Surge Diagnosis
 

Ok, dumb question, but I'm talking to a guy out of state about buying his 19ft. Mariah Bowrider. The boat seems really great, but he says there may be an issue with the surge brakes on trailer. It has the original '97 Chariot single axle with it. I'm going to tow this boat with a 2010 Toyoya Tacoma Prerunner, but I need those brakes. Gentleman said he's not sure if they are working or not, but he's using a larger truck to tow.
What can I look at or try when I go look at this boat to tell if the brakes are functioning normally? If not, are there any "normal" problems or fixes I can try? Thanks for any help..

Re: Surge Diagnosis
 

If it has surge disc brakes, you can try baking up without the brake lockout pin in place and without the trailer wiring plugged in to the truck. The brakes should engage and you should feel it. Not sure about drum brakes, I believe they don't engage when backing up.

Re: Surge Diagnosis
 

My surge brakes don't work right now but I live 1 mile from my ramp so I'm not worried about fixing it now...the main problem with my brakes is that they have a leak somewhere so the master cylinder in the tongue of the trailer has no resistance so when I brake it slides forward and makes a huge clunk and if you accelerate to hard it will clunk back.....the tongue is just loose so it slides forward and back...it's horrible...That being said I drove it 180 miles home like that. It just scared me the first times it did it .......I guess you can check the fluid and if it doesn't do the clunk you should be good ....my boat and trailer weigh about 6700 pounds and I pull it with a 02 F150 2wd with Limited slip rear end

Re: Surge Diagnosis
 

I'm thinking that it being a '97 model, the brake shoes could just be worn down. If I buy this boat, I'll have about a 125 mile trip back home on the interstate so I guess if I just take it easy and watch everything, it should be ok. Thanks all..

Re: Surge Diagnosis
 

If it's like mine was, everything is bad. I replaced almost everything except the drums. Master cylinder, lines, complete backing plate assembly. I towed mine a few times with my Chevy Traverse without issue. Point is, even if everything is bad, all parts are readily available. I had less than 300 in parts to replace all that.

Re: Surge Diagnosis
 

Hi everyone, been a long time since I've been on here but need some help. I have a 1996 Mariah 2244 Jubilee with a Chariot trailer under it that I purchased late last year. The surge brakes were not working and it looks like the Master Cylinder had been dry for some time and had rusted up. The boot on the front of the master cylinder was rotten, pin was rusted. You get the idea. I'm pretty sure the whole thing needs to be replaced. Anyone have an idea how the master cylinder is removed from the frame? It is pretty rusty and after doing some hammering on it today nothing seems to budge. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Re: Surge Diagnosis
 

Your lucky day !
A project I'm doing right now. You should have the Titan 10/20 surge brake assembly. Go to a boat trailer supply house and double check.
If it is, Chariot welded the side sq tubes over the four bolts that hold the cylinder in there.
Go look and see if you have the Titan unit before I go into one of my infamous, long winded explanations.

Re: Surge Diagnosis
 

Thanks Brian. I thought this reply had already went through, but I'll send it again. Yes mine does have the Titan 10/20 master cylinder assembly. Looks to be welded on the inside of the frame! Need some help to get it out for replacement. Thanks.

Re: Surge Diagnosis
 

Search results for: 'titan 10/20'

This place seems to have everything.
I haven't gotten around to mine yet but hopefully this weekend !
If you pull everything apart that you can, you'll just barely be able to see the bolt heads on the side center tube.
I'm not going to type all this out on second thought. I'll make a video and send it to someone on here (ShabahZ280???) who can edit and post it up. You're going to have to cut four holes, 3/4" hole saws, through th side of the outer frame tubing. I'll do my best on measurements but the final place to cut on yours will be up to you.
Give me a week or so and I'll get it done.

Re: Surge Diagnosis
 

That's what I was thinking I was going to have to do. Pretty poor design by the Chariot manufacturer.

Re: Surge Diagnosis
 

Amen brother !!!
If you look at the pics of the new master cylinder, you can see the threaded bolt holes in the sides. Two per side. That's what I'm going to measure on my new one when it shows up and then try measuring from fixed points on the trailer to drill my small pilot holes. If the pilot holes line up with the old bolts, I'll hole saw them a little bigger than the socket O.D. to get them out.
I'll plug the holes with rubber grommets in case I ever have to do it again.
BTW. My stuff was suppose to have been here today !!

