Trailer Brakes Tips

[zmk1962]

Hey Raiders,

This is probably of most interest to those running electric/hydraulic trailer brakes. Just some tips based on my experience in running my rig over 20yrs and what has worked for me.

Without a doubt, the ideal scenario to minimise maintenance is to fit stainless steel rotors and callipers to the trailer. However for those of us that don't have that set up we can still get good mileage out of running galvanised callipers and steel rotors with some regular maintenance. My trailer is a 2001 build twin bogey and in that time I have changed 1 failed calliper, changed disc pads 4 times, machined rotors once, and just last November changed the rotors for the first time. 

A couple of things I do:

1. ensure the calliper sliders have NO grease. No matter what grease I tried it gunks up after a few salt trips causing the callipers to jam up. Now I just spray some silicon lubricant into each slider after each trip - no issues since I have been doing this.

2. Spray WD40 over the rotors, springs, callipers after each salt dunking. I do this in the trailer car park after launching the boat. Only takes a minute to run around with a spray can. Also, spray some Silicon lube in-between the brake pad and the calliper piston. This keeps the pistons lubricated and free of rust residue. Have not had to service the callipers - except to replace the one faulty one under warranty.

3. make sure that when the pads are replaced, the pad shims are NOT fitted.  Shims work great on car brakes, they stop the pads rattling and provide some insulation to the pistons, but cars are used way more than boat trailers and cars drive on roads and do not get dunked in salt water regularly so it makes sense to fit them. But boat trailers are different. 

When I had the rotors replaced last Novembers, I remembered to request no grease on the calliper slides with the threat if I saw grease they will dismantle and clean everything at their expense (despite the mechanic swearing they always grease them and have had no issue). But one thing I had forgotten was to ask for NO shims. Sure enough, they were fitted and when I saw the work, I mentioned this to the mechanic. Again his answer was but we always fit them - we've had no issues - these are new Bendix pads and shims - the shims have a non rust coating they'll be fine. Hmmmm Ok ... I'll give it a go.

Anyway, on the second last trip in early July I noticed two of the wheels were warm/hot when we got home. Did the normal washdown after they cooled and a few days later I had the opportunity to pull the tyres off and inspect. This is what I found:

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The shims had dislodged and moved on everyone of the wheels, and on two wheels they were causing the pads to drag.

So my conclusion is that with the shims in place, there’s not enough clearance to effectively fresh water flush around the callipers. Salt gets behind the shims and binds them to the callipers or to the pistons. The normal movement of the brakes then progressively dislodges and deforms the shims forcing the pads against the discs. Also some shims rust and expand - again taking up any required clearance for normal operation.

I removed all the shims, re-lubed everything and checked for good clearance and movement.

Last trip to Parsley bay went without a hitch - arrived there and back home with all 4 wheels cool - trailer braked perfectly - no dramas. 

Without the shims, the pads may not last as long and the trailer is noisier as the pads rattle around a bit, but I get a good 5yrs between brake pad changes and don’t get stuck on the side of the road with red hot seized brakes. 

Anyway just sharing these tips that have worked for me.

Cheers Zoran 

 

[Fab1]

Excellent write up and photos as usual mate.Have you tried silicon paste/grease?

[zmk1962]

Hey Fab. Yup tried it. I don’t know it’s probably the boat trailer brake environment. Heat, road dust, brake dust, water, salt etc etc My experience has been that anything greasy just dries out and cakes up. 
Maybe the short spray of silicon lubricant flushes out dust and dried salts and keeps it lubricated. 
cheers Zoran 

[Fab1]

6 minutes ago, zmk1962 said:

Hey Fab. Yup tried it. I don’t know it’s probably the boat trailer brake environment. Heat, road dust, brake dust, water, salt etc etc My experience has been that anything greasy just dries out and cakes up. 
Maybe the short spray of silicon lubricant flushes out dust and dried salts and keeps it lubricated. 
cheers Zoran 

Fair enough.Keep doing what you're doing as it seems to be working well for you.

[zmk1962]

13 hours ago, Fab1 said:

Fair enough.Keep doing what you're doing as it seems to be working well for you.

Cheers Fab ... stay well mate ... !

Z

[wrxhoon1]

 

Good write up reflecting your experience Zoran .

