Trailer brakes lock-up!

[Chimo]

Kerry

I for one want to get hold of the bits that you made ( I think) to make your trailer durable and able to survive dunking.

I talked to the brake people who repaired my trailer brkes and they could not help other than repair the brakes in the normal way. They also told me that the first time I dunked, my 12 months warranty was gone so I winch 2 + tonne on and lower it in with a climbing "8" and at the same time pull out the double cable and block ready for the retrieve. Only the bottom bit of the rear rotors gets wet and the brakes work fine which is great given the traffic on the Gold Coast these days.

The launch and retrive all works OK but it is slow.

So how do we go about getting the "kit" along the line that you described earlier. Surely there must be somone out there with the necessary gear / lathe or whatever to make and sell these bits and pieces so we can put this brake trauma to bed once and for all?

What are you thoughts Kerry?

Cheers
Chimo

[kingtin]

Chimo, the only kits that I could find (in Oz) come with stainless steel rotors as part of the package. As it isn't the rotors that are the problem, other than they are the major cost I haven't yet got round to inquiring if the kit can be broken down, minus the rotors. Will investigate next week.

The other thing that I am looking at is a 'drip clean system". I've seen a rig with a 40 litre container on the draw bar filled with water, which runs to a hose running down each side of the trailer. When the trailer is left in the car park, a tap is turned on and fresh water is left to drip onto the brakes. I think Mr Bean has something similar on his set-up. As most of my 'seizures" have happened when the trailer has been left at Rudys for 4 or 5 days whilst I am camping, I thought this kind of system may well help prevent the salt from consolidating.

kev

[jimbo59]

[quote=
The all-stainless pistons weren't seized, but were very tight, due to a build-up of muck at the very edge of the cylinder.
The pads were a little shabby and one actually had rust build-up between it and the piston, causing pad pressure.
Ahha i was right crap around the pisstin.These stupid brakes are gunna kill some one one day,I recon if a kit was availible that used mechanical brakes on both axil's with a small gas strut that was released via a pin being pulled out on break-out. Mate we would be milloinares by now Also when the piston drags on the disc it burns the grease in the hub causing failure of the bearings, the wheel can and does fall completely off .That could possibly kill.

[Kerry]

Chimo,

Somewhere in all of this I see there might be "other" things involved? Don't ask me what they are as it's rather difficult knowing from this end.

But as for the pistions? well any good man with a lathe could do these. At the time it cost 60 bucks for a length of 2 1/4" solid SS and 90 bucks to make the 4 pistons. Compare this to 16 bucks a throw (each) every year PLUS seals and considering this was done in 1994 and has not been touched since then it wasn't a bad investment then, more so than I realised at the time..

I provided one brand new conventional (steel) piston (cost 16 bucks at the time) and said this I want 4 exactly like this one and here is the SS, done.

Apart from this the other bug bear back then was the slide pins but obviously someone was aware of this problem and changed the gunmetal ones to brass, big difference.

I aslo spray the "whole" brake assemblies and off course get the "you must never spray brakes" spiel but so what! you probably should never put brakes in salt water either but then you have too, no choice so I don't see that as an argument as brakes that work, spray and all are way better than brakes that don't.

Regards, Kerry.

[Chimo]

Kerry thanks for that. I think that the total package is the answer. ie the slides and the machined ss bits. Also as you have said before no rubber seals / covers to hold the salt water in. The spray would also help but better without the rubber as I found at my last repair as the lanox etc had totally flooded the pads but also destroyed the rubber. Not an issue if there is no rubber.

Kev, I spray my rotors with fresh water and a little soap from a little spray bottle after I launch and use the fresh water deckwash on the bottom of the boat and brakes and rotaors and wheels etc after retrieve and then run with the brakes on (with the tekonsha from the cab) for a while to heat and dry off on the way home

Jimbo, Again I think Kerry is right with his suggestion to leave the rubber seal off to not hold salt water etc after launch or retrive but first it looks like the bits as suggested need to be made up and installed. Thats my thought as soon as I have to do the brakes next time

Cheers All

Chimo

[seabug]

off topic post

[Kerry]

Seabug, Drum brakes and boat trailers go together like chauk and cheese. They can keep their drum brakes and their "holes"!

[Kerry]

....The spray would also help but better without the rubber as I found at my last repair as the lanox etc had totally flooded the pads but also destroyed the rubber. Not an issue if there is no rubber.

Chimo, Since the goody two shoes brigade forced the removal of certain additives from sprays they have certainly become very unfriendly to some of the rubber bits.

[Chimo]

Kerry

So it would seem. What did they remove?

You still subscribe to the idea of no rubber seals / caps /covers in your reworked version dont you?

Chimo

[Kerry]

"Environmental" concerns!

Yeah I don't bother with the slide pin boots. Not much choice but with keeping the main piston seal skirt!

[seastrength]

Hi guys
Just wondering if there has been any new development in submersible brake technology since this thread 10 years ago. Had a trailer disc brake smoking on the highway yesterday. I have an Tekonsha electric controller / Hydrastar hydraulic system with breakaway. Inspection today shows the caliper locked on the disc. Any help appreciated.

[Dirtyfuzz]

Did the piston corrode onto the caliber? If cost is not an issue have heard people using stainless or brass pistons and discs, I had one lock up bringing boat down from Mackay to Sunshine Coast, stripped it down on the side of the highway and found it was all the anti corrosive gunk that had been sprayed on and didn't allow Caliper to release, quick clean up and travelled on!


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[seastrength]

I was able to free up the caliper with a screwdriver and hammer and limp home on the highway without further problems. I guess the piston was probably corroded inside the system. The trailer guy has recommended a new Trojan caliper assembly with a durable rubber seal at $150. Has anyone had any experience with this brand for advice? A caliber with SS piston / cylinder are about twice thw price and may not be trouble free anyway. The trailer guy also recommended bleeding / replacing the hydraulic oil every year and turning off the electric brakes before launching the boat. Any thoughts from members about this advice?

[Crunchy]

Trojan are a brand being used by many trailer manufacturers ...unless you want to go top notch stainless they will be as good a choice as any.

Turning off the controller during launching might be OK as long as you are sure the towing vehicle brakes will hold on a slippery / steep ramp...otherwise

[Getout]

Well, after that first incident i got them working again, but eventually the rotors rusted so badly that they chewed every brake pad i fitted. After running the gauntlet for many years, (almost 10 yrs), i recently renewed everything including actuator. It all works perfectly. I spray the rotors with WD every time now.