Demco Hydraulic Brake Actuator - Drum - Zinc - 12" Adjustable Channel Center - 8,000 lbs

Video Transcript for Demco Brake Actuator - Surge Brake Actuator - DM8758521 Review

Today we're going to be taking a look at the Demco Hydraulic Brake Actuator. This actuator is designed for trailers with hydraulic drum brakes. It has a gross towing weight capacity of 8000 pounds, and a maximum tongue weight capacity of 800 pounds. The hydraulic actuator activates your trailer's brakes when your tow vehicle slows down or stops. As your trailer moves forward when your vehicle starts to slow down, the actuator contracts, which is going to apply force to its master cylinder, that's an internal component, and then in turn it supplies the necessary hydraulic pressure to engage your trailer's breaks. That's basically how the unit works. This one in particular's going to feature an adjustable channel, that's this area right here, very, very versatile option, it's going to give you 5 different mounting positions for a coupler.

There's a wide variety of couplers to choose from, couplers are sold separately, you can check out some options here at etrailer.com. Now the mount holes on the adjustable portion, these are going to separated on center by 2 inches, and they're going to have a diameter of 5, 8, 7 inch. The unit's made from a heavy duty steel construction, it's going to feature a zinc plating, it's going to do a great job at resisting rusting corrosion. This one is going to feature a 500 hour salt spray rating, so it's going to be great for marine applications. When it comes to the construction of the master cylinder, the master cylinder is this portion back here. This is a composite material, when it comes to the master cylinder it's very durable, very efficient, it's going to feature glass reinforced nylon construction, it's going to resist rusting corrosion, it's got a nice large reservoir that's going to provide increased capacity for brake fluid, and it's going to feature an automotive style diaphragm cap that keeps complete closure.

It's going to keep this area completely closed when it comes in the system, that's going to help prevent contamination of the fluid. I also want to mention that is does come with a breakaway system. The cable and the hook is attached to this line right here. The hook would attach to your tow vehicle, so in the event where your trailer would ever disconnect from your tow vehicle, the cable would be pulled, it would move this lever back to a braking position, which would then bring your trailer to an eventual stop, it would engage the breaks on the trailer bringing it to a stop. That is included. This is a bolt on installation, you're going to have 3 mounting holes located on each side. It does require a half inch by a 4 and a half inch, that's half inch diameter by 4 and a half inch long grade 5 bolts for mounting, those are not included.

The product's made right here in the USA. The cap right here, again, is to put the fluid into the reservoir of the master cylinder. You'll notice that these mounting plates, you got 1 here, and you got 1 the other side. The distance between those plates, that's going to be 3 inches. This is designed to mount onto a straight 3 inch wide trailer tow.

When it comes to the channel width, we're talking about our bracket right here. Externally, outside edge to outside edge is about 3 and 3 8ths. Internally is about 2 and 7 eights. Top to bottom is going to be 12 inches. This is model number DA91. Overall length, front to this portion right here is going to be about 24 inches. These 2 mount holes are separated on center by 3 inches, and the distance between this mount hole to this mount hole on center is 9 and a half inches. Now please keep in mind that because this actuator does not include a reverse lockout, it is recommended that you equip your trailer with 3 backing brakes, that way you can drive and reverse without the actuator triggering your trailer's brakes. That's going to do it for today's look at the Demco Hydraulic Break Actuator.