Chuck
That's one way to do a complete overhaul! Hope everything works fine.
I'm just finishing my new open car trailer and have opted for 4-wheel
electrically controlled, hydraulic disc brakes. Should be simple to
maintain.
Steve
----- Original Message -----
From: "Charles Christ" <cfchrist@earthlink.net>
To: "spridgets" <spridgets@autox.team.net>; "vintage-race"
<vintage-race@autox.team.net>
Sent: Saturday, February 09, 2002 6:44 AM
Subject: trailer brakes? trailer brakes!
> i thought i might share a recent experience with my own trailer brakes ,
> wich might be of helpto someone else with similar symptoms.
> over the last year i have been passivly hunting an irregular problem with
my
> trailer's brakes. most of the time they either did or did not work.
but
> late last year they began to surge like i had a broken wire "making and
> breaking " contact. the surge was rather violent only during aplication
of
> the brakes in the tow vehicle and the brake controller. this was the
> symptom.....now allow me to explain the process wich led me to the repair.
> over the last year i had cut apart the harness on the trailer expecting to
> find a broken wire. i did find a broken wire at one of the brake backing
> plates for the magnets. that was good to find but not the cause. i took
> apart the trailer's plug to find some set screws and their terminals were
> rusted so i replaced the plug. once again good to do but not the cause.
i
> then took apart the tow vehicle's recepticle and again found rusted
> terminals. and again replaced it , but still not the cause of the problem.
> up to this point i had always had found my problems in these areas. but
> nothing so far. i also replaced the circut breaker for the hot side of
the
> brake controller as it (being under the hood) had become very corroded.
i
> pulled off the wires to try directly power the controller to eliminate the
> possibility of malfunctioning breaker( wich has happened once ). upon
> pulling off one of the wires the terminal pulled out of the breaker! i
> thought "great i finally founf the culprit!" but once again....just
another
> component enhancement with no results. so now we are into cold and snow
> (wich did not last very long ) here. so off we go to asheville n.c. the
> day after christmas to deliver a car. the darn brakes are still acting up
> and i still am a bit confused(read that fed up) as to where is my gremlin!
> after fooling around with the brake gain and finding no happy setting i
> sumise it must be in the break controller (sealed unit so i cannot safely
> dissect it to see if i find a broken wire) . the controller was 15
years
> old. i have had many customers and friends tell me they had to replace
> their controllers evry few years. so ....you guessed it......i replaced
> the controller. and now i'm really angry with myself realising it was
not
> the culprit either! so now after a spirited trip to just south of albany
> new york , i decide i have had enough! i'm going to go home and rip all
4
> drums off the trailer and inspect what was going on at each individual
> wheel. BINGO! 3 out of 4 magnets shot and all 4 wheels lining were to
the
> rivets. i would have never suspected these to be the culprits.
knowing
> they are a wear item and do need occasional replacement . but the magnets
> made their "huming" sound upon aplication , and the darn brakes did work
> intermittantly. so i now have replaced the magnets and am waiting for
the
> brake reliner to return my shoes and my complete system overhaul will be
> over! and it had better work now! lol!
> btw, my trailer was built in 1969 using cut down mobile home axles and
> structural steel. and my rims are 14.5" rims too. it turns out my
kelsey
> hayes 12"X2" shoes were discontinued years ago and their current listing
> 12"X2" shoe is a difrent design wich will not work. napa had the magnets
> over night.
> hopefully this might encourage some of you to inspect your trailers before
> heading out this season! or might assist you in diagnosing your symptoms
> without a total systen upgrade! evrything i took apart showed signs of
> needing attention but was functioning untill i pulled the 4 drum/hub
> assemblies. so i do not feel too bad about replacing evrything that i
did.
> with all this having been said and done, i will be ready to head to
sebring
> with the saab in tow in early march with functioning brakes. now i bet
the
> weather gets nasty right around the time i get the relined shoes
> back..............just before we are ready to head south.........(that
would
> be just my luck! snow and i'm on the ground outside installing and
> adjusting trailer brakes! )
> the van "the lust bus" is all ready and so is the saab! now it's just
that
> darn pesty trailer......lol!
>
> chuck.
snip
/// unsubscribe/change address requests to majordomo@autox.team.net or try
/// http://www.team.net/mailman/listinfo
/// Archives at http://www.team.net/archive/vintage-race
|