Acme EZE Tow Brake Problems

[KeninAZ]

I bought the dolly new last year and I ordered it with surge brakes as I have had them before and never had an issue with them other than backing up.
If fact I paid more for the surge brakes if I remember correctly over the electric brakes.
When the unit was delivered it had been shipped vertically and the rubber cap on the brake fluid resevoir had leaked all the fluid out. Not a big deal, I refilled the resevoir and cleaned the area the fluid had removed the paint and repainted it.
I have since made two trips, one at 500 miles and one at 260 miles and on the last trip I noted that the brakes were smoking as I came to a stop on an exit ramp that was downhill. They were really smoking. I then noted as I arrived home that one of the wheels was apparently seizing as it slowed to a stop with my van in tow. Not good.
I have had surge systems before and never had a problem but when I checked the brake fluid I found that it was almost empty so I refilled it again. I must have a leak somewhere and I will look for that today.
The only thing that I can think of is that the fluid level got low and it heated the brakes up????
But honestly I am thinking of just pulling the surge system and installing electric brakes. I have a less than two year old controller that is top of the line that I had bought for my 4 wheel trailer before so it's good to go. I could not use the 4 wheel trailer as my new Pacifica is so low and wide that I could not open the doors on it once loaded. 😞

Absent finding evidence of a leak today on the surge system I am wondering what all the costs would be to change to electric. I would need the two hubs and a control cable of course and I would not think it would take much time to change over.
I will look into costs if I can determine what I need to do the job.

[j-d]

KeninAZ wrote:
I ordered another that is wider and more HD.

That'll fix it! Thanks for the Update!

[KeninAZ]

I decided to go ahead and sell the Acme EZe Tow as my toad has it at capacity in both weight and width.
I ordered another that is wider and more HD.

[KeninAZ]

Great point. But I am going to install the switch.
Going up and down hills here in AZ (the state is not flat by all means) just burned my seals out in two trips, less than some 750 miles and I cannot rebuild the brakes every trip or two. I don't know if this is something I can do or not, I guess I will find out when I get the kit.

I will just have to your idea in mind.

I had a car hauler for a previous vehicle but had to purchase a new vehicle to accommodate my wheelchair that I need from time to time. The Pacifica was so wide and low that when loaded on the car hauler that I would have had to crawl in and out of the windows to get in/out.
I thought this dolly would work well, now I am beginning to wonder.

I suppose the other solution would be to sell this trailer and buy another with electric brakes but I really don't want to have to that if I can avoid it.

[jergeod]

Keep in mind with the disc brakes that the solenoid once activated stops fluid in both direction. So if going down hill and the brakes are applied even a little and you flip the switch now they are locked on till you release the switch again. Not a good idea using going foward because you have no idea if the brakes are applied or not when you flip the switch. You may cause yourself more headaches.

[KeninAZ]

I just got off the phone with Dexter.
They told me that one of the problems with surge brake systems is that they can partially apply with downhill runs when you don't realize it.
This makes the brakes hot and can blow the seals on the "vault" system.
So Dexter will send me the parts so I can rebuild the seals and I will install the solenoid on the trailer.
But I will make a change to the install in that I will wire the solenoid to a switch on my dash of my motorhome so I can manually control when the brakes work on the trailer.
AZ has lots of elevations and hills and I simply cannot afford the safety risks towing to have the bearing lubrication seals blowing out after so few miles.
Dexter found my solution wiring wise quite interesting and said they had never considered that.
So in doing that I have the reliability of the surge brakes without the possible overheating problems blowing the seals.

By the way, Dexter did confirm that I cannot convert this axle system to normal electric brakes just as Acme had told me. I wish I had known this before I made my purchase and about the partial application of the brakes on the down hills without touching the brakes.
Also note for anyone considering one of the EZE Tow trailers. It has one of the highest capacity loads of any on the market and I needed that for my 4800# Pacifica (with wheelchair and electric loader installed) but the Pacifica is so low and wide that I only have about 1-1.5" of clearance on either side of the trailer when loaded.
Be aware that you should really measure the width of your load before you order to see if that will be a problem for you.
I think back to the days of wider tires and rims and think that if my van had anything other than stock tires and rims that it may not have fit on the trailer.
Think about it. You could spend more money on tires and rims for your vehicle than the trailer costs trying to make it fit.

[Groover]

Most trailer brakes fit the same backing plate on the axle and the same bearings on the hub. If you want to switch you should be able to buy the backing plate with guts for the electric plate and the drums/hub combination for electric brakes. You would not have to but it would not cost much to change the couple in most cases. Personally, I would try to make the surge brakes work. I too have had good experience with them on boats.

[KeninAZ]

I did find the reverse lockout solenoid at eTrailer for under $30 so I will get that on order and installed.

[KeninAZ]

It is not stored vertically, it was shipped that way. And the maker of the axle brake system, Dexter, seems to think that is a poor way to ship considering that the reservoir system uses a rubber plug rather than a screw cap.
This unit has a vault system for lube and only needs checking every 5 years.

[j-d]

I think part of the problem is vertical storage, if that storage leads to air in your system and lines.

Yes, if grease, maybe even brake fluid, gets on the shoe linings, they'll grab and lock. No good way to clean it out.

Does the dolly have grease fittings to lube the wheel bearings? If so, pretty easy to over-pump with grease and bypass the inner seal. Or blow the seal, even the outer cap, out of its press fit to the hub.

Surge is nice because you don't need a controller in the towing vehicle. Better if several vehicles will tow it. Rentals are surge for that reason.

I'd have to see parts lists for Surge and for Electric Acme dollies to understand why you can't convert. Unless the "engineered" it that way for some obtuse reason.

[KeninAZ]

Today I removed the tires and inspected the spindles and brake areas. It appeared to have either a grease leak or cooked brake fluid around the inside of the spindles and below the brake disc pads.
Acme thinks I blew the seals but I am not sure why. They say if I did I will have to rebuilt the brakes.
They also suggested that I get a reverse brake surge solenoid which when activated will stop fluid from flowing to the brakes and enable backing of the trailer without damages.
I wish now that I had bought the electric brake models but the surge brake trailers I have had in the past mainly on boats were perfect. I towed a 24' off shore fisherman for many a miles, never added fluid or had a leak on any of the 4 brakes.

[Campinghoss]

I have a ACME dolly as well that I used for a while before going four down. If my memory serves me correctly I remember reading that someone else sat their dolly in their garage for stg and over the winter the fluid leaked out. They had to refill theirs as well. However they took theirs out with a car on the dolly and made several hard stops. The fluid was showing low when they rechecked it. Therefore I am assuming by reading your e mail that you could not do that and I expect you had air in your lines. Once the air had been purged you did not have enough fluid. I don't know if this helps or not.

[KeninAZ]

OK, in checking prices I found out that I cannot convert this trailer to electric brakes, totally different according to Acme.
Oh well, I will look for leaks to find out where the fluid is going. They think I might have blown a seal.
As I am handicapped, backing is a problem having to insert a metal key at the hitch and they suggest a solenoid lockout wired to the 7 pin to make that easy.