Anyone every swap their drum brake actuator on their trailer?

dingbat

Supreme Mariner
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Nov 20, 2001
Messages
15,416
How heavy is the trailer?

Bigger isn’t necessarily better
 

Scott Danforth

Grumpy Vintage Moderator still playing with boats
Staff member
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Jul 23, 2011
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47,297
first, with brake actuators, you replace like for like

next, clunking is because its dry. it may be dry because you have a bad brake line or bad slave cylinder.

prior to replacing anything, you need to troubleshoot.

you can replace a million actuators and still have a leaking wheel cylinder or leaking hose

last, most brake actuators are serviceable. maybe you only need a master seal kit.
 

ap0352

Recruit
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Sep 28, 2019
Messages
5
Not sure of the entire weight of the boat trailer but it has GVWR 7000 lbs stamped on the tongue.
Scott, I wanted to replace like for like. I contacted Tie Down engineering which sold that division to Dexter Marine. Someone from Dexter marine suggested I use the actuator I attached in the link. As far as troubleshooting goes, I refilled the master cylinder, cracked all 4 of the drum bleeders and pumped the hitch several times and could not get anything out of any bleeder. Either the line/lines are plugged or the actuator is bad. For the cost of replacement parts, it makes more sense to me to replace the whole assembly as a bolt-on and go..
 

dingbat

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Nov 20, 2001
Messages
15,416
For the cost of replacement parts, it makes more sense to me to replace the whole assembly as a bolt-on and go..
Doesn't make sense to repair an actuator when you can buy new for $200.
I run the #6600 version of the above. Swapped out an Attwood with a cast iron master cylinder with rust issues. Went with the Tiedown because of the aluminum master cylinder. No complaints
 

Chris51280

Master Chief Petty Officer
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Jan 24, 2018
Messages
897
yup, replaced mine too due to corrosion and could not bleed the lines. New pistons and actuator. about $200 from an online store shipped in 2 days. Used a vacuum brake bleeder. Gotten tired of pushing the actuator. I have the free backing drum brakes. My trailer is a loadrite from 2003.
 
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