Re: Surge Diagnosis
 

Ok, good luck! I'm going to try and do the same thing tomorrow.

Re: Surge Diagnosis
 

Looky what finally showed up today !
I went ahead a bought the slides, mounted to sides of the actuator. (master cylinder)
The two baby shocks are dampners for slack.
I'm going to take lots of pictures and do lots of descriptions on this so hopefully, it will benefit someone else.
Has anyone seen anything like that on here already?

Re: Surge Diagnosis
 

I did like you said Brian and drilled pilot holes through the frame and then used a whole saw to get the bolts out. After a little struggling and a few choice words I was able to slide the master cylinder out the front. I did not order the complete kit since the boat manufacturer WELDED the sides that hold the master cylinder to the inside frame instead of using bolts like it was meant for. I should get my master cylinder in next week so I'll get it in and start bleeding brakes to see what else is screwed up! Google luck with yours.

Re: Surge Diagnosis
 

OH SNAP !
I hope mine aren't welded too !
Did your's still have the mini shock absorber inside? Did it have one or two of them?
Do you know you need to bench bleed the MC (master cylinder) BEFORE you pit it in? Don't skip this step!!

Re: Surge Diagnosis
 

Yes mine has the two mini shocks. They still sèem stiff and aren't leaking so im putting them back in (probably a mistake). I had to pull out them, the pins and push rod to get the master cylinder out. I'm pretty sure Chariot welded in the side brackets. I know they will not move and they put a bead of weld on the pins that have the springs on them so they cannot be removed. If you notice on your mounting brackets they have two holes on each side that are supposed to have pins/bolts through them. If they had installed them correctly I think you could have removed the entire assembly. I'll have to look into the bench bleeding of the master cylinder, haven't done that before. Thanks for the heads up!

Re: Surge Diagnosis
 

I am NOT using another plastic fill cap either. I'm going to Lowes and finding the metal version. I had to cut and break up my old one to get it off. Brake fluid has an additive that causes rubber to swell. I'm not saying this for a fact but I believe the fluid causes the plastic to swell making it very hard to get it off.

Re: Surge Diagnosis
 

Already boys, took several hours but it's done. I wouldn't say it was hard but it weren't no picnic neither. Just treat the job like a marriage. Go into it with high hopes but always be prepared to abandon till you can cool down and attack it from a different angle.
I have a lot of video of step by step and I need someone that can take it all and make an instructive aide for the general viewing public. Any takers ?
The hardest part was getting the holes drilled in the right place. I missed on my first one but immediately figured out my mathematical error. It was salvageable and I nailed the other three. What sucks is I triple measured and was spot on. I just forgot the common denominator rule of fractions.
After getting the old MC out, the new one took some gentile tapping to get into place. The four bolts that held it in turned into a micro problem of getting them to line up but I got them.
Unfortunately, I ordered the wrong shock absorbers. I assumed I had the smaller Titan 10. Well, in great big, stamped in steel, was TITAN "20", right there in plain view, on top of the top rollers cover plate. I must have had my hand on the plate while I was looking for an ID plate or sticker.
I will send these back and get the bigger 20's this week.
The main rollers attach to these two shocks. Make sure you have them pulled all the out before sliding the tongue back into the main body of your trailer. If you don't, you won't be able to get the main bolts (2 of them) back thru the rollers.
I still need to bleed them out tomorrow but that should be a no-brainer====IF THE WHEEL CYLINDERS ARE STILL GOOD !!

Like I said, PLEASE someone take my videos and make something of them. I'm not only not good but have zero, nil, nada idea of how to edit and make videos.

PS. eTrailers was great to deal with. I highly recommend them.

Re: Surge Diagnosis
 

Brian it might take me a few weeks, but I'd be willing to edit the video. I have to work on my brakes as well so this can be my learning project as well.


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Re: Surge Diagnosis
 

I'll email them all to you. After you watch them, critique them and I'll add more video or redo any section to make it clear(er).

Re: Surge Diagnosis
 

Sounds good, if you have problems emailing because of size let me know and I can send a link for you to upload your clips to. I wont promise your video will be this polished but here is a link of one I made this winter of my daughter skiing (snow) https://youtu.be/lipuE-zjcFY


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Re: Surge Diagnosis
 

I can't find your email

Re: Surge Diagnosis
 

[email protected]


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