I have a slight upward slope on drive in front of my garage. When backing my boat uphill into the garage the brakes are locking up. Does it on both of my vehicles, yet I can use my dads Tahoe and it has no problems. They are surge breaks on trailer. Can anyone tell me why my vehicles do this but not my dads? Is there an easy fix?

Do you have the 5 wire connector on your vehicles or the 4 wire? You need the 5 wire hook up. You can also manually lock out the brakes. You will need to put something in the slot on the tongue of the trailer so the part connected to the truck can't move back and activate the brakes. I think some people have taped a large bolt to the opening to temporarily lock out the brakes. Make sure you remove whatever you use to manually lock out the brakes every time.

Is it a 5 pin connector? I believe one of the pins sends voltage to a solenoid when vehicle is placed in reverse and keeps the surge brakes from engaging when backing up...

Check the Boats and Motors section, I've read about this issue there.

Most likely your 2 vehicles do not have the fuse installed for the trailer backup lights. This is if all 3 are using the same trailer plug-in. Are the back-up lights working on both of your vehicales?

Not sure I will have to check. So all I need is a fuse? Or I need to make sure I have 5 pin connector? Or do I need to a fuse and the 5 pin connector? Sorry getting a little confused.

What kind or connector do you have in the vehicle that is "locking" the brakes?

For reverse to work properly on the trailer you need:



OR and adapter like this..

It is most likely just a bad connection on your truck. Just squeeze the female fittings with the pliers slightly. This will make it fit tighter.

Happens to me also, for me it's the fuse. Check the fuse in your truck first.

Well like I said earlier, you must have the 5 pin connector first. Some of the older vehicles only have a 4 pin connector and that will not work on trailers with surge brakes. If you have the 5 pin connector then check the fuse.

If they are surge brakes, then a fuse shouldn't be a problem. It is most likely a difference in hitch height that is changing the angle on the surge break assembly causing the breaks to not engage when the Tahoe backs it up. You may try a different height ball to match the height of the Tahoe.

I'm sure your boat has a 5 prong plug and your two vehicle only has 4 prongs. The prong that deactivates the brakes is the prong on the opposite end of the ground. To temporary diss able the brakes, turn the flat plug sideways and plug that end prong into the prong on your vehicle that is the running lights. Then turn on your lights and your brakes will be disabled. Your backup light should also come on the trailer.

No expert on this, but I was having the same problem. Turns out replacing the rusty ball on my hitch with a nice new stainless steel one did the trick..just not getting a good ground connection, I guess..

Thanks for all the help guys. I will give them all a try.

That's weird because it should ground through your plug. Maybe check where your ground wire connects to your trailer to make sure it isn't broke.

You have to have the 5-prong. The 5th one is when in reverse the reverse light send a signal to deactivate the surge brakes. My son forgot and took my plug and I couldn't back it up at all. You can take a nut the size of the slide bar and place it in that we've on the side and prevent it from acctivateing. Quick fix. I had to do that to back my Xpress up my drive way. It had a 4-way on it and I only had a problem backing up an incline. My Skeeter will not back at all unless hooked up to the 5-way or acing a nut in the slide sleeve on the side.