Bleeding M Trailer Brakes

[nemo]

The saga is over. I did buy a new solenoid valve and it was about $50US. I was a bit under the gun so had a local tire shop (Tire Factory) install for me. $70 (their 1 hr shop rate) to install it, bleed the brakes and make it all right. When I got home I absolutely could not back up, a good sign, until I engaged the mechanical override.

My next chore this morning is to wire up the reverse lights to the solenoid..

Also picked up a spare wheel/tire at the same place for about $130. Now to figure out where to put it.

thanks for all your suggestions -
Gary

[kmclemore]

Spare tire carriers (brackets) like the one below are available nearly everywhere - Walmart, Cabellas, your local auto store, etc. - and they work very well on the front tongue of the Mac. It will increase your tongue weight a bit, but then that's not always a bad thing in terms of sway.

[nemo]

Thanks for the tip on spare wheel -

[baldbaby2000]

I've discovered that both brake lines going to the actuator assemblies are broken. It wasn't obvious but when I pulled on them they came right out of the threaded piece that holds them tight in the seat. I bought my boat and trailer brand new in late 2004 and I wonder now if they ever worked. I suspected something wasn't right because occasionally after stopping I'd feel the brake disks and they were never even warm even though the truck ones were. I guess the good news is that we can travel without any trailer brakes if we need to!

I think the actuator assemblies might be totally ruined; it looks like mud and water got into them and they're froze up. What I'm wondering about is the rest of the system. If I push on the tongue using a pipe with its end pushed in the ground as a lever I do get some brake fluid coming out of the line; however, it's not the amount I'm used to seeing when I bleed my car or motorcycle. I've read that there's an orifice in-line to slow down the flow so that the system doesn't oscillate when the brakes are applied. Could this explain the limited flow or do I have a solenoid problem?

Thanks in advance for advice.

Daniel

[baldbaby2000]

I finally replaced both brake assemblies at $100 each, bled the system till I was blue in the face and still didn't see clean fluid come out. I took the master cylinder apart and it was full of crud so I bought a new one of those for $50. Bled again and saw clean fluid. It still takes a little pumping action to get the brakes to really do much. I think there might be air in the system; maybe in a coupling line that curves up higher than the rest of the system. I'm going to go with it like this and see if use will magically work some of the air out. Or at least if I'm doing stop and go it will pump up the system.

I've decided to complete flush the system every year. No telling how long my system hasn't been working.

Daniel

[Harrison]

Spare tire carriers (brackets) like the one below are available nearly everywhere - Walmart, Cabellas, your local auto store, etc. - and they work very well on the front tongue of the Mac. It will increase your tongue weight a bit, but then that's not always a bad thing in terms of sway.

FYI: I purchased a very similar spare tire mount like this one and put it on the tongue. Unfortunatly for me it was a bad idea. Bottomed out on a typical dip in the road near our house. (Yes it was mounted correctly with the wheel higher than the mount) It may work with a smaller tire/wheel, but not with a 15" tire/wheel combo. I instead welded the mount midway up the ladder.



---Harrison

[beene]

Good point Harrison.

I wonder if just a U bolt would do the trick.

G

[baldbaby2000]

Final update. Even though there still seemed to be air in the system we pulled the boat out of Granby and trailered the boat over the continental divide into Evergreen Saturday, a drop of several thousand feet. When we parked the boat I touched the brake disks, rather foolishly, and almost burned myself. The disks are also lacking the thin coating of rust I'm used to seeing. After all these years our surge brakes are finally working. Think of all the fun we've been missing!

Daniel

[Captain Kimo]

FYI: I purchased a very similar spare tire mount like this one and put it on the tongue. Unfortunatly for me it was a bad idea. Bottomed out on a typical dip in the road near our house. (Yes it was mounted correctly with the wheel higher than the mount) It may work with a smaller tire/wheel, but not with a 15" tire/wheel combo. I instead welded the mount midway up the ladder.

---Harrison

I had a similar experience with launching and recovery. The spare tire would bottom out, including tearing the spare tire cover. Solve the problem with using two Fulton spare tire mounts bolted together to raise the 15" spare tire higher off the trailer tonque.