Can I Add Electric Brakes To My Boat Trailer That Didn't Come With Brakes?  

Question:

Expert Reply:

Howdy there, William. I can help with this. It may be possible to install electric brakes on your two axle boat trailer. The first thing we will want to look at is whether or not the axle has a brake flange. If you want to see an example of what that looks like, take a look at part # TRU74FR and see how it has the square flange with 4 holes at the base of the spindle. If your axle has a brake flange, brakes can easily be added. If it does not, we recommend that you replace the axle.

If you do have a brake flange, you will need to get brake assemblies, hubs/drum assemblies, a 7-way trailer harness, and an emergency brakeaway switch. You will also need to have an electric brake controller in the cab of your vehicle.

The brake assemblies should be a standard size, but in order for me to accurately recommend hubs, I will need to know the spindle size, or bearing sizes that the trailer currently uses. The best way to determine this is for you to pull one of the hubs and remove the bearings. Each bearing will have a number stamped on the edge and if you can provide me with those numbers, I can recommend the correct hubs.

For example, what we commonly see are 3,500 lb axles that use a # L68149 (1.378" inner diameter) inner bearing and a # L44649 (1.063" inner diameter) outer bearing. For this the correct hub/drum is part # AKHD-545-35-EZ-K. If this is not exactly what you have, feel free to drop your bearing sizes in the comments below and I will make sure you get the right hubs. If this does happen to be what you have, here are the rest of the parts you will need for the conversion:

- etrailer Electric Trailer Brakes - Self-Adjusting - 10" - Left/Right Hand Assemblies - 3.5K # AKEBRK-35-SA

- Easy Grease Trailer Hub and Drum Assembly for 3.5K Axles - 10" - 5 on 4-1/2 - Pre-Greased # AKHD-545-35-EZ-K

- Hopkins 7-Way RV Style Connector with Molded Cable - Trailer End - 8' Long - RV Standard # H20046

- Bright Way Push-to-Test Trailer Breakaway Kit with 1-Amp Charger and 5 Ah Battery - Top Load # 3802308

- Tekonsha Prodigy P3 Trailer Brake Controller - 1 to 4 Axles - Proportional # 90195

You may need additional 12 gauge or 14 gauge wire to complete your trailer wiring. We have a guide that goes over adding electric brakes to a trailer and you will find it linked below. Feel free to reach out to me if you have further questions.

expert reply by: Jesse M

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