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Post by esox07 on Jun 29, 2015 16:57:18 GMT -5
I am interested in conversing with anyone that owns a sportsmen travel trailer with surge brakes. I have a Sportsmen 19BH and was looking under it a couple days ago and noticed the brake line was kinked. Upon further inspection, I realized that the lines had been run directly on top of the axle and under the frame on each side. Evidently the trailer had bottomed out at least once on both sides because both brake lines were kinked right above the U-bolts on the axle/leaf spring that are under the frame. This was on both sides. The lines were completely shut off for both wheels. How long have I been driving it around with absolutely no brakes? I don't know. I never checked before until I found this. This is a 2011 model that was used by the dealer as a rental for two years and then I bought it in the late fall of 2012 from the dealer and picked it up in the spring of 2013. Now, I dont know if the trailer came with surge brakes from the factory. It is an option for my model. Or if it was a dealer add on to facilitate renters who do not have a brake controller in their vehicle. But someone did a piss poor job of installing the brake lines. I just got done redoing them. It was a long hot afternoon but now they work great. I was just wondering if anyone else has a similar setup and might suggest that they check the brake lines. And if you do, please post back what you find here. I am trying to figure out where the blame lies. Dealer or KZ factory???     |
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GaryG
Newbie RV’er
Experienced RV'er
Posts: 8 
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Post by GaryG on Jul 2, 2015 18:47:48 GMT -5
I just traded in my 2011 19BH which had the standard electric brakes. It would make sense that the dealer would convert a rental trailer to surge brakes. The normal citizen with a 1/2 pick up truck would not have the correct wiring for an proportioned electric trailer brake system. That's why U-Haul's biggest trailers have surge brakes. You should be able to get a reliable garage to repair and re-route the hydraulic brake lines.
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Post by esox07 on Jul 6, 2015 14:06:07 GMT -5
I already redid the brake lines, bled them and tested them. I learned a lot by doing it myself (with help from my buddy). I know know how the system works rather than just the theory behind the system. I also learned a lot about brake lines in general and how to bleed them. I also learned how to actually test the brakes to make sure they are working. I shudder every time I think about the fact that I was driving around without any brakes for who knows how long. It could have been since I purchased it as the brakes were probably crimped the first time by one of the renters that rented it from the dealer. Now I will be confident that I have working brakes for my trip from Wisconsin to Corpus Christy, TX and back in a few weeks.
My first thought was that it was a factory install but now I believe as you do that the surge brakes were installed after market by the dealer. I sent a message to them over a week ago to the salesman that sold me the trailer. He said he forwarded my message to the service department and they would be contacting me. I haven't hear anything in more than a week. I just replied to the email and stated as such. I really was happy with the dealer and how they have treated me up to this point, but if they are just going to try to let this issue die off, then I will be looking elsewhere for future RV needs. I would have taken the trailer back to show them but they are over two hours drive from me. I am at least looking for an acknowledgement that it was a screwed up installation job. A "we are sorry" would be nice too.
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Post by esox07 on Jul 7, 2015 12:03:06 GMT -5
I finally got a call back from the dealer I purchased the trailer from. They said they were waiting for one of their current 19BH rentals to come back in to see how the brake lines were run. He said one finally came back today and sure enough, the brake lines run along the top of the axle. He said they were not crimped however and that it comes like that from the factory. It was not a dealer modification.
I sent KZ a message over a week ago regarding this and haven't heard back. I tried calling this morning and got voice mail. I left a message to call me back.
But if you have a KZ-Sportsmen trailer and it has surge brakes, I highly recommend that you check the brake lines to make sure they are not run along the top of the axle and crimped like mine were. It seems KZ has been installing the brake line for years this way. I am surprised it hasn't come to light before. If someone was in an accident with their trailer, it seems likely that if the brake lines were kinked as mine were that KZ could be held liable. And if they have been sending out trailer like this for years (mine is a 2011), it seems they need to institute a recall.
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Post by esox07 on Jul 10, 2015 14:25:11 GMT -5
OK, so to update this dilemma. After going back and forth between the dealer and KZ Customer Service 2 or 3 times each and each blaming the other for the installation of the brake lines, I finally got KZ to call the dealer and figure out between the two who actually installed the brake lines on my trailer. Bottom line is that the factory installs the Surge Brakes and all components to include the brake lines and the dealer puts in the fluid and bleeds the brakes. I asked if the practice of installing them ON TOP of the axle would be reconsidered and she said “NO”. She stated that that is the way they had always been done in the past and are still done now. I asked why and she said that they had not found it to be a problem in the past. She did allude that they had seen the crimping on a “couple” before but wouldn’t get specific.
So, I am glad mine are fixed and I won’t have to worry about it in the future. The hundreds or perhaps thousands of other KZ travel trailers with surge brakes however should worry.
I understand that maybe it is uncommon for a trailer to bottom out but I don’t think it is uncommon enough for the factory not to take steps to alleviate the problem if it does. It would not even require any additional expense, just a simple rerouting of the existing lines upon installation. If not, then there should be “bump stops” installed in case of bottoming out to prevent the lines from crimping. Just about everyone towing a travel trailer has hit a big bump, RR tracks, ran over a curb or whatever that could easily lead to the suspension bottoming out. In my case, I can’t remember every hitting a bump or road hazard all that hard while towing. It could have easily been done during the two years it was used as a rental. We all know how people treat rentals. But bottom line is that is it a reasonable possibility for the suspension to be bottomed out which inevitably would lead to crimped brake lines with the way they are installed now and have been for a long time by the factory.
Why the company wouldn’t even consider changing the current practice after being warned of the potential problem is beyond me. They are ripe for a big law suit. I guess that is when they will “Review their installation procedures”. After someone is killed or injured because the trailer they were pulling didn’t have functional brakes. And this is after they were informed of a possible problem. Does this remind you of the GM ignition recall issue?
The KZ Customer Service representative was very apologetic, cooperative and forthcoming but I think someone above her pay grade needs to take note of this issue now.
If you own a KZ travel trailer with surge brakes, I highly recommend that you get under the trailer and check your brake lines or at least have it checked by a competent mechanic. Waiting until you are going 70mph down the interstate and having the car in front of you lock up their brakes is not the time to find out that you don’t have working brakes on your trailer.
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