Gents, I'm now looking for someone to sort out my trailer brakes (again) and with enough experience to advise me on what I should do. I have used BL before if he is still around in Mt Albert, or is there someone closer to Hibiscus Coast?
I have a 1997 Haines Hunter SF650 on the standard DMW trailer. My regular mechanic has just replaced the coupling and adjacent piston (which was definitely needed) and sent me on my way. Long story short, I left on Friday with brakes disengaged 'cos I didn't trust them, but the pads were still wearing on the discs and getting pretty hot so at Bombay Hills I stopped and checked them, and with wheels jacked up I tried the brakes which just locked up hard (surprise surprise), so I unbolted them and took them off. Fortunately I also noticed a badly worn hydraulic hose as I did this - rubbing on the tyre (FFS!). The calipers are regular hydraulic cast iron Trojans. Now, one brake piston is fully extended. At least 1 pad has come off its plate and there is rust around the plates etc.
Hopefully others can learn from this. Owning a boat with a braked trailer has proven to be sustained torture. A mate just recently suggested spraying them with lanolin spray to stop the deterioration between uses, which I will now do, so yeah more responses regarding CRC and spraying are not gunna help at this stage, but I will do this in future.
So, I figure I should just throw these 5 y/o brake calipers away and buy new stainless ones, and spray the F### out of them when I use them. Or is there a better way? Who REALLY knows about this stuff and will do this for me, and NOT send me on my merry way at risk of an accident because they are too lazy to test things when they have wound in the last bolt?
As if that wasn't enough for the weekend, the Audi Q7 spazzed out the trailer rear and riding lights - they all go fine but then it concludes there's a problem so it just goes and switches them off after a minute, just to stuff up the night good and proper .... good thing the wife and kids brought their headlights - I had riding lights and rear lights, plus brakes and blinkers which still worked. Apparently this is likely to be a fuse (?) - so back to Conti's for an ass-pounding no doubt.