Can Electric Drum Brakes Be Installed on Prestige Boat Trailer

Question:

Hello, I have a 1999 prestige single axle boat trailer that was made for my 20ft Crownline. It is equipped with a Reliable 5200lbs torsion axle S/N 433991. The trailer currently has no brakes equipped on the trailer. I have been doing some research and have found numerous articles on your website about using electronic brakes on freshwater boat trailers. I called this morning and talked to someone that said you could not use electric brakes on a boat trailer it would short out your trailer controller and would not work. I would like to put brakes on the trailer but a surge system would almost double the cost of adding brakes to the trailer. The axle has 5 bolt mounting flanges and it looks like I would need brake kit AKEBRK-7-SA, drum kit AKHD-655-6-K, with the addition of a break away controller and wiring. I would like some input if this can be done or will I be stuck putting a surge system on. That I will probably not do. Thank you

asked by: Scott W

Expert Reply:

Electric drum brakes are more common on boat trailers than they once were, and for the very reasons you mention: lower cost and easier installation than hydraulic surge brakes. More and more marine trailers are being factory-equipped with electric drum brakes and they can be used safely by always unplugging the trailer connector from the tow vehicle before the trailer enters the water.

I linked a helpful overview article on this process that covers the whole conversion and all the items needed.

Drum brakes are selected based on axle weight rating. Brake set # AKEBRK-7-SA that you mentioned is an excellent choice to match your axle rating and 5-bolt brake flanges. Each brake's 2 wires are non-polarized so either can be wired as ground or hot.

You will also need matching 12 x 2-inch hub/drums; these must use the same set of bearings as your current hubs. You'll want to pull one of yours to get the inner and outer bearing numbers so you can choose a hub/drum that uses the same ones. The most common bearings found on a 5200-lb axle are inner # 25580 and outer # LM67048. Hub/drum # 8-201-5UC3 is a 6-lug hub that uses these bearings and it is rated for a 5200-lb axle.

Wiring in the brakes and the rest of the trailer lighting circuits will be easiest if you use a junction box like # HS381-9000. This provides a central place to connect all existing light wiring and the new brakes. You will also need some duplex wiring # 10-2-1 to connect the brakes at the junction box and some ring terminals # 44-5310A and # DW05737-1 and some butt connectors # DW05745-10.

For a breakaway you can use Hopkins kit # 20099.

Brake controllers like the Prodigy P3 # 90195 are not vehicle-specific but their installation can vary depending on the vehicle. Please feel free to tell me your tow vehicle information and I will be happy to let you know what you will need to install a quality controller like the P3.