Trailer Brake Cable Snapped ????

[redtritonrph]

Just bought a TR-196 -2 axle trailer with electrical breaks.... Trailer has swing away tongue. Got the boat into the garage, went to fold back the tongue and heard a "snap" looks like a brake cable? Why did they put this type of cable here, where it can't bend around the hinge of the tongue? Was this possibly installed wrong?
Anyhow, brakes are not locked- I can roll the trailer 6-8 ft forward w/no problem....
What needs to be done to fix it?
thanks,
jeff

 

[rndn]

Re: Trailer Brake Cable Snapped ????

It sure looks like the brake line, and if it is, it was installed wrong. I would guess it needs a flexible brake line to be able to move with the tongue. It's important for you to know that your trailer now has no brakes, so you may want to ask the people where you bought it, if it's still under warranty, to come to your place to repair the issue. I do suggest you DO NOT move the trailer without repairing the brakes.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Trailer Brake Cable Snapped ????

You don't have electric brakes -- you have a hydraulic surge brake system and it is a hydraulic line that broke. Someone totally unqualified installed this system. The connection between the swing tongue and main trailer frame is supposed to be a flexible line. I would also check the connections at each wheel. There should be a flexible line between each wheel and the solid line at the frame, or there should be a "T" on the axle with a flexible line between it and solid line on the frame. A solid line should then run to each wheel. Without the ability to flex with the suspension, those solid lines will break.

 

[redtritonrph]

Re: Trailer Brake Cable Snapped ????

The cable was indeed installed wrong. Spoke to service guy at Triton dealership. That part was put in backwards. Hope to have this resolved this week. Sent a big nasty letter to Triton with the photos. Makes you wonder who is checking the quality of craftsmanship that goes into their product. You would think between the trailer company, Triton, and 2 dealers that had the boat on the lot, that SOMEONE would have tested the swing away tongue(even a potential buyer), after all it is one of the main selling features for a trailer. Also you would think that whoever does this type of work repetitively would not make a mistake like this.

Thanks for the input....

 

[fishntoss]

Re: Trailer Brake Cable Snapped ????

Was this a used trailer??? I noticed some rust going on inside the trailer..

Just wondering if someone else owned it and did the install on the brake thinking he'd never use the swing away...

Who said it was an electric brake system???

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Trailer Brake Cable Snapped ????

And once again, that is NOT a cable, it is brake line (a tube/pipe). It carries brake fluid under pressure to the wheel cylinders that actuates the brakes.