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#1
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Stuck overun brake.
The overrun brake on our Comet trailer is jammed in the "brakes- on" position, and has defied all attempts to free it. I understand there are nylon components inside the trailer tongue, so we don't want to try the time honoured option of heating it with a blow lamp. Does anyone have any suggestions? -- Mike Lindsay |
#2
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Stuck overun brake.
Mike Lindsay wrote:
The overrun brake on our Comet trailer is jammed in the "brakes- on" position, and has defied all attempts to free it. I understand there are nylon components inside the trailer tongue, so we don't want to try the time honoured option of heating it with a blow lamp. Does anyone have any suggestions? I guess you've already tried hitting the wheel nuts with a lump hammer, with the wheel jacked up so it can rotate if it frees. Works on my trailer, but not if I hit other parts of the hub - no idea why. |
#3
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Stuck overun brake.
Been there--done that, but with a Cobra!
I bought a Glider, used, in California. I noticed the bellows of the overrun brake was collapsed, and asked the owner. he said-"I thought that was the way nit was supposed to be" ! He was the second owner. He had no idea when the tires were last changed, and I brought a set of new tires, mounted and balanced, on the wheels from my other glider--same trailer. The wheels turned freely. Tried some "forceful" backing and braking--no luck. Checked drum temps every 5 mi for a few times and found them cool.. Proceeded home to Georgia uneventfully. At home, I pumped a "ton" of grease into the two Zerk fittings, and did more backing and braking. It freed up easily. Then I removed the drums and inspected the brake linings. I found them "fried" as expected. Fortunately the hubs & drums, bearings, and fittings were fine. The "lockup" must have come on gradually. A new set of linings, and an adjustment, and I was back in business! The moral of the story--do grease the tongue fittings at least once a year. If the brake is stuck, remove the drums and inspect! -- Hartley Falbaum DG800B "KF" USA "Mike Lindsay" wrote in message ... The overrun brake on our Comet trailer is jammed in the "brakes- on" position, and has defied all attempts to free it. I understand there are nylon components inside the trailer tongue, so we don't want to try the time honoured option of heating it with a blow lamp. Does anyone have any suggestions? -- Mike Lindsay |
#4
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Stuck overun brake.
There are various possibilities:
1) The brake drums may have become rusted onto the shoes. This can happen to any vehicle when you leave the handbrake on for a long period. NB. It is better to leave the handbrake off, if you can secure the trailer in some other way. 2) The linkages may be seized 3) The tow hitch may have seized on (less likely) Try spraying all the linkages with penetrating oil and greasing the tow hitch mechanism and then waiting for a while. If this doesn't work try rocking the trailer backwards and forwards with either a lot of people or a powerful towing vehicle. If that doesn't work, jack the trailer up and remove the wheels. Tap the brake drums reasonably firmly with a copper or aluminium faced hammer to free the brake shoes. If that doesn't work, place a long bar across the wheel studs and hit that in alternate directions with a hammer. Good luck! Derek Copeland At 12:00 17 January 2007, Mike Lindsay wrote: The overrun brake on our Comet trailer is jammed in the 'brakes- on' position, and has defied all attempts to free it. I understand there are nylon components inside the trailer tongue, so we don't want to try the time honoured option of heating it with a blow lamp. Does anyone have any suggestions? -- Mike Lindsay |
#5
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Stuck overun brake.
Derek beat me to the punch. I had a similar problem on my Komet. The
tongue was only partially collapsed; ie. it remained in one position which was about halfway between fully extended and fully compressed. Granted, it had been bent/damaged in an accident by the prior owner. Solution was to pump a lot of grease under fairly high pressure into the fittings (watch as it oozes out of various gaps and holes, then pump some more). Then, we got some of the more (ahem) "substantial" members of the club to provide resistance while we alternately pushed and pulled on the hitch using a car. It sprang free on one forward pull and worked fine after that. We also did some adjusting on the star nuts to get the friction point right on the brakes. We eventually replaced the entire tongue assembly with a new OEM part, and after that it was obvious that the range of motion (throw) of the braking mechanism was actually still slightly restricted on the old part. P3 Derek Copeland wrote: There are various possibilities: 1) The brake drums may have become rusted onto the shoes. This can happen to any vehicle when you leave the handbrake on for a long period. NB. It is better to leave the handbrake off, if you can secure the trailer in some other way. 2) The linkages may be seized 3) The tow hitch may have seized on (less likely) Try spraying all the linkages with penetrating oil and greasing the tow hitch mechanism and then waiting for a while. If this doesn't work try rocking the trailer backwards and forwards with either a lot of people or a powerful towing vehicle. If that doesn't work, jack the trailer up and remove the wheels. Tap the brake drums reasonably firmly with a copper or aluminium faced hammer to free the brake shoes. If that doesn't work, place a long bar across the wheel studs and hit that in alternate directions with a hammer. Good luck! Derek Copeland At 12:00 17 January 2007, Mike Lindsay wrote: The overrun brake on our Comet trailer is jammed in the 'brakes- on' position, and has defied all attempts to free it. I understand there are nylon components inside the trailer tongue, so we don't want to try the time honoured option of heating it with a blow lamp. Does anyone have any suggestions? -- Mike Lindsay |
#6
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Stuck overun brake.
