NHGuy

I have a set of 4 Kodiak calipers, pads, rotors, and a 2 to 4 upgrade line kit on order for my 2012 Venture aluminum trailer that was built with ****ty single axle brakes.
They oe brakes work, but they are rated 3500 lbs and my trailer is around 5500. I know they aren't up to the task because of the way I got them smoking when I took the trailer down a steep grade last year.
I just replaced my warped (recent) back brake rotors on the half ton tow vehicle with good slotted cross drilled stuff. I was so pissed I ordered some good trailer brakes to finish things off. We have some steep hills around here and I want to just enjoy my boat instead of chasing repairs.

My boat is off the trailer so now's the time.
But here is my real question, can I vacuum bleed? That is my preferred method. I can do it by pressure, help is around. But vacuum would be easier to do by myself.

Sydwayz

iTrader: (1)

Some people put a piece of pipe over their emergency break away lever, and use that to bleed the brakes. It works for some.
Given that you have these steep hills, I'd seriously think about investing in an EoH brake setup. You will be able to tune your braking power accordingly, and not overheat your trailer brakes; which is going to happen no matter how many axles you have brakes installed on, going down steep grades, with a Surge actuator.

ezstriper

you can use one of the vacuum units, should work fine.

fossil fuel

throw that POS surge in the TRASH. After you tow with EOH you will never go back to screwed up surge that rarely works 6 months in a row!

NHGuy

Just finished bleeding the surge system. Sorry guys, my wallet won't take on the EOH this go round.

BTW the surge unit on my trailer was not cooperating with vacuum bleeding so I got a buddy to pump the actuator and it bled fine.

Looks good too. My trailer is aluminum I beam, it has 5 spoke alloy wheels with black windows, now the 4 wheel discs have been added. The rotors have a gray anti corrosion finish and the calipers have a blue finish. The blue is some sort of corrosion protection too.

All I have left to do this year is to install some exhaust baffles. It's too loud in there, and it's worse with the bimini up. I think the sound is due to the tall long tube risers and the cam is a little big as small block cams go. My risers don't inject too much water, and the water does not come in til 6" in front of the transom.

Now I should be able to bring the boat home from the lake without cooking my truck rotors.

I'm feeling pretty good about the appearance and performance of my boat at this point. Did the engine upgrade last spring, changed carb this year. Polished the hell out of it this spring. Had the sunpad recovered over the winter. And yesterday I found a solution for some really persistent dirt that was refusing to come off of my front seats.

Fingers crossed that it runs without any hiccups for the season!