Paulywood Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 Had problems with the surge brakes on my front trailer axle this weekend. They are disc brakes and the calipers don't seem to be releasing. I had to hit the brakes hard in Holland last weekend and I guess I started to have problems after that. I ended up draining the fluid out of the system because they were causing the bearings in the axle to overheat. I was wondering if I should just replace the calipers or if they can be rebuilt? Any other ideas would be great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Priority1 Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 They take a beating in and out of murky water. Just replace them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tad Pole Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 Nick it is possible that the caliper brackets where the pads set into them are getting rusty, what happens then is that the pads get "pinched" and are very hard to move but when you had to hit them hard they were forced to engage the rotor now there not releasing the way they should. Now if you drained the fluid and they backed off on there own without you moveing the pads back then i agree the calipers are sticking and should be replaced.allot of times just taking them apart and cleaning and lubercating will work miracles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulywood Posted July 19, 2010 Author Share Posted July 19, 2010 I think that part of my problem was that the previous owner never used the trailer so it wasn't maintained. I never checked them last year, once I got the boat I just wanted to fish. This spring I replaced all of the tires and pulled the bearings off to check them. I noticed that the rotors were rusty so I checked the brakes and the calipers were seized. I freed them up but there was no brake fluid in the system. I had to order a new cap for the cylinder because I couldn't remove the old one without ruining it. Then that was on back order and I didn't get it until June. So I finally started adding fluid to the system and they seemed to be working fine until last week. Either way I got all of the crap flushed out of the system. I'm going to pull the bearings this week to double check them so I'll pull the calipers also. Any idea where to get the calipers? I had to order the cap from a place in Florida. It's a Magic Tilt trailer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pbrktrt Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 Nick, you may have master cylinder probs or just caliper pistons sticking. If you crack the bleeders and pressure releases it is a bad brake hose. When you do fix the problem I would recommend flushing the system with methanol (Air brake antifreeze) and changing to DOT 5 fluid. This is silicone based and will not absorb moisture. Just something we did to RV's, boat trailers, and the older Corvettes because of the time they sit. Redneck Trailer Supply should have any parts you may need. Good luck and if I can help in any way let me know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Line Dancin Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 should be able to get any parts you need from richfield trailer, they carry pretty much everthing for suspension and braking systems on trailers.www.richfieldtrailer.com there is one in flint and one in grand rapids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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