together longer than the regular RV stuff but in the end you will still change to something else. I don't know of any boat trailer manufacturer who still offers them-most have gone to electro hydraulic ; air/hydraulic or straight hydraulic-either disc or drum. The weak point in all these systems is actually the individual brake actuators which tend to corrode and not retract leaving you with a sticking and a hot brake. Good idea to carry a blanking plug to plug that line -release the brake and carry on with 3 brakes. What nobody ever tells you that this can be prevented by just flushing your brake lines with new brake fluid and putting new fluid in every fall before storage-not spring time because the moisture in the fluid will have done its work over the winter.
 
ok price is a big factor here guys. If I get pulled over with the surge brakes. Is it a fine and on your way. Or stop here tow truck called type of event.
And for those that say is your safety worth it. Sure it is but they have worked fine for the last twenty years. Sure they been rebuilt a few times. But I take care of them. at this point my trailer is used twice a year once in once out.
 
Isn't electric over hyd. An electric actuator - pump pressure runs applies the hydraulic brakes drum or disc? You don't want magnets in the saltchuck

Rum Chum
 
264winmag said:
Isn't electric over hyd. An electric actuator - pump pressure runs applies the hydraulic brakes drum or disc? You don't want magnets in the saltchuck

Rum Chum
Click to expand...

Yes and it is mounted on the tongue of the trailer and never see's salt water (hopefully lol).
 
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