My 2017 R5 Mods and Maintenance

[Big Block Power]

Random question. I’m curious why your boat has the WSS ( wake surf series) designation on the side. I first saw that then noticed it wasn’t forward drive and it threw me off.

Prior to 2018 you could get the WSS badging on a standard stern drive. It was an appearance package. 2018+ it is surf models only

Is also called
Water Sports Series.
Not Wake Surf Series.

[rabiddawg]

Yes I have electric over hydraulic

Dexter Axle model eh 1600

It might work better than mine. Ever measured the voltage at the EOH unit while it was pumping? What year F-150 do you have?

I looked up your unit...requires a 30A circuit.

Mine is a ‘19.

I’ve never had a reason to check the voltage. I’m really not qualified . I press the pedal and it stops. If it didn’t work I’d know it (and mess my pants)

[bruceb58]

Yes I have electric over hydraulic

Dexter Axle model eh 1600

It might work better than mine. Ever measured the voltage at the EOH unit while it was pumping? What year F-150 do you have?

I looked up your unit...requires a 30A circuit.

Mine is a ‘19.

I’ve never had a reason to check the voltage. I’m really not qualified . I press the pedal and it stops. If it didn’t work I’d know it (and mess my pants)

Yours is likely less sensitive to lower voltage than mine.

[kbloom72]

Great thread! Really enjoying following your progress. And yes, you're starting to spend my money.

[dustinm]

Yes I have electric over hydraulic

Dexter Axle model eh 1600

It might work better than mine. Ever measured the voltage at the EOH unit while it was pumping? What year F-150 do you have?

I looked up your unit...requires a 30A circuit.

Mine is a ‘19.

I’ve never had a reason to check the voltage. I’m really not qualified . I press the pedal and it stops. If it didn’t work I’d know it (and mess my pants)

Does your trailer have a battery? I am pretty sure DOT requires a battery backup on all electric trailer brake systems. If so then the immediate draw would be on the battery and your pickup wiring would be there just to recharge it. Similar to the starter / alternator wire sizing on the engine.

[bruceb58]

Does your trailer have a battery? I am pretty sure DOT requires a battery backup on all electric trailer brake systems. If so then the immediate draw would be on the battery and your pickup wiring would be there just to recharge it. Similar to the starter / alternator wire sizing on the engine.

Not sure if your post is directed to me or not. Yes it has a break away battery and its actually charged by the EOH controller through a charge circuit and not directly tied to the alternator. I also have an external connector from the breakaway battery box for a small solar panel so it can charge while the trailer sits idle. While the trailer is going down the road, the breakaway battery supplies zero current to the brake actuator. It does that through a separate wire if the emergency release pin is pulled.

[bruceb58]

I looked up rabiddawg's Dexter install manual. The breakaway battery is in parallel with the 12V coming from the truck so that might help with instantaneous voltage drop if you wired it directly without a charger. However, they recommend 12AWG or 10AWG through the 7 pin connector which just isn't the case with late model F-150's...at least with mine in 2018.

The wiring diagram does mention a charger in between the 12V harness and the breakaway battery. Many battery kits include that now so that would mean the breakaway battery wouldn't actually help the voltage drop.

[dustinm]

Does your trailer have a battery? I am pretty sure DOT requires a battery backup on all electric trailer brake systems. If so then the immediate draw would be on the battery and your pickup wiring would be there just to recharge it. Similar to the starter / alternator wire sizing on the engine.

Not sure if your post is directed to me or not. Yes it has a break away battery and its actually charged by the EOH controller through a charge circuit and not directly tied to the alternator. I also have an external connector from the breakaway battery box for a small solar panel so it can charge while the trailer sits idle. While the trailer is going down the road, the breakaway battery supplies zero current to the brake actuator. It does that through a separate wire if the emergency release pin is pulled.

More toward rabiddawg on understanding why his seems working ok.

I am starting to fully understand why heavier gauge wire is needed and why people should check their TV. This could end in a fire, worst case scenario. I also see why boat trailer companies favor hyd surge brakes, much less liability. MIne was even very adamant against my request for conventional electric (magnet) drum brakes.

[bruceb58]

More toward rabiddawg on understanding why his seems working ok.

I am starting to fully understand why heavier gauge wire is needed and why people should check their TV. This could end in a fire, worst case scenario. I also see why boat trailer companies favor hyd surge brakes, much less liability. MIne was even very adamant against my request for conventional electric (magnet) drum brakes.

After having drum brake boat trailers many years of my life, I would prefer never to have them again, especially when dunked in salt water. On my last trailer, first thing I did was to pull the drum brakes and add disk and EOH. Was amazing how well it stopped. The added benefit of EOH is you can control the gain of the brakes and actually test them when you first start rolling along. I also use a WDH with my boat. Although my WDH will work with a surge brake unit, I prefer not to rely on the surge brake coupler and the WDH bars working against each other. Another nice thing with EOH, is that when you are going down a steep grade and you are using your engine compression to slow your rig down, you don't have brakes dragging down the entire hill which can happen with surge in that scenario.

The tongue weight of my trailer with ZERO gas and nothing loaded in it is 600#. My F-150 hitch is rated for 500# without a WDH and around 1600# with a WDH. Instead of buying an after market hitch receiver and having it welded onto the frame of the truck, I spent far less money adding a WDH to the trailer. Added benefit is that it reduces sway.

[rabiddawg]

Yes mine has a battery

[rabiddawg]

Bruce58, I have no way to measure my tongue weight. I did measure how much my truck squats when I hook the boat to it at ~1” so I don’t think I’m tongue heavy.

I bought the truck 12/20 and found the boat 7/20. My next truck will be f250. It’s just not a comfortable tow for me. The truck is too light for my 262; don’t care what Ford or anyone else says. A wdh would definitely help.

Funny story (to me and some buddies), 2002 my last year farming. I’m helping some friends harvest grain sorghum. I load my truck at dark and park it to haul the load to the elevator the next day. On my way I go into a curve and the truck acts weird. Like it wants to roll over. When I received my load ticket it showed just over 126000 pounds gross!

After I left that night, they came and topped off my rig. I had no idea until That curve in the road. They got a big kick out of my story. You had to there.

[bruceb58]

Bruce58, I have no way to measure my tongue weight.

I have a Sherline scale. You can get them in 1000#, 2000#... Difference is just the gauge. I have a 1000# model.

https://www.sherline.com/product/sherli ... ght-scale/

Sold on Amazon

My boat is about the same weight as yours. I am pretty comfortable how the F-150 tows it. Mine is a 4x4 in case that makes a difference.

[bruceb58]

Since I have a dual ouput charger and the stock wiring of the BluSea battery disconnect switch has the ACR inputs on the battery side of the disconnect switch, the ACR will always combine with the switch in either condition. Personally, I prefer the batteries to be isolated from each other when the disconnect switch is off and my dual battery charger is on.

Very easy to fix this by taking the ACR leads and moving them to the output(load) side of the switch. That way the ACR does not see any voltage until the switch is turned on.

[CaptBob]

You can use a normal scale to measure tongue weight.
Just don't let the Admiral catch you!
Heavier loads can scale up the measurements.

tongue measurement.jpg

[bruceb58]

After going skiing for 2 weeks in Lake Tahoe, I am back to working on the boat.

This task is putting in a charge port to allow me to plug in my battery charger from the swim step area. I put it right next to the trim switch I previously installed.