shadow
Member
- 116
- 1
- 18
- Location
- Cedar Rapids, Iowa
I did not have any air comming out of the unit that supplys the trailers brakes so I tried taking it apart.
I found a small spring and a disk type gasket that was inside when I took the 4 bolts off on the right hand side. They looked real clean so I put it back on. I then took off the 3 lines on the bottom of the unit and found the right side line blows air (strong), the middle sucks air (weak), and the left line blows air (strong) when the knob on the dash is pushed in. I stepped on the break pedal with the lines off and noticed there was no pressure behind it (I figured it to be that way). I hooked the lines back on and still was not getting any air out of the rubber lines except for a really weak pressure that a leaf could block. I thought maybe I put the gasket backwords with the spring so I fliped it around and noticed I had more pressure out of the rubber lines. There was also air comming out of a fitting next to the middle line. I plugged it with my finger (it built up pressure) to see if more air would come out of the rubber lines. It didn't really make a difference so I stopped for the day. I went back later and decided to manually back off the brakes on the trailer. I got them free and went to move the rig and noticed I had no stopping power. Even at 2mph the pedal touches the floor (which it never did before) and the truck rolls to a stop. I tried flipping the gasket around again to see it it would make a differance but it didn't.
The system is air over hydraulic brakes so I figured I might still have brakes even if I lost air but I don't. I am at a loss as to what happened. I am thinking of maybe just getting a fitting and attaching the middle and right lines together to see if the brakes work again but I don't know if it will damage anything or not.
I found a small spring and a disk type gasket that was inside when I took the 4 bolts off on the right hand side. They looked real clean so I put it back on. I then took off the 3 lines on the bottom of the unit and found the right side line blows air (strong), the middle sucks air (weak), and the left line blows air (strong) when the knob on the dash is pushed in. I stepped on the break pedal with the lines off and noticed there was no pressure behind it (I figured it to be that way). I hooked the lines back on and still was not getting any air out of the rubber lines except for a really weak pressure that a leaf could block. I thought maybe I put the gasket backwords with the spring so I fliped it around and noticed I had more pressure out of the rubber lines. There was also air comming out of a fitting next to the middle line. I plugged it with my finger (it built up pressure) to see if more air would come out of the rubber lines. It didn't really make a difference so I stopped for the day. I went back later and decided to manually back off the brakes on the trailer. I got them free and went to move the rig and noticed I had no stopping power. Even at 2mph the pedal touches the floor (which it never did before) and the truck rolls to a stop. I tried flipping the gasket around again to see it it would make a differance but it didn't.
The system is air over hydraulic brakes so I figured I might still have brakes even if I lost air but I don't. I am at a loss as to what happened. I am thinking of maybe just getting a fitting and attaching the middle and right lines together to see if the brakes work again but I don't know if it will damage anything or not.
