Hikerdogs wrote: Now if you were pulling a boat trailer that constantly was getting wet launching ot retiieving a boat the hydraulics would be a better choice.
I was surprised to learn a while back that electric brakes work very well on boat trailers. I always assumed that water and electricity wouldn't mix well, and figured this was one application where surge brakes would be preferred.
However, as it turns out, the electo-magnets in the typical electric drum brake are encased in epoxy, and completely sealed. Even after many many miles of braking, the epoxy doesn't wear down enough to expose any electricity to water. So as long as the rest of the wiring is water-tight (not hard to do if you try) then the electric brake is completely safe to submerge in water.
By the way, I learned all this when a friend of mine was buying a boat, and paid a little extra money to have electric brakes installed rather than the default surge brakes. He had surge brakes on past trailers and hated them, and the boat dealer explained that electric brakes are also water-friendly and even gave him a brochure explaining all this. The only reason he paid any more money (as again electric brakes are cheaper) is because the boat trailer was already equipped with surge brakes and they had to remove and replace with electric. So he paid for the electric brake parts, and they did all the work for free in exchange for keeping all the surge parts they removed.
'04 Ford Freestar (Primary tow vehicle) '05 Subaru Forester (Backup tow vehicle) '65 Bethany popup (best popups ever made!) Looking for a tow vehicle Minivan towing
I have pulled my Vibe using a Demco KarKaddy SS with surge brakes for 29,000 miles over the past 3.5 years in a lot of mountains (see map below) with absolutely no problems. I can highly recommend them.
Dave
Plus New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island & Nova Scotia
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