Boat trailer brakes

[gofishin]

Hi Bruce,
I have the Kodiak gear but not the nice s/s stuff (came with the trailer, hence no choice). Mine are silver-cadmium coated, or at least that’s what I think they call it. After most outings/washes, I squirt a bit of lano on the brakes/rotors before reversing the boat in (without the brakes active) which gives the rotors a nice wipe over. The lano is burnt off within a few meters of use, and the rotors are as nice and smooth as the day I got the trailer. An option for you if you can’t justify the s/s stuff.

If you want pics for proof I can sort something for you. And yes, Don is a good bloke!
cheers
Brendon

[tropicrows]

I did some figures and the new setup will cost wait for it.......$1,314 so I might grind up the disc's I have and try your trick of applying lano first Brendon.

[wags on the water]

Bruce if you can wait a week until I get home again, I'll machine up the discs for you....on my days off. If you promise not to throwup in my boat I'll even take you fishing.

Cheers,
Wags

[tropicrows]

Thanks for the offer on the machining but I have access to all the equipment I need, I'm just to lazy to take them off the trailer and besides, I think by the time I machine them they will be all gone.. I do need so painting done around the house LOL.


I will take you up on the fishing trip, and I have NEVER chucked up in anyones boat over the side is another story.

[Roughasguts]

I wash the brakes/discs like you wouldn't believe, using the boat/trailer enough is another story and is most likely the problem. Hence using stainless or bronze discs should be the solution, if I can source the correct size, so far no luck.

Or just go fishing a lot more "I wish"

How do you dry your brakes off after washing or don't you bother ?

Have you tried using a Stihl blower or similar to dry them off or go for a short drive instead.

Cheers.

[tropicrows]

I don't dry the brakes after washing down the boat & trailer is to hard getting the rig in and out of the drive for that, but I will try what Brendon (post 16) does and use a bit of lano.

[tropicrows]

I use Kodial S/S brakes.

I wouldn't use any broze rotor they are just to soft.

Is that from experience. It looks like the bronze ones are the only ones that will fit my standard system.

[wrxhoon]

Is that from experience. It looks like the bronze ones are the only ones that will fit my standard system.

Yes it is, some years ago not on my trailer , someone elses .

Why they the only ones that will fit ? Do you have Holden hubs? If so get rid of them and use Ford, bigger bearings and much easier to get wheels and stuff ..

I have USA Ford , even bigger bearings that the Aussie Ford.,The other advantage with USA axles , they come with a square plate welded at the end of the stubb and they sell S/S brackets that bolt straight on to these plates . Kodiak calipers bolt to these brackets..
With Aussie axles you have to weld brackets on , we are well behind the Yanks.

[tropicrows]

No I have ford hubs.

[South Aussie]

A question for some of you who may be more knowlegeable than I.

I am just reconditioning my boat trailer and have Alko mechanical disc brakes to fit. The outside brake pad doesn't appear to have any notch or receiver to prevent it from moving against the disc - it just seems to sit there. Is this correct or have I missed something?

[robothefisho]

Correct, caliper should float so as to not put any pressure on the disc when not "on"

[South Aussie]

Thanks, that appeared to be what happened but I am glad I checked. Appreciate your help. Cheers

[johncar]

Sick of all the trailer braking hassles over the years.
My current boat, I went to great lengths to make sure it was just under the 2000kg mark and fitted mechanical overide brakes just on standard cast iron rotors. But with marine rated bearing seals.
Yes not the best braking system but it is basic and as long as I keep the cable adjusted it always works in the passive way they are designed.
I just wash down with fresh water and spray the brake parts, rotors etc with plain old INOX and they don't rust and work perfectly every time.

If you have to have a big heavy boat I don't know whats best these days but good solutions arn't going to be cheap and will stiill require regular servicing.

I have out of interest wandered around the boat ramp car/trailer park and on a busy day I would be flat out counting on one hand how many trailers brakes are in working condition. Pretty scary really when you think of these things on the road. I would hate to be fighting a court case if I hit somebody with unroadworthy trailer brakes..

[White Pointer]

G'day,

I've just been in the same place with cable operated trailer brakes and I got to the point where I just didn't trust them. My BMT weighs at very close to the 2-tonne limit for over-ride brakes so I couldn't take the risk.

My biggest concern was that I couldn't keep a cable adjusted for more than about 5KM - after that virtually no brakes. Added to that the cast iron hubs and rotors were pitted badly so the first 5KM was spent just running the things in.

Like your trailer, my whole set up was ALKO. It is fitted to a Sealink trailer.

The solution has been Trojan's hydraulic system. The front combined hub and rotor and the rear hubs were replaced with Trojan's galvanised units. My bearings and seals were in excellent condition after three years use but were replaced with new ones. I tried to buy S/S but it doesn't seem to exist in HT Holden over-ride brake equipment. It would probably be too expensive for the value of our trailers.

The cable system was replaced with a Trojan master cylinder driven by the existing over-ride piston and plumbed to the new hydraulic calipers with flexible brake hose.

The system needs running in after installation because the rotors are fully galvanised and this wears off pretty quickly. After 10 to 20KM readjust the brakes at the master cylinder and they are just brilliant.

Most of you will know that I am a Director and part owner of ORIGIN Boats. ORIGIN Boats bought the bits for me from Trojan and I helped Mark at ORIGIN Boats install it. I paid, so I don't owe anything to Trojan for promoting this solution. But it works.

With my boat so close to the 2-tonne limit I'm thinking of upgrading to an ORIGIN Trailer. A marine alloy trailer from ORIGIN will save me around 100KG or more in towing weight compared to what I have now. That means I can keep using over-ride brakes and not run foul of the law when the tank is full and the heavy lead is on board.

Pain in the bum, most trailers. Built down to a price and barely comply. Now for a properly engineered solution.

Anyone want to buy mine?

Regards,

White Pointer

[johncar]

Yeah that all sounds good White Pointer. I do appreciate the greater sofistocation and efficiency of a hydraulic system. I have just had no decent luck finding calipers that last any longer than a year or two without failure.

I am just curious though why your cables wouldn't keep adjustment. I do quite a few miles and only need very minor adjustment at most about every 3 months or longer and it only takes less than a minute to do.

But you do need to take all the stretch points out and minimise any changes in direction. I have seen some silly cable runs that go around too many severe bends, no grease and too small a diam cable. Yes designed to fail.

Good cable ran correctly can be cheap and efficient. have had to stand on the brakes a few times lately and everything pulls up quite well, but yeah I fully loaded and fueled my boat, went to the weigh bridge and made sure it was under the magic 2000kg. Weighed in at 1940kg so a little head room there but not much. I can't think of any extra significant weight to be added. Just some fish on the way home perhaps but the lack of fuel will offset that.

I just try and keep things as simple as possible. Reliability and low maintenance is a priority for me.

I mentioned on another thread that my friends new CC625 is sitting in his shed with the calipers siezed after two trips out. After a bit of to and fro mayfairs are sending him 4 new calipers, but he has to do the changeover being a few hundred Kms from the factory. Mind you even if he lived around the corner his trailer still aint going no where. He has had to belt the calipers off with a decent hammer!
One would think this couldn't happen this far down the marine trailer braking development track??? Wasn't exactly a cheap trailer..