trailer wheels won't turn

Darryl Ramm wrote:
Where I keep my trailer in relatively dry conditions everybody leaves
the brakes on, the larger fear is the occasional strong wind, even if
the trailers are also chocked and well jacked. I've had several pilots
from the UK tell me that it is common at their clubs is to keep the
brake off because of this chance of seizure.

In Europe where manual gearboxes are still popular, most people know
that leaving the handbrake on for extended periods is not recommended.
In the USA with their authomatic gearboxes, this knowledge seems to have
got lost.

Mostly the problem is not corrosion of the cable but that the brake
shoes tend to somehow get "glued" to the drum. Forcing your trailer
backward may loosen the brakes, if you can do so without engaging the
override mechanism. Otherwise you may have to open the brake drums and
losen the shoes by hand.

Chris,
I missed seeing you at Cordele.

As Matt said, the previous owner of his trailer left the hand brake
on, and parked outside in the North Carolina rain and humidity for a
long time, the brakes seized. Backing off the star adjusters will
hopefully work. If not, you might end up having to take a torch to
the drum to try and break the grip that the rust has on the shoes.
Big hammer and a torch. Maybe. Get professional help!

Before seeing that trailer end up with locked brakes, I didn't set my
hand brake. After seeing the trouble the previous owner went through
and the expense of finally getting it fixed, I NEVER set my hand brake
for more than a few hours. Now, I just use the hand brake when
maneuvering the trailer on a slight slope for a few inches as I
connect it to the car. When I have the trailer where I want it, I'll
chock it and tie it down. But I'm not setting the hand brake!

Good luck!

Ray Lovinggood
Carrboro, North Carolina, USA

Many good suggestions. If the star adjuster route doesn't work my
suggestion is to jack up the trailer, remove the wheels and use a 10
lb hammer to strike the circumference of each drum. I've used this
many times to remove brake drums on cars.

Good luck,

George

You say the brake rod is free to move. Can you determine if the
cables are under tension?

Is the hand brake lever nearly vertical when the brake is engaged? I once
had exactly the same symptoms with a relatively new Swan Trailer. There is a
rod that connects the brake lever in front to the flat bar that distributes
brake force from the rod to the cables. Due to run - in wear of the brake
pads the rod moved too far forward when pulling the brake lever and popped
out of its support and jammed. It took me some time to find that ...

Michael

I used a 1 lb /.45kg hammer and hit both brake mounting plates before
7am to the neigbors delight. The first side released after hammering.
The second side was harder, I hammered but it did not release until
after rolling the trailer back and forth. The top shoe was jamming on
that side. I could see that the lower shoe was not in contact with
the drum.

All in all it turned out to be just a few minutes and all is good
now. I did not have to jack up the trailer or take the wheels off.
Thankfully I got lots of good advice from RAS.
I should get better gas mileage with wheels that turn.

The trailer has been sheltered from rain. All this rusting must have
just been from 2 months humidity [in ample supply].

I did not find a slot to adjust a star wheel. I have done that on
cars in the past so I know what to look for. This design has 2 slots
but they are for the spring to hook through.

I never did figure out what the bolt was for, shown in the 2 o'clock
position in the photo:

http://gliderpilot.org/Temporary

On both sides there were small viewing holes to see if the shoe was in
contact with the drum [shown in the 10 & 5 o'clock position]

I suppose I should soon take the drums off and lubricate the sides of
the shoes/mechanism [not the face that touches the drum].
I don't know if the mechanism or the face of the shoe and the drum
surface that rusted together.

Thanks guys!
Chris

chris wrote:
I used a 1 lb /.45kg hammer and hit both brake mounting plates before
7am to the neigbors delight. The first side released after hammering.
The second side was harder, I hammered but it did not release until
after rolling the trailer back and forth. The top shoe was jamming on
that side. I could see that the lower shoe was not in contact with
the drum.

All in all it turned out to be just a few minutes and all is good
now. I did not have to jack up the trailer or take the wheels off.
Thankfully I got lots of good advice from RAS.
I should get better gas mileage with wheels that turn.

Good to hear that it worked out well.


The trailer has been sheltered from rain. All this rusting must have
just been from 2 months humidity [in ample supply].

I did not find a slot to adjust a star wheel. I have done that on
cars in the past so I know what to look for. This design has 2 slots
but they are for the spring to hook through.

I never did figure out what the bolt was for, shown in the 2 o'clock
position in the photo:

http://gliderpilot.org/Temporary

nice shot. Your brake seems to be in a very good state, compared to
others I have seen here in Germany.

You have KNOTT brake. The bolt opposite the cable inlet is for adjusting
the brake, e.g. to compensate for pad wear. It has the same function as
the star wheel used on other types.

The instructions (partly) from KNOTT to do the adjustments are as follows:

Make sure that the rod and cables are under no tension.

Turn the adjustment bolt clockwise until the wheel cannot be turned any
more or turns very hard. (Turn the wheel only in Forward direction, as
the brake loosens itself automatically when turning the wheel backwards)

Then loosen approx. 1/2 turn counter-clockwise until the wheel turns
free again. a slight scratching noise doesn't harm,

A complete inscruction as well as diagrams of the inside ofthe brake can
be found here (only german, I'm afraid):

http://www.boeckmann.com/pferdeanhae...ein_66564.html

Peter Scholz
ASW24 JE



On both sides there were small viewing holes to see if the shoe was in
contact with the drum [shown in the 10 & 5 o'clock position]

I suppose I should soon take the drums off and lubricate the sides of
the shoes/mechanism [not the face that touches the drum].
I don't know if the mechanism or the face of the shoe and the drum
surface that rusted together.

Thanks guys!
Chris

Peter Scholz wrote:
You have KNOTT brake.

I have a KNOTT trailer, which I presume has KNOTT brakes as well.
Sometimes after standing over a humid winter one or both brakes locks
on. The solution is a hammer (I now keep a 4 lb club hammer in the
trailer). Jack up the offending wheel, give the head of each wheel nut a
firm tap, rock the wheel, repeat until it frees.

I've had the brakes checked out by a garage (auto repair shop in US?)
and all is fine, but this still happens. My guess is that somewhere in
the brake mechanism is a narrow clearance which tends to lock up with
corrosion.

The wheel won't free up if I don't jack it off the ground (well, not
without hitting it harder than I care to), but jacked up it usually
frees before I've tapped every wheel nut. Obviously, hit the nuts
square-on so as not to round them over.

"Chris Reed" wrote

I've had the brakes checked out by a garage (auto repair shop in US?) and
all is fine, but this still happens. My guess is that somewhere in the
brake mechanism is a narrow clearance which tends to lock up with
corrosion.

Most all drum brakes on automobiles have strong springs that forcibly pull
the brake shoes away from the drums, nearly all of the way. Only a small
part of the pad would be touching the drum in one small area of each shoe.
That is when the adjusters are working well and are keeping the pads out as
far as they are able. Most are not working well, and have a good bit of
slack that the brake piston has to take up when you press on the brakes. A
shoe in this condition does not have enough contact area with the shoe and
drum to rust together.

I am not familiar with this particular model of brake, but with most cable
actuated brakes, there can not be a lot of clearance from the drum, or the
cable movement would be too small to take up the slack and apply the
stopping pressure. It is the nature of the beast that the design must have
the shoes in closer contact to the drum, thus increasing the likelihood of
the two parts rusting together.

It might be a good idea to back off the adjusting nut, or star wheel
(whatever your model would have as an adjuster) before parking the trailer
for the winter.
--
Jim in NC