Trailer Brake Problem

I've got hydraulic surge brakes on my trailer and one is frozen. Does anyone know how to get it loose or any good instuctional website for maintenance? I tried to turn the adjustment wheel inside the drum but I'm not sure which way to turn it. It's pretty rusted and I didn't want to break it.

Sound like time for a lot of LPS 3, WD40 or Liquid Wrench. I'd soak the heck out of it, let it est overnight after tapping around a bit. Then repeat for a couple days. Hopefully, that'll penetrate the rust enough to make it movable.

If you need parts, check out Champion Brakes.

http://www.championtrailers.com

Put a block of wood up against the hub and hit it with a sledge hammer, you won't break it. It just needs to be loosened up. I've had this problem before.

Trust me you won't break it.

I did spray some CRC-656 in there last night. I'll try to soak it the next few nights till the weekend.

Brad, do you mean hit it on the side? Or the front or rear?

Thanks

If the brake assembly is what you are trying to loosen then place a block of wood over the wheel studs and hit it head on, also try placing the block of wood on the sides of the drums and hit them there too. They are very tough and you won't break them, but it takes a lot of force to break the rust. If you are trying to free up the surge tongue then block the tires on the trailer REALLY WELL, and hook it up to your truck and pull on it, and at the same time use WD40 spray and or rub grease on it as it slides in and out.

Mike,
Just went through the same deal.
If you get stuck I'm not far from you
and I am willing to help and meet new people : )

I let the pressure off the hydrolic system first.
This will help you determine if it is the acuator
or the caliper that is actually sticking.
If the brakes release when the pressure is let-off
then the accuator is where you'll need to focus.
If its the other way the calipers are stuck.
(are your brakes drum or disc?)
I see from your website and video that you ride
in the intercoastal. Salt very bad for trailer brakes. You may want to rinse your wheels and brakes with salt-away as part of you PM routine.

Keep us posted how it goes!

Bradley It is the brake assembly not the surge tongue or actuator. I'll try that.

Sandy, they are drum brakes. I may have to try that salt-away stuff for the future. I flush them with fresh water every time out in salt. The trailer is less than 2 years old. I'll see how I make out this weekend.

Thanks for all the help guys.

Let us know how it turns out.

Oh I just thought of something. On the back of the drum brakes there should be a hole where you can stick a brake tool in, and adjust the shoes down a bit. This, along with hitting it with a hammer might jar the drum loose. But if they didn't rub on the drum before then its probably just a rust issue. Definately keep them cleaned off with fresh water after each use in salt and keep them well greased as well.

Mike, i am in the process of a brake rebuild myself, read this article http://www.championtrailers.com/brake_coupler_warnings.htm
It is very informative and i am in the process of swapping over to disk myself due to the salt bug and i use salt away almost every trip out (with a flush device on the drums) and i still was kinda pissed at what i saw but you know we use our boats 3 times as much as the average joe so i figure i got what would be over three years normal use. I am also moving the brakes to the rear axle, something about when you apply them (with the floating suspension) the rear tires dig in and actually push down where the fronts dont do this due to the suspension configuration. Why dont the trlr manufacturers do this to start with?
Oh yea,mike the adjuster (if its broken free and spins)should eventually get tight in one direction and start to pull away from the edge of the shoe in the other(this is the direction you want to go).

Mike this will happen to drum brakes if you back up your trailer and dont pull forward a little bit to relieve the pressure of the actuator.
It helps to chalk your tires and pull forward to relieve the pressure .
good luck
walt

Bob, I read quite a few of the articles on that site, pretty good info. If I can't get it to loosen up Saturday I'll probably end up re-building too. Amazing how much deterioration has happened in 1-1/2 yrs.

Thanks again for all the help

(Message edited by aquaholic on February 12, 2003)

Success! I finally got the adjustment wheel to spin and crank back the shoes enough to break it free. (or maybe hitting the drum with a 25lb barbell helped) Anyway, in case anyone needed to know I had to pry down with a large screwdriver so the adjuster rotates up to loosen. I'll pull it apart Sat and check everything out and re-pack the bearings.

Thanks again for all the advice.

(Message edited by aquaholic on February 12, 2003)

Mike, does your brake system have the flush hose going into it? If not, that may be something you would want to install.

Or wait, if you are getting a Supra you won't need to install anything...

Craig, yes already has a flush system. I'm just trying to fix everything up for the sale or trade!

Know anyone who needs a boat?

Mike,

Glad you got that resolved. I unfortunately have to rebuild one of my brakes and I have a simple question. How do you guys bleed the line after re-installing the brakes. Is there a way to do this with out hooking to tow vehichle. Right now I was thinking hook up tow vehicle, chalk the tires and put in reverse. This however is a two person job. Any simple ways to do this?

Troy, check that link a couple posts up for Champion trailers. There are some good instructionals there. I beleive you can use a large screwdriver to move the actuator instead of hooking up your vehicle.

I replaced my brake lines last year and bled them with a vacuum pump. You put the vacuum pump on the bleed screw, pump it up to create a vacuum, and then loosen the screw. The air will get sucked through the brake line, along with some fluid. Then when you see nothing but fluid, tighten the brake line back up.

Mike is also right, you can slide a screw driver into the actuator and pry on it to pump the master cylinder. Just make sure you keep an eye on the fluid level while doing all this.

There is also a simple "one man bleeding kit"
available at most autoparts stores.
Its basically a cup and cap with hose fittings.
The bleeder hose goes into the bottom of the cup and is submerged in fluid to keep air from sucking back into the system.
It works REALLY well. I used it to bleed some
very tricky systems including the british made
hydralic clutch on a Jeep Cherokee ('86-87)
If anyone's ever worked on those, they are
just about the toughest thing to bleed!!!!

Thanks Guys,

I figured there had to be an easier way.

mytivac brake bleeder, i brelieve that is the correct spelling

They sell the whole assembly ready to bolt on for around 50 dollars or less.It took longer too jack the boat up and take the tire off than it did to replace the brake assembly.I did this in 1999 so pricing might be a little off.I got the part at a local trailer parts store.