Trailer brakes in salt water service

[DavidM]

I just replaced my trailer's brakes which had been used in sea water conditions for about ten years. This was a drum brake system with a surge actuator. So I would like to describe my experiences and suggestions for a better system.

First lets talk about the top of the line system: electric over hydraulic actuator with stainless steel disk brakes. These will probably last nearly forever and with the EOH actuator gives much better braking control than surge drum brakes. They aren't cheap. You can buy all of the parts from Etrailer: Kodiak SS hub, disk, and caliper, and a Hydrostar EOH actuator for about $1,500 single axle, $2,200 dual.

I thought seriously about doing this but since I only plan to keep the boat and trailer another year I cheaped out and bought a pair of drum brake kits: backing plate, shoes and wheel cylinder for $109 and planned to install it myself.

It isn't that difficult a job. First remove the wheel and tire- you can leave it on but it is easier to separate the wheel from the drum. Then pull off the grease cover and pry out the cotter pin on the nut and unscrew. Then pull the drum out a little bit until you can grab the bearing and remove it. Then the drum will pull right off.

I was faced with a mess inside. In addition to the wheel cylinders leaking brake fluid like a sieve, the entire drum, brake shoes and springs was a pile of rust. The small springs that retain the shoes had corroded off and were rolling around loose inside the drum.

So I cleaned them up a bit and started unbolting the backing plate from the axle. I got three out of four off but was stymied by the last one. Its nut was so corroded I couldn't get a socket on it and the bolt head on the back side was up tight against the axle and I couldn't get a socket on it either.

The only solution was to finish pulling off the shoes and use an angle grinder to cut off the nut. But I didn't have power at the location I was working in or an angle grinder so I let the storage yard which is also a boat and trailer repair shop do it. They were quite reasonable: $330.

So they are back together now and the trailer is in its storage slot. It will probably take a few years for the paint to corrode off and rust to start inside. I will sell the boat and trailer before then and the new owner will have decent but not great trailer brakes.

If you do decide to DIY there is one final challenge after you unbolt the assembly from the axe, and bolt up the new one: bleeding. It isn't like a car brake where one person pumps the brake pedal and the other watches for bubbles and closes the bleed scew when it runs clear.

I read a couple of accounts and watched a few utube videos. What worked for me was to attach the two emergency chains together in front of the coupler then use a 4' long 2x4 to lever the coupler back a few inches at a time. I never finished this part and it really needs two people just like a car, but with the 2x4 trick it seemed fairly easy.

David

[hardee]

David, Thanks for that write-up. Trailer care is always interesting to me because I am not a mechanic so it goes to the shop for any of what you are talking about. $330, Wow, for that I need the address of your shop, and it would probably pay for me to make that trip -- ahhhh for lots of reasons

I see many boats launched here at John Wayne Marina in Sequim. Most back into the salt chuck, discharge the boat into the water, and then roar up the ramp and into the parking spot with the driver back at the boat in less than 2 minutes. I would guess that maybe 1 out of 20 - 30 will actually drive over to the rinse rack and hose down the empty trailer. On the retrieval of the boat, maybe 1 out of 10 will go to that same rinse rack, (actually only a parking spot with a hose bib), and will rinse down anything on the boat. Usually if there is any rinsing at all, it is to put the muffs on the Outboard leg and run that for a couple of minutes.

Rarely does anyone ever hose down the trailer after the first dunk, and only occasionally does anyone ever hose it down after the boat is back on the trailer.

So, my question is, was your trailer (and especially the brake system) getting rinsed after every saltwater dunk, or only every other (just on the retrieval cycle) or was it getting rinsed at all? It will make a difference.

Harvey
SleepyC

[DavidM]

Yes, I do rinse but I am not sure it does much good. With drum brakes the parts that need to be rinsed- inside the drum where the shoes are doesn't get any water when you rinse. I even thought about removing the little rubber covers on the adjusting hole and squirting water inside but I doubt if I would get enough water inside to do any good.

