That Guy "Trailer thread"
 

So on Sunday eve I became "that guy." I neglected my 06 Ziemen long enough to have my seals blow....But why? So they were almost smoking hot after a 20 minute tow, I could smell them when I got home.
1/ Grease from the hubs was spattered on both wheels and tires with the disc brakes. I do not have the bearings that have the zirk fitting facing outwards, seems to be sealed??

2/ Both rear wheels were too hot to touch

3/ The brakes have seemed loose for a while, the surge when I stop seems to kinda slam, and slam a little when i accelerate. How do you adjust them?

4/ The brake fluid resivore has some junk in it...is there a method to flushing?

I am that guy that has put zero $$ into his trailer, and now regret. New tires comming soon... Trailer time! Has anyone experienced any of the 4 symptoms that are all directley related to my laziness? :o

Seals wear out over time....when they wear out they let the grease out (particularly after the grease has been warmed up due to driving).....grease runs out....bearings have no lubrication and begin to heat up due to friction.....friction heats up your wheel and brakes until your bearing seizes to the axle.

If you got to it in time and the bearings didn't seize you are in good shape. New bearing and seals and you are good to go. Not everyone believes in bearing buddy's but I do. I actually prefer oil bath hubs for boat trailers but that is a different discussion.

You need to check your brake pads for wear - unless you tow a lot you are probably ok. The slack you are feeling could be due to a number of reasons including pad wear, brake fluid issues and/or shock absorber in your coupler has worn out. I wouldn't be overly concerned about the stuff in your brake fluid but it should be changed out. Bleeding trailer brakes sucks the big one.

Sounds to me like a couple potential problems:
1) water got in your brake system... Happens when you back your trailewr in too deep and water goes in the vent meant for air. Causes corrosion - can ruin the master cylinder and worst case also the calipers.
2) bad shock and or master cylinder. Shock often goes bad after the master goes bad as with a bad master the shock takes all the beating. Can also work in reverse - shock goes bad first which then causes the master cylinder to get beat to a pulp.

If it were me i would replace the master cylinder and shock and completely flush the brake fluid making sure to get out all water and air. You might consider replacing the whole actuator which has a master cylinder and shock included (I think) because the labor to piecemeal the parts might not be worth the difference in parts cost to just replace the whole unit.

If you search my username threads which are connected with bearings and/or master cylinder, you will learn a little which is worthwhile.

And if you pay attention to whom I pay homage too as my mentor from this site on the subject of trailer bearings ... whether they be grease or oil bath (I have 2 trailers, 1 grease the other oil) ... you might think that "Orange" could be that person.

Never mind that. Doesn't matter who is "Orange."

Look up the remarks of "Sam Ingram" on trailer axle maintenance. He was/is highly knowledgeable on this subject in particular, including many other branches of technology ... even though his mastery of technology distracted him from his fondness for ... ???

You should read Sam Ingram.

Ok thanks a lot for your help

+1 for replacing entire actuator.Way easier and probably same or slightly more cost.

Ya I am just going to replace the bearings and put on buddies. Then Ill put a lot of fluid through the lines and see if the actuator is toast or not, a new one is 180$, way better than I imagined.

OK, let me be more helpful. I might suggest a Google query like this.

site:www.wakeworld.com sam ingram trailer

(or the like)

Here are two I posted in a while back.


http://www.wakeworld.com/forum/showthread.php?t=783173


http://www.wakeworld.com/forum/showthread.php?t=782730


Among other experiences I had when I redid both my oil bath and grease bearings,

1 - a planetnautique thread was invaluable for the grease bearings, and
2 - Sam's advice to get a Craftsman aluminum-body floor jack was surprisingly valuable.

That floor jack is a cool looking piece of equipment. It actually made the work kind of fun because I got to use it.

I love this forum thanks yall