trailer brakes

MF294-4 · Jul 9, 2015

Posted this on another forum but will try and get more info here. Son is looking at a 19k gooseneck grain trailer with hyd disk brakes that has no pump. Owner has not used brakes for years. It has two Kelsey-Hayes 10k axels with rotors about 1 inch thick and huge calipers. Trailer is an 83 model. Dose any one have any experience with hyd brakes. I don't know what to think about the condition of the calipers. Can one still get parts for the brakes? Trailer is factory made and very well built but the welding is crude. Owner wants us to make an offer.

john in la · Jul 9, 2015

"trailer with hyd disk brakes that has no pump. Owner has not used brakes for years"

Kind of confused here.
If the brakes have no pump they can not be electric over hydraulic brakes
If they are not electric over hydraulic brakes they must be surge brakes.

So how is the owner not using the brakes.
Unless he is riding around with the backup lock in place even when going forward.

Mikein Ky · Jul 10, 2015

You can get a pump at any trailer parts dealer. I had a trailer with hydraulic disc brakes and it used the same caliper as a Ford F350 truck.
They are pretty simple. To bleed the brakes, I hooked a 12V battery to the pump with jumper cables and open the bleeders, one at a time.

MF294-4 · Jul 10, 2015

Originally I think it had some kind of vacuum unit to make hyd brake pressure. That unit is gone. Line cut off. If we get it, will have to put a electric-hyd unit on. He lived close to the elevator and never fixed the brakes. Not an option for us!!!

john in la · Jul 10, 2015

If the line has been cut and the brakes not used for years I would question the shape of the calibers also.
For electric over hydraulic brakes every thing has to match.
In other words you can not use one brand of controller in the truck and another brand of brakes on the trailer.
Without seeing the trailer I would guess that scraping what parts you do have and installing a whole new brake system would be the best way to deal with these brakes.

PretendFarmer · Jul 11, 2015

(quoted from post at 04:05:10 07/10/15) Posted this on another forum but will try and get more info here. Son is looking at a 19k gooseneck grain trailer with hyd disk brakes that has no pump. Owner has not used brakes for years. It has two Kelsey-Hayes 10k axels with rotors about 1 inch thick and huge calipers. Trailer is an 83 model. Dose any one have any experience with hyd brakes. I don't know what to think about the condition of the calipers. Can one still get parts for the brakes? Trailer is factory made and very well built but the welding is crude. Owner wants us to make an offer.

I would consider worst case repair costs + cost of this trailer versus buying something much newer and with electric brakes. If you have to spend an extra $500-$1000 to not get a pile of crap, I'd go that route. You don't want to mess around with questionable brakes.

T in NE · Jul 11, 2015

Know a guy who put electric over hydraulic on his gooseneck. Said he could smoke the trailer tires with an 8950 on the deck. But he also smoked several brake controllers before he found one that would reliably run the pump.

trailer brakes

MF294-4

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john in la

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Mikein Ky

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MF294-4

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john in la

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PretendFarmer

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T in NE

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