The calipers you are using are old school copied from car calipers not specifically made for marine environment. I use American brakes specifically made for marine use either made by Kodiak or Deemaxx. I have Kodiak on my trailer but Deemaxx are the same . The calipers are designed different as are the pads, no shims even if you wanted to use shims you can't . As you can see in the picture they have S/S backing plates and the inner pad has S/S Springy bracket that fits inside the piston . The outer pad has 2 nibs that fit in the holes in the caliper, the one in the picture has S/S holding bracket as well not really necessary but welcome addition This is the fixed part of the caliper. 

I have torsion axles, no springs to worry about, they are like the independent suspension you have on the front on your LC. The trailer is much more stable than springs when towing at high speed. Much less maintenance than springs too.

Most trailers built in Australia use hub/rotor all in one, not my preferable set up and they use old school solid rotor. My preference is lazy hub ( gal or S/S) and hat type slip on rotor. I use Gal hubs and S/S vented rotor for less maintenance. Caliper is the most important part, use only full S/S ( housing and piston). The caliper mounting bolts are S/S and I do use grease without any issues but again they are different if look closer to the pictures .

S/S rotors will wear out quicker than steel because they are softer but will stop better too. Steel will last longer if they don't rust but in most cases on boat trailers you would throw them out because of heavy pits from rust.

The American axles have a plate welded at the end and you buy brackets that bolt straight on to that and the calipers bolt on the bracket, I use S/S bracket as well.  

I use braided flexible tube so it won't corrode, still tube is better as it won't flex with 1600 PSI pressure but it will rust.

I wouldn't spray rotors or pads with any lubricant because effects braking efficiency, then again thick rust on the rotor will do that and probably more.

I first started using American brakes back in the 90's and will not use anything else . I wouldn't use mechanical cable operated brakes like they use in Australia on boat trailers under 2000 kg . They will work Ok but you must adjust the cable every 5 minutes. You don't see any of these in USA.

Expensive to start with but much cheaper in the long run, especially if you pay someone to do the maintenance.

I buy my brakes and parts in USA but these days you can buy them here.  Over the years I have set up several heavy boat trailers like that. I guess each to their own.

My 2 cents ....

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[zmk1962]

Perfect post Jerry @wrxhoon1 !!  My next trailer will definitely be with torsion axles and a brake set up like yours. It's just not worth the expense to upgrade my existing rig. 

Cheers Zoran

[wrxhoon1]

Definitely not Zoran, you have a serviceable working trailer, why would you upgrade just for the sake of upgrading?

You only upgrade if you have problems with it.

 

[daltonbourne]

 I added this LIBRA trailer brake on my trailer and fit perfectly the work is good and easy to install but I wish there was a set of installation bolts with it. They have good stopping power on my tandem trailer with 6000 lbs on board.
 

[noelm]

I was just fooling around with my brakes, and the caliper mounting plate was welded on so one bolt cannot be removed, it hits the spring, I might have to see if I can rotate the axle 90 degrees to provide access, I don't remember this being an issue, maybe the bolt will come out far enough to allow the caliper to slide straight up?

[slowjigger]

Does anyone know why one of my callipers doesn't move from side to side? I tried the obvious - checking the sliders weren't gummed up.

[zmk1962]

1 hour ago, slowjigger said:

Does anyone know why one of my callipers doesn't move from side to side? I tried the obvious - checking the sliders weren't gummed up.

Without knowing how your brakes are operated (cable over ride, electric, hydraulic) and going off what you've said it will just be guesses - bent calliper pins, oversized pads, rust behind pads, jammed brake cylinder ... if it's hydraulic - blocked or pinched hydraulic line .... 

Cheers Zoran

 

[daltonbourne]

On 12/3/2022 at 8:14 AM, daltonbourne said:

 I added this LIBRA trailer brake on my trailer and fit perfectly the work is good and easy to install but I wish there was a set of installation bolts with it. They have good stopping power on my tandem trailer with 6000 lbs on board.
 

The bearings and grease caps undoubtedly lent themselves to the smoother rides I started to enjoy once I installed this trailer brake. I’m not going to be raining praises on the overall quality of the materials, though. Nonetheless, I’m glad that the entire setup’s still working seamlessly after 1 year of monthly use.