Surge brakes and long downhills

Hey gang,

Anyone with the electric backup bypass solenoid on their trailer do anything about long, steep downhill grades? I've seen surge brakes get cooked on a steep road and am wondering if this is an issue. Not a lot of roads like the one I'm describing, but the one I have in mind I hit at least once a year.

I was thinking about putting a switch with a bright red light on the dash of my truck that, when on, will send a "backup light" signal to the trailer to activate the solenoid. Basically an "off switch" for my boat trailer brakes. It would need a diode in there somewhere to keep the backup lights on the truck from coming on.

That was just my first thought. Anyone have any input?

Might work, except it will trigger the back up lights on the trailer if you have them. If you dont then its a pretty good idea.

When we go to Lake Billy we put the block off thing in the tongue to bypass the brakes, other wise you spend 45 minutes at the ramp waiting for them to cool off before you can dip the boat.

No backup lights on the trailer, no problem there.

I've thought about trying a backup key in the actuator but on one hand it can fall out and on the other you can forget about it. A bright red toggle switch light on your dash is a little harder to ignore. And its cooler!

That's how I set up my buddy's super duty, he already had auxiliary switches from the factory to tap into. Very nice way to manually control your trailer brakes.

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Originally Posted by beat taco

That's how I set up my buddy's super duty, he already had auxiliary switches from the factory to tap into. Very nice way to manually control your trailer brakes.

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Damit, i can see another upgrade coming, i got aux switches in my rig not doing anything LOL.