SS disk brakes are the only real solution. Oh and BTW I thought about just replacing the drum brakes with disks and not do the EOH actuator. But I found that there are two types of EOH actuators: 1,000 psi for drum brakes and 1,600 psi for disks. This tells me that I would probably not get adequate braking with disc brakes actuated by a drum brake surge cylinder.

And yes I was quite surprised at the shop's price. But I had all of the parts in hand, had discussed with them the best way to deal with the rusted bolt so it was all very straightforward. And not to brag too much, any trailer owner that knows exactly what needs to be done and discusses what to do with the shop, avoids all of the unknowns and the just plain overcharging.

David

[PNW_Wesley]

My rig is in the shop having a new tongue coupler, drums, bearings, and axles installed. I’m also having disk brakes put in. I will also have the rims checked for true-ness, and get the fairly-new tires balanced

The coupler has an electric lockout, tied to my 7-pin truck connector.

After towing the boat many times since last fall when we bought her, I suspected the brakes were not working. An inspection revealed a disaster in the making.

The trailer was new in 2005, and lived most of its life in salt water.

There was so much rust and signs of wear hidden behind the wheels that I decided to have it ALL replaced. The coupler was a bear to hitch and unhitch. The hydraulic lines were highly suspect.

As others have mentioned, trailers get used hard and put away wet.

Having a break-down on the road is not something I want to deal with, so now I will be more confident while towing Zenith to all parts of the country.

[localboy]

Salt water is hard on trailers. I've replaced all four discs/calipers, the surge actuator, reverse lock-out switch...all in 10 years. I now even rinse them with Salt-Away in a pump sprayer after every dunk. Last year one of the calipers froze causing the entire hub to overheat. Forced us to cancel our trip to the Friday Harbor GT. Now the hard lines are looking rough, especially at the fittings. I'll have to do a total rebuild at some point. Hoping to get two more seasons out of it...then I'll have time to do the work.

[san juanderer]

Trailer brakes, there is truly no perfect solution.
Stainless steel is softer than cast iron, and stainless steel gets hotter than cast iron. Warping of stainless steel rotors is a common problem.
I bought a new LoadRite dual axle 9100 # trailer, the manufacturer would not offer stainless steel disk rotors. Only offered cast iron rotors.
Yes, it is harder to rinse all the interior parts of the drum hubs vs rotors.
Best practice, regularly pulling apart and maintenance. Like more than once a year.
Likely, most surge systems are operating at a very low braking level. How does the driver know how good the braking efficiency truly is.
EOH, I have retrofitted these myself. Expensive but braking efficiency is good. Install high quality lines with rust free fittings, and know how to bleed your lines with a vacumn system, but you still need to open the system to check to make sure your calipers are not leaking.
Brakes = Maintenance ( no way around it ).

[journey on]

I use a pressure bleeder which pressurizes the reservoir at the front of the trailer. I find that the seals tend to leak under a vacuum, since they're made to withstand pressure from the upstream side. Also easier to do with one person.

Boris

[Marco Flamingo]

I shoot my trailer and SS disc brakes with Salt Away. I also dip my boat and trailer at the first fresh water ramp I come across. I'm concerned about what's going on on inside of my galvanized trailer tubes.

Mark

[colbysmith]

