Rippem

so is the fact that I can push and pull the coupler in and out 60% of it's travel by hand a giveaway to the "no fluid return" scenario?

O.K so i'll open the line at the back of the master cylinder, will the piece of debris plugging the hole come out with the fluid? It should right?

As soon as I split that line open have I committed to a complete all-around bleed? 'Cause if I have, I'll do all new fluid...probably not a bad idea anyway.

So without one of those air tools, what's the proper way to bleed with a surge coupler?

Thanks again.

Rippem

O.K first I pushed fresh JT-6 through all 6 bearing sets until I got new grease out. Got loose/runny grease with good color out of 4, all three on one side, and just the front on the other. No sign of any metal in the runny chit. The other 2 hubs, the grease was not broke down at all.

Broke open the line behind the master cyl...and nothing...no pressure in the line...in fact no fliud came out at all.

Jacked up each side of the front axle...no brake drag at all, in fact not even a scraping (they need to be adjusted, unless they were hung up long enough to thin the shoes some).

WTF is going on???

Troutly, when you had these issues, did it resolve itself and leave you scratching your head...or did you do something to resolve it?

HotPursuit

If you have the extra cash,trash the drum brakes and convert to disc
brakes.There's good reason that no cars run drum and shoes anymore.
Shoes were OK for horse & buggy's just think of the investment your
towing around. They also sell a composite master cylinder nothing to
rust internally. Big advantage to this set up is every component exposed,
no heavy drum to remove for pad inspection.

Tonto

Rippem,
No you should not be able to push the actuator by hand. At this point, I would take each wheel/tire off the hub and remove the hub/drum assembly and clean and inspect each bearing and adjust the shoes to where they are dragging the drum slightly. On a Owens & Sons aluminum trailer I had, there was a sticker on the backing plate that said to adjust the shoes to where you couldn't turn the tire by hand, then back off ten "clicks". I now adjust the MYCO to where the shoes are just dragging a little. While you have the tire/wheel off go ahead and bleed that wheel cylinder starting with the one that is fartherest from the master cylinder first. As far as how to bleed a surge brake trailer, remove the brackets that keep the emergency stop lever in place and pull it forward to activate the brakes, this takes two people. Once you have all the brakes bled, you should be good to go. Hope this helps, I know it's alot of work, but look at whats on the trailer also. You're more than welcome to call me if you wish. 770-363-2185 cell
Robert

Rippem

Thank You for your help.

Randy

boot

You may have HAD pressure ,but as long as it sat ,it may have bled off. IF you can spin the tires easily now . The problem is gone > temporarily < !! It is definately not a wheel bearing issue . I do this stuff every day . It is in the brakes .

boot

Oh, another thing ,,,, if you pumped that much grease , open up the brakes and see how much grease you got on the brakes !! That could be parts of the problem too . You need to replace the seals once a year .

Tonto

I definitely agree with boot that the problem is in the brakes. I was just stating what "I" would do, I hate ANY trailer problems when I'm on the road and have no problem going through the whole trailer before I hit the road. Good luck
Robert

Rippem

Agreed, trailer problems suck. So many take them for granted and don't maintenence much at all, go down the road all over hell and don't have problems. Go figure...

So I'm a good boy and do the bearings, check the seal condition, and the condition of the brake shoes and hardware...and BINGO, some immediate BS with the brakes. WTF.

Probably just a coincidence, though i gotta tell'ya, I'm not feeling too rewarded for my efforts!

I've had 5 boat trailers and numerous other small trailers (snowmobile, jet ski, landscape) and have never had a hub or brake problem 'till now.

I'll get to the bottom of it, and it's discs for me next time!

Ron P

How tight did you make the axle nut? It should only be hand tight. And loose at that.