E-Z Loader Trailer Brakes

[Bill K]

Try jacking one axle up and using a big breaker bar and impact socket on one of the lug nuts and see if you can break the break's loose that way.

Try not to break the lug bolt.

A sharp jerk instead of a steady pull.

Bill Kelleher

[ghone]

Thanks Bill will try it.

[Bill K]

Just remember that after you do that , back off the lug nuts and re torque so all the nuts are even.

Bill Kelleher

[Sea Wolf]

George- If Bill's method doesn't break it loose, I'd do what you suggested and crack the hydraulic line open a bit at the master (surge) actuator. I found it hard to believe what I saw when I first opened one to see the condition inside. Rust all over the place! Since it is the one component you didn't replace, I'd bet it's frozen up with rust and locked on with the pressure up. Where's all that moisture come from? Is the fluid hydroscopic? I don't know, but they sure get gummed/rusted/frozen up bad! And you can't tell that all is going on inside by looking at the actuator's outside, which looks just like it did last year, and the the year before that, etc., etc. Insidious mechanical failure from within! It's The Devil at Work, again, I'm sure!

Joe.

[journey on]

George/ghone;

First I assume you have drum brakes and really can't see in there. So, there could be problems in 2 places: the brakes or the bearings; they're seperate.

If it's the brakes, the shoes (not pads) indeed could be rusted in place. The shoe lining isn't iron, so they're not going to rust to the cast iron drum. The hydraulic pistons could be rusted, but they should be in a retracted position and not applying the brakes. I don't remember how far a surge master cylinder should move, but if it's stuck, what do you have to lose by cracking the nut? If fluid comes out, and the brakes release, you can get it to the dealer to fix the master cylinder, and would have to bleed them then. So loosen the hydraulic line and see if the master cylinder is jammed.

Now on to the bearings. If the bearings are frozen, you're scr--ed, because that means you have water in there and those bearings are trash. Pray for the brakes to be bad. And make sure you have good seals next time.

If you got the boat launched, something must of worked. So make sure the boat is back on so you have some traction to turn the wheels, take it to the dealer and say "what's wrong?"

BTW, all trailer mfg's buy their brakes from outside vendors. EZ Loader uses Reliable, which I've never heard of before, but there you are. Kodiak replaces them, and I assume you can get decent parts for yours. Discs appear to be simpler and one can see how they're working just by pulling off the wheel. In drums, everything is hidden and one can't see what's going on.

Good luck, Boris

[ghone]

Thanks guys. I reworked the bearings with high quality components last year so hopefully ok. I'll let off the fluid at the master and see how it goes. Thanks again. C Brats are the greatest! George

[ghone]

An update. I let the fluid off at the master and at the furthest back connection to get the fluid pressure off. Still no spin. I jacked the wheels and tapped to see if I could loosen that way. Nope still 4 stuck wheels. Something wrong in surge actuator land. Will get a tow via a car carrier over to the shop will keep you posted. Spousal unit suggested a new trailer. This one is only 3 years with 18,000 miles so ouch! But maybe a good idea....if I can find a high quality mfg in Canada. Or get one from Les and pay the Canadian inspection sticker price? Will ponder. George

[ghone]

The solution. I couldn't get the trailer to budge, so a local car mover was called to get the trailer 2 blocks to Kal Tire. They got real busy so took a few days to address my problem. Turns out it was the brakes had been adjusted on too hard last service and locked them up. A simple re adjustment and service was done, bearings serviced and re-packed and I'm good to go. No damage to anything They were apologetic they had my trailer for 3 days and would not let me pay anything!!! If you're in BC and need tires , brakes etc you won't go wrong with Kal Tire. They'll get all my business. I was figuring it would be a standard boat unit. ($1,00). Wow.

[journey on]

George, congratulations. I know there were a lot of push-ups, and false leads, but you got the problem solved. And at a reasonable cost. We all go through problems like that: problem, all kinds of help, despair, amd then a simple logical solution.

You'd never have pulled those drums off, thank goodness the tyre place figured it out. And you've just established one advantage of disc brakes: all the parts are there in front of God and Country, not hidden inside a drum.

BTW, you left a unit off the standard boat unit. Should be $1,000, allowing for inflation.

Boris

[Will-C]

Almost sounds like an advertisement for disc brakes.
D.D.

[cbgale]

I thought Disc Brakes were self adjusting. Are they different on a trailer?

[localboy]

He has drum brakes. Whoever adjusted the shoes turned the adjusting stars too many times, pushing the shoes out in the drum. No bueno. good customer service though!!!

[Dora~Jean]

I have the 1/4" thick SS rotors from Tie Down Engineering. Had them for 5+ years now. On the last trip to the Delta I noticed a constant pull to the right on my Expedition tow vehicle--which probably translates to one of the "left" trailer brakes or bearings pulling the tongue to the left. We checked all the wheel and hub temperatures as well as grease in the bearing buddys every stop (approx every 2 hrs).

Had a known grease seal problem on the RR wheel before the trip, replaced the seal at the Rio Vista parking area while there. The left rear wheel was skidding as we backed the trailer (empty) over long grass up a slight incline, surge brakes engaging slightly. We pulled that wheel and checked the rotor, it appears to be slightly warped, so I will see if replacement is easier (or mandatory) rather than having it turned. I believe it should be replaced, haven't checked with Tie Down yet on if they'll sell me just the SS rotor w/o the whole wheel assy.

I have a solenoid shutoff valve installed and activated manually through a switch on the dash rather than backup lights. I use this switch for backing up hill (at home) and on long, long downhill runs to avoid burning up my brakes or melting the rotors. I noticed on line that their new rotors have cooling holes like motorcycles have, this might be the ticket.

I'm willing to continue with them, they work very well otherwise. Now if I can just solve my grease seal problems that seem to have a short life span, like 2 yrs as I look back on the maintenance records. Fortunately they're pretty easy to replace. I may have to bite the bullet someday and go with an oil bath system like Boris has, but not sure available for my Pacific trailer, or rather Tie Down wheels/bearings.

Boris, great job on resurrecting your old, rusted rotors! That's exactly what mine looked like when I replaced them with these 1/4" SS rotors, thought mine were trash...!

[Sunbeam]

[Dora~Jean]

Using "engine braking" or applying the tow vehicle brakes is really the same thing to surge brakes on a trailer. The tow vehicle is pushing back on the trailer, thus engaging the surge brakes.

The dash switch is simple, but running the long wire from the dash to the 7-pin trailer connector on my bumper has to be done right so as not to rub or be pinched by moving parts under the chassis. I used a heavy duty, 12 or 14awg wire and used a lot of plastic ties to the frame. Also, the dash switch has a bright red light on it when activated, hot-glued close to my instruments so I'll see it when I glance down. Using it on long down-hill runs is a bit dangerous because if you need to stop quickly for any reason, you must disengage that switch so you'll have your trailer brakes back(!). This move would not be intuitive in an emergency...so I don't recommend it as a permanent solution.