13' Boatmate trailer brakes inop

[13mobiusLSV]

So the last several trips to/from the lake I've felt like my truck is laboring more to stop and I'm definitely having to give a little more brake pressure to slow and stop. My dad who is also a seasoned boater thinks I think these things up in my head when I don't believe things are working correctly. He had me convinced it was the front brakes on my truck wearing down (original brakes at 52k). Went to our local lake today which a good portion of the driving is back roads and frequent stops. I was able to grab all rotors and calipers and felt no increase in temperature after a 50 mile trip. It even poured for a bit today while we were out so the ramp was drenched, with the boat off the trailer I slammed on the brakes to see if I could lock up any of the tires and had zero luck with a couple tries. Anyone else faced this issue before. It is under warranty and its a tandem with 4 wheel disc brakes. I could try and bleed them but i dont have the time to play around with it.

[mcdye]

Simple check, disconnect your trailer wire and try to back up an incline, you should feel the trailer brakes engage.

[kevkev]

When I got my new trailer in 2013 I had a very slow leak at one of the calipers. I tightened all of them up and then added more fluid and bled the brakes. Haven't had any issues since.

[ninedriver]

Simple check, disconnect your trailer wire and try to back up an incline, you should feel the trailer brakes engage.

What he said.
The trailer brakes work on an inertial plunger system in the tongue. When you brake on your tow vehicle, the weight of the boat compresses the tongue plunger and applies trailer brakes. To keep trailer brakes from activating when going in reverse, the trailer lights/wire need to be hooked up to tow vehicle which will engage a bypass solenoid to the compressed plunger from applying trailer brakes. Or, if you can't hook up trailer lights to tow vehicle (forgot adapter or something), you can install the lockout tool/key on side of tongue to keep plunger from compressing.
So, by unhooking your trailer lights, and making sure the bypass key/tool isn't installed, and the slowly backing up, you should feel resistance from your trailer brakes. Try it first with lights hooked up , then unhook and see if you feel a difference.
Finally, make sure your trailer master cylinder is filled properly. To do this, make sure trailer is unhooked from truck and tongue/plunger is fully extended and level. Remove cap on tongue, then remove rubber cap on master cylinder. Check fluid level and don't overfill or brakes can hang up.

[13mobiusLSV]

I didn't even think disconnecting the trailer lights and backing up. I'll give that a try later this week when I get back into town. It was storming when we got home so I didn't mess with it any when we got back. I'm starting to wonder if it's the actuator, I've got a pretty bad "clunk" when taking off after a complete stop. It's virtually the same whether its a gradual or abrupt stop.

Thanks for the info.

[Woody929]

Mine had always done this ^^
I don't even think anything of it. I just figure it is the truck decompressing the tongue plunger

[smorris7]

Mine had always done this ^^
I don't even think anything of it. I just figure it is the truck decompressing the tongue plunger

That is exactly what it is. Both of my boats did this and it would be more extreme if the fluid is slightly low.

[Woody929]

I just know that if I have to come to a hard stop, I start off the line on the easy side to help manage the jerk.

[rdlangston13]

Also get going about 20 mph or so and slam the breaks and then get out and see how far the toungue compressed, if it compressed all the way back then you may have air in the lines, a leak, or the by pass may be stuck on.

[13mobiusLSV]

Didn't end up making it into work today so had a chance to go troubleshoot and play around with it. The reservoir was bone dry, so I topped it off with some fluid and did a few quick stop n gos. within seconds fluid was pouring out just behind the master cylinder. disconnected the trailer and swung the tongue away, and wasn't really able to identify where the leak was truly coming from. It looked like it might have possibly been a fitting or solenoid in there but its above my pay grade to go mess with it. It's at a local trailer shop now which is 60 miles closer than the dealer. Here's to hoping boatmate doesn't fight me on this warranty claim. Will only be my 6th warranty issue in 10 months of having the boat.

[mcdye]

Thanks for the update. Keep us posted. We swing our tongue after every trip, we watch and make we dont pinch the hose each time going out.

[rdlangston13]

Not sure about everyone else's experience but my biggest fear going out on our boat is not the boat leaving us stranded but the trailer...


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[bergermaister]

Not sure about everyone else's experience but my biggest fear going out on our boat is not the boat leaving us stranded but the trailer...


I'm with you. Easy to get a tow in from the water. Totally different story getting a gimp trailer home on pretty much any road trip!