Some of you probably expected me to chime in, so here goes. I run strictly electric brakes. First let's talk about Stainless Steel vs. Iron. I don't care if you run surge or electric or EOH. If you are launching in salt water with anything other than Stainless Steel, you will have rust eventually even if you rinse with fresh water, and sooner if you don't. This has nothing to do with electric or hydraulics and everything to do with iron and salt. I run 99% of the time in fresh or brackish water. But when I do run in salt, I do an immediate fresh water rinse down, preferably with salt away, thru a brake fresh water rinse system I fabricated. TO my knowledge, there are no stainless steel drum brakes, and there are no pure electric disc brakes. I suspect if I launched in salt all the time, I might pay the extra price for Electric over Hydraulic with stainless disc, which still requires maintenance as water and hydraulics don't play well when mixed. So if you are not going to go stainless anyway, then I would suggest sticking with drum brakes, but electric would be better than hydraulic surge. You can cut your hydraulic lines at the wheel (remove them completely is better), replace your surge coupler with a regular coupler, or weld that sucker solid so it doesn't move back and forth, and replace all your hydraulic backing plates with electric backing plates and brakes for about $70 an axle. Yes, you will also have to have an electric brake controller in your tow vehicle, but you can use the old fashioned ones before EOH came out. With pure electric you don't have to worry about the EOH actuator corroding out because it's mounted to low on the trailer, or dealing with the messy hydraulics. Get a good set of electric brakes, like dexter, and the brake magnet will likely outlast the iron hub. Seal all your wires, and have LED lights, and you won't even have to unplug the pigtail either. BTW, how much are those EOH actuators now days?

[gulfcoast john]

“BTW, how much are those EOH actuators now days?”

Colby, I just paid $1,081 for a replacement on Dec 12 2019. It seemed to work well until today when it quit. It has a 12 month warranty. I hope the replacement lasts 12 months. That’s only a Boat Unit item.

I agree you have a fantastic record using electric drum brakes in fresh water. But I think DavidM was darn lucky he got 10 years out of his salt water drum brakes with loving care. I never got more than 5 years before a Major Rebuild even with a OEM garden hose freshwater flush system in salt water.

There are 31 flavors of cruising, and that’s only two.

Cheers!
John

[colbysmith]

John, even if you had to replace electric brakes annually, at $140 for a twin axle, that's like what, 7 years worth of brakes for the 12 months you got? That's what I really like about the straight electric brakes. They work and are cheap enough to change out every year if necessary. Probably don't even need to do the fresh water rinse if you do an annual change out.

As you posted in the other thread, the Hontoon Hoot was great. Good seeing you and Eileen again! Colby

Late note. I just checked etrailer.com. Their 10" Dexters for 3500 lb axles are going for $149 a set. That includes the backing plate, shoes and magnet. I could have sworn I bought my last set of Dexters from a local rim and wheel shop for $70/set. But even at the price quote above, you are looking at $300 max to change out a twin axle trailer set of brakes. Figure out how long your current drum brakes are lasting on your salt water trailer, and how many brake changes you can get for the cost of the EOH actuator. (And you still have brake maintenance to perform on top of that actuator cost.) With electric brakes, there are no hydraulic lines to corrode out or messy fluid to deal with! But you do have the wiring and electrical hassles, same as with the trailer lights. Choose your poison I guess.

[gulfcoast john]

Colby,
A very good debate.
I'll ruminate over it and many other Brats should too.

Happy Braking!
John

[san juanderer]

Out of sight- Out of mind - does not equal happy braking.
12 "Dacromet coated backing plates from etrailer are 159 per pair.
Doing a "brake job" by replacing backing plates is a 5 bolt process, very simple. No leaking hydraulics.
Changing brakes on my dump, cargo, and travel trailer is a breeze, can not say the same about the boat trailers surge parts.

[hardee]

You all are getting me concerned, and that's probably good. I do have my surge brakes (Kodiak Stainless discs) checked each time the boat goes into the shop for service, and no issues (yet). The discs and shoes were replaced 3 years ago and have about 4-5k miles since then.

The open rail ("C" shaped) rails on the Pacific trailers allow good visual inspection of nearly the whole length of the trailer.

Not such a good report on my trailer landing gear system. It was totally frozen up (not thermally) when I went to get ready to hook up to take the boat up to B'ham last week. That will be in another thread.


Harvey
SleepyC

[Micahbigsur@msn.com]

We don't have fresh water wash down at our marina, I use a garden sprayer with salt away every time!