trailer brake bleeding

[deanehorn]

How and where do I add brake fluid to my trailer's hydraulic brakes?<br /><br />How do I bleed the brakes?<br /><br />Thanks...

 

[Yepblaze]

Re: trailer brake bleeding

I'll assume you are talking surge/drum brakes.<br /><br /><br />You add fluid at the master cylinder/reservoir cover. It is located in the coupler.<br /><br />You can bleed by actuating the brake coupler just like pumping the brake pedal when bleeding although with certainly more difficulty. I have just opened one bleeder at at time and gravity bled before without incident. But takes some time.<br /><br />Many times what's needed most is a brake adjustment, as most are not self adjusting.

 

[skicat]

Re: trailer brake bleeding

So how exactly do you adjust them?

 

[Yepblaze]

Re: trailer brake bleeding

There's a slot in the backing plate that you place a screwdriverlike device in.<br /><br />And by prying against this "star wheel" and lengthening the adjuster to place the shoes closer to the drum surface.<br /><br />Here's something I found on the web that may help. Although I don't think it is trailer specific, It holds a lot of the same detail.

 

[deanehorn]

Re: trailer brake bleeding

Thanks for the information!<br /><br />When I opened the master cylinder cover it was bone dry. (used trailer, new for me.)<br /><br />I filled with brake fluid and then found the "bleed nuts" on the inside of the brake drum housings.<br /><br />I put a concrete block behind each wheel of the trailer and then backed up the truck to compress the cylinder. While compressed, I opened and then closed the bleed nut. After closing the bleed nut, I then moved the truck forward and then back again to decompress and then compress the cylinder again.<br /><br />While compressed, at first air was coming out of the bleed nut, then a mixture of air and fluid, then finally a stream of fluid.<br /><br />After repeating these steps a number of times until only fluid was coming out. The brakes now work fine.<br /><br />I'm sure that I'll find that there is a leak somewhere, which was why it was empty in the first place.<br /><br />Thanks!