What was Causing this Clunking Sound? Binding Brakes?

[KM7]

Boaters, I took my 20 ft Four Winns to the gas station (along with a a few diamonds to barter) and noticed a clunking sound. I had a friend drive it slowly as I walked along side. The sound was coming from the left side and did not seem to match the tire rotation but that was hard to tell.
I jacked up the trailer. It's a tandem axle so I had to support the frame in front and behind the axils as I did that. (Safety first). The real wheel with no brakes spun freely with no binding. The front wheel was draging quite a bit.

I may have caused that by cranking on the Bleed Access port too much and preloading the brakes. I cracked open the bleed port on the cylinder to release a little fluid and the wheel spum freely. Then I drove the trailer slowly again and the clunk was gone. I was glad I did not have a bad bearing.

What do you think? Does this make sense? Would too much pressure in the brake line cause a "clunk". I do believe that the brakes are "Self adjusting" and the ratchet will tighten them again and as the shoes wear.

 

[Silvertip]

Surge brakes or electric?

 

[Horigan]

You shouldn't have trapped pressure in the system like that. There is something wrong with your actuator, or coupler; either it's not fully extending or there is a blockage internally. I would lubricate all the moving parts in your coupler and see if it moves freely, then also bleed the brakes to confirm there is no blockage. Fixing the trapped pressure issue may address the clunking. I would also make sure the brakes are adjusted properly, which I assume are drum brakes.

 

[KM7]

Surge brakes or electric?

These are surge brakes. I have 2 yr old Dexter Hydraulic Drum Brake Actuator and Demco drum brakes.

 

[KM7]

You shouldn't have trapped pressure in the system like that. There is something wrong with your actuator, or coupler; either it's not fully extending or there is a blockage internally. I would lubricate all the moving parts in your coupler and see if it moves freely, then also bleed the brakes to confirm there is no blockage. Fixing the trapped pressure issue may address the clunking. I would also make sure the brakes are adjusted properly, which I assume are drum brakes.

I'll go through the bleed and adjustment procedure. Thanks .

How can I test that the brakes are working ?? I'm not sure that I would be able to tell the difference with the brake line disconnected. Should it be real obvious?

 

[Lou C]

That diagram shows how to manually apply the brakes if that’s the Dexter version of the Tie Down actuator (I have the same one). Free backing drum brakes (if that’s what you have) are not self adjusting, they are adjusted via a star wheel in the backing plate. It’s possible they are set too tight or a wheel cylinder is starting to hang up. They can be easily replaced once the drum is off.