Trailer breakaway cable pulled out

[vanamp]

Got to the cabin early and were excited to hit the water and forgot to unhook breakaway cable on the trailer and it pulled out.

I don't know much about these but have very limited resources at or near the cabin.  Is there a way to make it useable to get it back to civilization after the weekend?

[PNWoke]

Are the brakes stuck engaged? 

[vanamp]

7 minutes ago, PNWoke said:

Are the brakes stuck engaged? 

It seems like they are not engage.  Trailer rock back and forth pretty easily. It's in grass so a little hard to tell but seems like it's not locked up. 

Edited July 1, 2020 by vanamp

[PNWoke]

Duck tape it off to the side, grab an extension cable and have a hardware store guy crimp it on for you at your next convenience.  The likelihood of that ebrake saving your boat in a disconnection type accident is pretty minimal, but I’m sure there is some good reason for having it there.

[vanamp]

It's completely broken off and no sign of the other end on the trailer.  How exactly do these things work?  I assumed it would pull on something that would need to be "reset" but is it just engaging the brakes when pulled and let's off when slack?

[csleaver]

There is a metal spring loaded lever on the underside of the actuator just behind where the trailer hitch ball goes in.  If you push up on this lever it will release the brakes when the breakaway cable is pulled.  It is recommended that this lever is pressed every time before towing.

The actuator will need to be disassembled to replace the breakaway cable and if the release lever is damaged or stuck, the actuator assembly may need to be replaced.

Look on page 7 of the owners manual:

https://www.dexteraxle.com/docs/default-source/dexteraxle/product-documentation/manuals/a-60-a75-a84-xr84-owners-manual_10-14_web.pdf?sfvrsn=4f00eb48_8

 

[vanamp]

Just to wrap this thread up I found this video useful to help understand all components.

 

 

[oldjeep]

15 hours ago, vanamp said:

It's completely broken off and no sign of the other end on the trailer.  How exactly do these things work?  I assumed it would pull on something that would need to be "reset" but is it just engaging the brakes when pulled and let's off when slack?

I broke mine off once leaving it attached to the truck - the cable broke before it managed to engage the brakes.  Made me wonder how often these things actually work.  

[granddaddy55]

1 hour ago, oldjeep said:

I broke mine off once leaving it attached to the truck - the cable broke before it managed to engage the brakes.  Made me wonder how often these things actually work.  

did same and i had to push lever/button underneath but i wonder if they would really work 

[vanamp]

2 hours ago, oldjeep said:

I broke mine off once leaving it attached to the truck - the cable broke before it managed to engage the brakes.  Made me wonder how often these things actually work.  

We left it on when we parked the empty trailer.  Wheels are spinning freely so it seems it did not operate correctly in our case either.  It may have engaged the brakes but definitely did not lock them like it is supposed to.  I will replace it but seems to be a useless safety feature.