Try to apply torsion many times. Left, right, left, right.....
George "Mike Lindsay" schrieb im Newsbeitrag ... The overrun brake on our Comet trailer is jammed in the "brakes- on" position, and has defied all attempts to free it. I understand there are nylon components inside the trailer tongue, so we don't want to try the time honoured option of heating it with a blow lamp. Does anyone have any suggestions? -- Mike Lindsay |
#7
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Stuck overun brake.
George wrote:
Try to apply torsion many times. Left, right, left, right..... George All the previous suggestions have merit for this and various other Cobra/Komet trailer ailments, of which there are many. But George has the right idea: when this happened to me, I took a long (six feet) steel bar and placed one end of it perpendicular to the front of the tongue, then wrapped a chain around the intersection to fix it. I then pulled up/pushed down on the other end of the bar to twist the movable part of the tongue. Simultaneously I applied fore/aft force, though it would have been easier with more people and/or using a tow vehicle. The combination of torsion and axial force gradually loosened it. My problem had nothing to do--this time--with the brake shoes rusting to the drums (that used to happen regularly until I found a way to park it by chocking the wheels instead of using the parking brake). It was caused by water getting into the mechanism and corroding the underside of the "piston" (i.e., the inner tube) that slides in the plastic bearings inside the immovable part of the tongue (i.e., the outer tube). It took a lot of filing and smoothing to clean things up. Chucking the whole inner tongue assembly in a big lathe would have made it easier. Also, the aft plastic bearing seemed to have swollen and it required opening up with some careful grinding/sanding. Regular lubrication should ward off some of these problems but you need to cycle the tongue fore/aft every once in a while (i.e., drive it around the block) to distribute the grease. Of course, the best preventative maintenance is to take the glider to a contest at least two or three times every year. Not only will it keep the moving parts loose but anything that can go wrong is bound to happen in the middle of a contest where you've got a lot of people around to help. Chip Bearden ASW 24 "JB" |
#8
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Stuck overun brake.
On Jan 17, 6:36 pm, "Chip Bearden" wrote:
George wrote: Try to apply torsion many times. Left, right, left, right..... GeorgeAll the previous suggestions have merit for this and various other Cobra/Komet trailer ailments, of which there are many. But George has the right idea: when this happened to me, I took a long (six feet) steel bar and placed one end of it perpendicular to the front of the tongue, then wrapped a chain around the intersection to fix it. I then pulled up/pushed down on the other end of the bar to twist the movable part of the tongue. Simultaneously I applied fore/aft force, though it would have been easier with more people and/or using a tow vehicle. The combination of torsion and axial force gradually loosened it. My problem had nothing to do--this time--with the brake shoes rusting to the drums (that used to happen regularly until I found a way to park it by chocking the wheels instead of using the parking brake). It was caused by water getting into the mechanism and corroding the underside of the "piston" (i.e., the inner tube) that slides in the plastic bearings inside the immovable part of the tongue (i.e., the outer tube). It took a lot of filing and smoothing to clean things up. Chucking the whole inner tongue assembly in a big lathe would have made it easier. Also, the aft plastic bearing seemed to have swollen and it required opening up with some careful grinding/sanding. Regular lubrication should ward off some of these problems but you need to cycle the tongue fore/aft every once in a while (i.e., drive it around the block) to distribute the grease. Of course, the best preventative maintenance is to take the glider to a contest at least two or three times every year. Not only will it keep the moving parts loose but anything that can go wrong is bound to happen in the middle of a contest where you've got a lot of people around to help. Chip Bearden ASW 24 "JB" I beg to disagree. The best preventative maintenance is a regular glider and trailer upgrade. I happen to know someone who can help ;-) See you in Memphis, Best Regards, Dave |
#9
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Stuck overun brake.
I took a long (six feet)
steel bar and placed one end of it perpendicular to the front of the tongue, then wrapped a chain around the intersection to fix it. I then pulled up/pushed down on the other end of the bar to twist the movable part of the tongue. Simultaneously I applied fore/aft force, though it would have been easier with more people and/or using a tow vehicle. The combination of torsion and axial force gradually loosened it. OOPS! I forgot to mention one tiny detail in my earlier posting: before you do this, remove the bolts that secure the inner and outer tubes of the sliding trailer tongue together. Most trailers I've seen have a little play (i.e., you can rock the coupler back and forth a few degrees either way) but you don't want to really lean on the six-foot lever without removing these bolts. Having done so, you can actually rotate the inner tongue a full 360 degrees (at least on my Cobra), which is a good thing to do every once in a while to distribute the grease more evenly. Or maybe it's just good for the soul. Chip Bearden ASW 24 "JB" |
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