www.iFourWinns.com

Hey all, new member here. Got a few things to say, and ask. First off, great site, but no offense to anybody but i think our member numbers are a little low. We could always do what my 4Runner forum does, STICKERS!!! lol. Usually around 5$ in a variety of colors. If anybody actually want to do it, I can design a sticker, removable vinyl of course. Now onto the questions. WE recently started to tow our Funship with our 4Runner, and the 4Runner does great, but I'm a little concerned about the surge brakes, they seem to not work 100% of the time when I'm braking. Also I rewired the trailer to the 7-pole and the other day I noticed a black wire stuffed up ito the frame, took it out and it seems to be connected to where the reservoir is. Will atach pic soon.

Now onto me and the boat. my name is Felipe, and yes I had a typo in the username. THe boat we have is a 2001 Funship 214 with the Volvo Penta GX, it has only 50 hours, yes its INSANE!! I enjoy the Four Winns ALOT, and the fit and finish is awesome, previously we had an '89 Searay 180 with O/B 135 Merc, loved that little guy. So again nice site, and I'm glad i found it!

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2000 Four Winns 214 Funship
Volvo Penta 5.0 SX
85 Hours
Bimini Top Extension
Full Camper
Full Mooring Cover

Sounds like you have disk brakes on the trailer. That wire would be the reverse solenoid needed to reverse the trailer. Disk brakes are not free-wheeling in reverse like drum brakes are. The black wire should be connected to the backup light circuit on your tow vehicle so it is energized (closing the solenoid) when the backup lights go on.

Oh...welcome to the site!

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Jvalich
http://www.badcock.com

'04 FW 288 Vista "Mental Floss"

Yes I do indeed have disk brakes, but I thought the blue wire was for that back up solenoid?

Oh..thanks for your welcome!!

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2000 Four Winns 214 Funship
Volvo Penta 5.0 SX
85 Hours
Bimini Top Extension
Full Camper
Full Mooring Cover

Welcome, Felipe!

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'04 FW 268Vista "Andiamo"

Welcome aboard Felipe! That black wire is stuffed up into the trailer frame? If I recall correctly, the black wire is the ground. That probably leads up to the location where it is grounded to the trailer frame-you just can't see it. One way to check whether your surge breaks are consistently working is to unplug the trailer lights and try to back up. The back-up solenoid should be open and engage the disc brakes when in reverse. Since you would have the lights unplugged, no signal would be sent from the tow vehicle to open the solenoid. Therefore, you should not be able to back up if your brakes are actually working. This would test both the master cylinder and the tongue plunger mechanism used to engage the brakes.

Let us know what you find out!

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Paul
2007 Four Winns Horizon 220
Mercruiser 350 Mag MPI w/ Bravo III Drive
2004 Ford Explorer Limited (V8-AWD)
Pomme de Terre Lake (Southwest Missouri)

Felipe,
I'm curious, what are the specs on your 4Runner. I'm very close to trading in our Honda Pilot for a new 4Runner. I'm leaning towards the v6, which should be more than adequate to pull our FW.
-Dave
(I'm assuming the forum you refer to is T4R.org...great site)

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2006 Horizon 190, Volvo 4.3GL, Sunsport
towed by 2007 4Runner 6 Ltd

Could be blue. Othe than the wires running down each side of the trailer, I've seen various colors

_________________
Jvalich
http://www.badcock.com

'04 FW 288 Vista "Mental Floss"

Thanks for the warm welcome guys. I just got home from work so its too late to look further into that wire. But I do know that when i back up the brakes lock, but i still can easily push it backwards, so something must be wrong, or maybe that V6 is more powerful than i thought.

Davemac, I have an '04 4Runner with the V6, Standard weight carrying hitch only rated for 5,000#'s so I plan to upgrade. I converted the wiring to the 7-pole lighting that came standard with the car. Towing wise, tongue weight is not an issue, so the back doesn't sag. I recommend flipping the hitch that came with the runner, it is rated for 1,000# tongue and 10,000#. Towing wise, the Runner's trusty V6 pulls out into 50 MPH traffic with out a hitch (HA a PUN!) Pulling out of steep ramps are of no problem to me in 4WD. And if you didn't already know NEVER tow in OD unless you are in very flat land just cruising along, also watch out for the torque converter, when the RPM's jump 200 - 300 or so manually down shift. And yes the site I was referring to was T4R.org, my handle on there is gizmopt2002, come register and we can help you buy that new 4Runner.

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2000 Four Winns 214 Funship
Volvo Penta 5.0 SX
85 Hours
Bimini Top Extension
Full Camper
Full Mooring Cover

Felipe:

Have a helper put their hand on the reverse solenoid, which should be located at the connection of the brake line to the master cylinder, while you put the vehicle in reverse. They should feel the solenoid click closed. If not, check the wiring, make any repairs and test again.

_________________
Jvalich
http://www.badcock.com

'04 FW 288 Vista "Mental Floss"

Will do. Gonna pull out the boat and clean it today. Also, anybody recommend a CHEAP good marine battery? Currently both that came with the Funship are dead, well one can hold a charge, the other cant, but the one that can hold the charge dies if it sits for more than a week.

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2000 Four Winns 214 Funship
Volvo Penta 5.0 SX
85 Hours
Bimini Top Extension
Full Camper
Full Mooring Cover

Felipe, you should also check 2 other things:

1. Brake fluid level in master cylinder (and possibly bleed master cylinder); and
2. The brake pads themselves.

This could be a situation where everything is working properly at very low backup speeds/loads, but not when you are towing.

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Paul
2007 Four Winns Horizon 220
Mercruiser 350 Mag MPI w/ Bravo III Drive
2004 Ford Explorer Limited (V8-AWD)
Pomme de Terre Lake (Southwest Missouri)

I've had great luck with Walmart's deep cycle marine batteries. In addition, they are cheap and come with a 18 month non-prorated warranty with pro rating occurirng from 18months and on.

_________________
Jvalich
http://www.badcock.com

'04 FW 288 Vista "Mental Floss"

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SOLD! 2006 30th Anniversary Vista 278
"Conch'd Out!"

http://vista278.com

Well didn't get around to cleaning the boat today, I got it out, but then had to go into work because there are no other tech guys there and something needed to be done, so after I came home it started to rain so I quickly covered it and backed it back into its abode.

I think I MAYBE might be fine with the battery issue, but I think it was a bad luck omen I think. long story short, need to run the boat, got the cars battery, worked, then boat is in storage, need a car, used old marine batter but the hood wouldn't shut, so I bungee it, it worked fine, but smelled burning rubber so checked it and it was fine, but my friends bungeed it so they didn't wrong. $675 later we have a new hood and fenders on our '95 Celica. Whew that was long. Dunno about using a car battery in a boat, any issues known? We don't have $58 x 2 for batteries, were a little short right now on money.

As far as the brake issues, I might need to clean out the lines, because when they were supposed to be locked I could still back the boat up, with force, but still, it shouldn't do that.

Also anybody know how to clean Sunbrella fabric? I had a custom mooring cover made with the bimini tops on too, but it got dirty so it doesn't resist and bead water anymore. I know once I clean it ill put 303 protectant on it.

Lata

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2000 Four Winns 214 Funship
Volvo Penta 5.0 SX
85 Hours
Bimini Top Extension
Full Camper
Full Mooring Cover