Converting Surge Brakes to Electric Brakes on Boat Trailer

Question:

I have a boat trailer with two 3500 lbs axels I would like to convert to true electric brakes not electric over hydraulic . Would you recommend this and if so could you put together a parts list for this application? Thanks

asked by: Jeff K

Expert Reply:

You can absolutely replace the hydraulic surge brakes on your boat trailer with electric assemblies. More and more customers (and trailer manufacturers) are making this change on boat trailers because of the lower cost and easier install/maintenance of an electric setup. Since water and electricity still aren't best friends you will just want to be sure to unplug the wiring connectors before backing into the water. I also recommend using heat shrink butt connectors like # DW05745-10 for the wiring connections to help with sealing them from the elements.

If you have hydraulic drum brakes on your 3,500 pound axles it should be just a matter of replacing the brake assemblies themselves as far as the hubs are concerned. For this I recommend the etrailer.com Electric Brake Kit # AKEBRK-35-SA which includes both the Left Hand and Right Hand assemblies and features a self-adjusting design that won't require periodic manual adjustments. You will just need to make sure your existing brake mounting flanges have the same 4 bolt pattern.

With the brakes in place it's time to actually wire everything up. You will want to use 10 gauge wiring like # 10-1-1 (sold by the foot) from the trailer's 7-Way connector back to the assemblies. One wire from each brake assembly will be connected to this wire and the other wire will attach to the trailer frame for ground. It does not matter which wire you use for each purpose. If you don't already have a 7-Way then I recommend using the Upgrade Kit # HS381-9000 which includes the 7-Way harness and junction box for a clean setup.

Then for your tow vehicle you will also need to add a brake controller to actually power the brakes. For this I highly recommend the Curt Echo # C51180 because of its extremely simple install and operation that requires you to plug it into the 7-Way connector on the vehicle and pair it to your smartphone via Bluetooth. I have attached a video demonstration that you can check out as well.

If your your tow vehicle doesn't already have a 7-Way connector please let me know its year, make, and model and I will be happy to make some specific recommendations.

I have also attached a great article that goes into even more detail with regards to the parts needed and process of adding electric brakes to a trailer that you can look through.