I've trailered my 1992 Cobra back and forth myriad times from NJ to Hobbs, Uvalde, Nephi, Cordele, TSA, etc. Most of the time everything is fine. The hubs are barely warm and everything works right.

But once in a while, from when the trailer was a few years old, a hard stop (not a locking-the-wheels, screeching-tires panic stop but just when someone cuts in front and you have to brake suddenly), the surge brake locks up and won't release. And with no backup cam, I can't see it. I just know to pull over and check right away. And now I watch the TPMS: the temperature rise seems to give me a heads up that it's happening.

I'm a mechanical engineer originally. I've been doing brake work for almost 50 years on my vehicles. I worked for 10 years for a company that made OEM and aftermarket brake parts. IMO, there's some vulnerability in the Al-Ko system that--when triggered--causes bad things to happen. As I detailed before, I've tried nearly everything this time. It locked up on the way back from TSA/Dallas last summer so I did a lot of maintenance/adjustment/replacement then and thought I had it fixed. And apparently I did--for a while. But on the way back from Columbus, OH last month (after the Stds. were postponed), I had to brake hard. I pulled over a few miles later and, sure enough, same problem. I just disconnected the brake system then to get home (I've had a lot of practice). More work after that. Last week on the way to and from Blairstown, the same problem. I'm running out of things to do.

There's a problem. I'm sure something is out of adjustment or alignment or something somewhere. And when that happens, disaster. As much as I love [most] German engineering, I shouldn't have to ship the trailer back to Germany to get it to work right!

Chip Bearden