Surge Brake?

[GAP]

I am ordering a Trailer Valet for moving my Elite 2 around our driveway.  I'm wondering if our trailers have surge brakes that kick on even when the trailer is not plugged in.  Couldn't find anything in the owner's manuals.  Any help would be appreciated.

Gerry

[Overland]

No surge brake.  There's an emergency brake, but that requires the breakaway pin to be pulled in order to activate.

[Mike and Carol]

I will be interested in how well it works moving your trailer around.  Please let us know!  Mike

[John E Davies]

No surge brakes, those are hydraulic drum or disk brakes, operated by the trailer pushing forward on the tongue mounted actuator. Here  is what a surge brake actuator looks like. Notice the fluid reservoir cap.

 

All Ollies are delivered with electric drum brakes operated by an electronic controller inside your truck.

John Davies

Spokane WA

[ChrisMI]

Was literally typing an explanation of how surge brakes work but John did a better job than I would have. 
 

I’ll have to look up the trailer valet…looking for ideas to weld onto my aircraft tow to move trailers around. 

[ScubaRx]

The specs state:

• Weight capacity: 5,500 lbs
• Tongue weight capacity: 550 lbs

That's a little light for the average Oliver.

[SeaDawg]

Which trailer valet model did you order?

[Fritz]

Did you by any chance look at Park-it 360 (e.g., 10,000 lb version)?  I have no experience with either, but am looking at both....

[Landrover]

I have a trailer Valet 10k new I would let it go for $200.00 u pick up. Fla. The only thing it has a 2 5/16 ball you’ll need to buy a 2in ball.  Pm if interested 

[BackofBeyond]

I used this - but then - it was around before Ollie...

 

[ADKCamper]

For the first time we rented an RV storage bay this year. Initially we thought we would need a trailer tongue dolly to precisely position a boat and the Ollie in the same bay with limited clearance. It turned out that with patience and a lot of getting out of the truck to repeatedly check clearances I was able to do it with the truck, so I never purchased a trailer tongue dolly.

However, I did a bunch of research on trailer tongue dollies in case I could not maneuver the truck enough to fit both units into the RV bay. Although expensive, it looked to me like the Airtug is the safest and most capable /robust one out there. They have both electric and gas engine models rated for 8,000lb or 15,000lb. Originally designed to move small aircraft, they have a modified version for trailer hitch ball mounts.

https://airtug.com/product-category/trailer-mover-tugs/

If moving exclusively on the level, the 8,000lb unit would be fine for either Ollie. If you have any significant incline to deal with (literature mentions inclines as low as 3%-5%) you might want the beefier model to be able to handle the increased load.

Tom

[John E Davies]

Tom, have you considered  installing a front receiver? That would make positioning your Ollie in your storage space really simple.  If you have a backup camera in the trailer, it would be even better…
 

John Davies

Spokane WA

[ADKCamper]

We used to have a front mount hitch on the family truck when I was a kid... back when trucks actually had steel front bumpers 🙂

At one point I did read another thread discussing front mount receivers. All of the commercial ones that I've seen have at least some of the structural components stick down too low (below the factory air dam) on the front of my un-lifted Silverado 1500. I already have occasional clearance issues with backcountry sites either above or below road grade, so I can't tolerate giving up any of my current ground clearance... maybe if I switched to the Silverado 2500 HD 🙂

I did see a reference to a custom-built receiver that directly replaced a tow-hook, since discontinued.

An ideal scenario would be (2) 2" front receivers, each attached where one of the tow hooks currently are, with a "cross-bar" attached between the 2 receivers (and in front of the plastic bumper), and the ability to pin-locate a hitch ball anywhere between the left and right receiver locations, without protruding below the front air dam. It would need to support at least a 700 lb tongue weight (i.e. either model Ollie or our 6600 lb boat / trailer) both from a hitch design and front suspension perspective.

Practically speaking, I only fully load up the RV bay with the winterized boat and the Ollie once each fall. Maybe at some point I'll get that beefier truck with the bigger engine and the higher ground clearance that won't fit in my garage any more 🙂

[GAP]

On 11/29/2021 at 8:01 PM, SeaDawg said:

Which trailer valet model did you order?

I ordered the XL which is rated to 10,000 lbs.  The powered units (some mentioned above) sure look sweet but are in thew range of $3,500 - $6000 where I spent $600 for the Trailer Valet XL.  My needs are super simple with a level driveway and limited space to have to move.  Will report back but am hoping that this less expensive option works out.

I had considered a front mounted hitch on my truck but there is not the room in my driveway to be able to pull it off.

[Dave and Kimberly]

So.... I was thinking the same thing.... I could use it when storing it briefly in my driveway.... and also in the storage facility.    Like you... I was looking at the XL (capacity).   How does it work out?   Is it something you are glad you bought and does it work as advertised on your Oliver Elite II?

[GAP]

Quick follow up here:  I did order the XL unit but the order was screwed up and would not have arrived till mid winter.  In the end, I decided to push off until the spring.  Am super curious as to how it would work but there is frequently too much snow and ice in our driveway to check out,