Review of Demco Brake Actuator - Surge Brake Actuator - DM72VR

Products Featured in this Video

Demco Hydraulic Brake Actuator - Drum - Zinc - 2" Ball - 7,000 lbs

115 reviews

Code: DM72VR

Retail: $267.85

Price:  $241.15

• Brake Actuator
• Surge Brake Actuator
• Straight Tongue Coupler
• Bolt-On
• 7000 lbs GTW

• 2 Inch Ball Coupler
• Drum Brakes
• No Lockout
• Demco

Surge-type actuator features a corrosion-resistant composite master cylinder and durable zinc plating with a 120-hour salt spray rating. EZ-Latch coupler mechanism makes hookup a snap. Bolt-on application.

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Demco Brake Actuator - Surge Brake Actuator - DM72VR Review

Hello everybody, this is Jeff at etrailer.com. Today we're gonna take a look at this Demco hydraulic drum brake actuator for a two-inch hitch ball. Has a 7,000-pound weight capacity. This hydraulic actuator will activate your trailer's brakes when your tow vehicle slows or stops. Basically what happens is when you apply the brakes in your tow vehicle, deceleration will occur, and the momentum will push your trailer towards the rear of your vehicle. With this surge-brake system, what happens is this actuator's triggered as your trailer moves forward once your tow vehicle starts to slow down.

When this happen, the actuator, this lower portion right here, will contract. When it does that, it applies force to this master cylinder back here, which in turn supplies the necessary hydraulic pressure to engage your trailer's brakes. This one uses the nice easy-latch coupler mechanism. Let me zoom in for a better, you can see it better. This nice coupler mechanism is a nice, simple, secure hookup and disconnect.

Very easy to do. If you notice, it has a nice low-profile design to the latch so it doesn't get hooked up on anything. But basically you don't even have to mess with it when you go to hook up. All you have to do is drop this over the hitch ball and the latch will snap in place. I happen to pull an example of a two-inch hitch ball.

If we lift up on this, just wanted to show you. Here's your hitch ball. If you get your coupler right over your hitch ball, you can see as you drop it into place, it automatically drops in there and latches onto your ball, and you're all ready to go. You don't even have to touch the latch. To remove it, all you have to do is lift up on your latch and it'll remove from the ball.

But again, just to show you, get over the ball, drop it into place, and you'll see it latches. You're all ready to go. Very simple hookup. This is a nice heavy-duty steel construction. Has a sturdy reinforced outer casing. It does have a zinc plating on it to give you corrosion resistance. That zinc plating does meet 120 hours salt-spray rating. We mentioned the master cylinder right back here. You can see it is a composite master cylinder, which is very durable and efficient. It's a glass-reinforced nylon construction, so it will resist rust and corrosion. It is a very large reservoir to provide increased capacity for the brake fluid. The very top right up here, you can see it uses the automotive-style diaphragm cap. Helps create a nice, completely enclosed system. Helps prevent any contamination of your brake fluid. It comes with this breakaway cable and latch hook. Basically what that's used for, you can see the hook has a nice keeper on it. Has the cable that attaches to the lever right here. This is required by law. Basically it'll prevent a trailer runaway situation. What you'll do is hook this to your tow vehicle and then the cable runs to this lever. What happens is if your trailer comes detached from your tow vehicle, it'll pull on this cable, which will activate that lever. When that happens, that lever will activate the master cylinder to apply the pressure to the trailer brakes to stop it. It does prevent a runaway situation, and it is included. This is a bolt-on installation. You can see the holes right down here for bolting it on. It does require 1/2-inch by 4 1/2-inch-long grade-five bolts for mounting. Those bolts are not included. You would have to supply those. This part is made in the USA. Application; again, this is for trailers with hydraulic drum brakes. Fits a two-inch hitch ball size. Gross towing weight capacity is 7,000 pounds. Maximum tongue weight is 700 pounds. It is designed to mount onto a straight three-inch-wide trailer tongue. This goes by the model number of DA70. One last note I do wanna mention on this is, because this actuator does not include a reverse lock-out on the back, it is recommended that you either equip the trailer with a reverse lock-out solenoid that'll screw into the master cylinder back here, or to use free backing brakes on your trailer so that you can drive in reverse without this actuator triggering your trailer's brakes. But that should do it for the review on this Demco hydraulic drum brake actuator for a two-inch hitch ball, and it has a 7,000-pound weight capacity..