My trailer is a couple years old and i'm wondering if its brakes are acting up.
While retrieving my boat at the dock yesterday i had to put the reverse lockout pin in to actually back my unladen trailer down the ramp. That was a first. The brakes were locking on the ramp.

But then, back on my driveway with the boat on the trailer, I cannot push the trailer back up my steep driveway into the garage. That is a first. I have the lockout pin in, but my truck in 2WD or 4WD won't push it up. There definitly is something wrong. In that past i have done this in 2WD easily enough, and in 4WD even more EASILY.

So, not being real knowledeable in surge brakes (today that will change) ... how do i diagnose the brakes on the dual axle trailer, what do i look for in the trailer's reservoir?

my truck/trailer is perched halfway up the driveway,
the parked rig actually slid down the driveway a few inches an hour until i chalked all wheels so it is a little steep

FD, It sounds like you may have at least one of the wheel cylinders locked up. The cylinders are teh actuator that pushes on the brake shoes to activate the breakes. When they get old an rusted, Sometimes the get stuck and will not retract to release the brakes. When this happend that brake/wheel will get real hot. You will need to get the trailer on a level area. Jack up each wheel(one at a time) and see if each brake activates and releases. To do this test, you will need to seperate the trailer and TV. I use the hitch insert as a lever to activate the brakes at the coupler. It is a two person job. This site has a ton of tech advise http://www.championtrailers.com/

+1 Your trailer is new enough that you may not have to replace the wheel cylinder if you can get it unstuck.You definately need to flush the brake lines though or they will all rust up.

I like to flush(bleed) mine at the end of the season so they do not sit over the winter with water in the cylinders. When the brakes are hot and you dunk the trailer it sucks in a little water. Over time this builds up and you end up with a substantial amount in your lines.

Once you have bled the lines and re-packed the bearings a time or two you can do it in an hour or less per axle. You will be amazed at how much rusty water/brake fluid comes out after just a few months.

Tire stores like Les Schwaab will do it for you as well. I think they charge about $60.00 per axle to re-pack bearings, bleed and adjust brakes.

Fatdog, with your trailer being newer, it should have disc brakes on it. I'm betting your reverse lock-out solenoid is either defective or not getting the proper voltage to operate correctly.

I have been having the same troubles over the last two years. For me, the main actuator has rust on the piston. It deploys, locks the brakes, then gets stuck. This past time, it was actually able to do it with the lock out pin in place. Your trailer is considerably newer than mine, so I am not so sure that is your problem.

If I were you, I'd open one of the bleeders on the calipers to release any built up pressure and see if that helps.

I was told to always pull forward a bit when parking the trailer for any length of time to release the surge brakes and prevent the rusting in place of the main actuator piston. This is obviously tough to do when you are parked in reverse on a steep incline. Maybe it can be done after the trailer is chocked/secured in place, possibly by hand.

EDIT: Dumb question of the day, but when you bleed the brakes do you simply pump in new fluid till the fluid coming out looks good, or is there a more complicated procedure? I can't get the Champion link to open for some reason. Any links to proper bleeding techniques?

I had the dealer go over the trailer about 3 years ago before moving to NC from IL but would like to be able to do this stuff myself. I've towed less than a mile at a time the last 3 years so haven't worried about it...but would like to be ready for a trip if desired. I can do the bearings, but its been a while since I did DIY maintenance on brakes (since my TR6 days Ken ). The surge cylinder and reverse lock-out mechanism is all new to me as well. If your main hitch surge cylinder is sticking how do you fix it?

They make various gadgets that purport to make it possible to bleed a trailer by yourself, but so far I've had a lot more success with a helper. One person to pump the actuator (using a screwdriver), while I manipulate the bleeder screws at the calipers.

Assuming you don't have any problems, bleeding is pretty much just a process of running the fluid through it, making sure you keep the master cylinder full enough that you don't allow air into the lines, and then topping it off when you're done. The goal is to have fresh fluid throughout the system and no air in the lines.

There are couple of different types of reverse lockout solenoids.

My trailer came with instructions to do just that, and I do.
This can be done by hand after trailer is unhooked from TV. I use a locking pin that goes thru the actuator and I just pull on that.