It's those damn disc brake calipers again

Colbysmith.All kidding aside,your 25 footer (near 7K LBS loaded) puts a lot of wear and tear on those Dexter units,seems like you are very attentive to your maintenance schedule and still having no luck.I would trash them an go with Kodiak or another HD brand.. I would hate to loose a citizen of Doryland.
Just saying.
 
Ok, I think I may have found/fabricated a fix for my brake calipers.

This is my post on Facebook:
For my mechanic friends. As I have complained about before, the rubber boots that my boat trailer brake caliper slider pins work through, tend to disintegrate after longer travel. I suspect they are simply burning up from the heat generated by the disc brakes. I have yet to get a reply back from Dexter. I don't care to buy more expensive calipers that have steel bushings, so decided to see if I could make or buy bushings to fit in place of the rubber ones. Lo and behold, I found some bronze bushings that appear to fit. 3/4" x 1/2" and 1 1/8" long. From Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MND8R5W...
After sanding the outside of the bushings lightly, and cleaning the inside of the caliper bracket where they go, I was able to press them in with a vice. The slider pin seems to go thru them easy enough, with very little free play. For now, they are open, that is no dust boot on them, but I feel that dust can get in from the brake side, so no use trying to cover the back side. I'm hoping these work, but does anyone see any problems that I've overlooked? I plan to install these brake calipers on one axle and see how they do, before replacing the other two on the other axle.


If you go to the first or second page of this thread, you can see photos of the rubber boots, and how they start to disintegrate.

Here are some photos of the bronze bushings in place of the rubber boots.

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IMG_3240.jpg

IMG_3241.jpg


A mechanic friend of mine suggested placing some kind of rubber cap or something over the bronze bushing to keep dust and grit out. I may have to do a little more fabrication to place some form of protection around both ends of the bronze bushing. But for now, I'll just see how they work without any dust seal. Colby
 
Great idea! I can't think of any downside. I would not add any rubber caps that could trap moisture. It's amazing what can be found on Amazon. It used to be that a machine shop would have been required for that type of part.
-Jeff-
 
Colby, I was just doing some research on electric brakes for boat trailers. I started trailering 30 years ago and that was a "no-no" at the time because the brakes were not up to being submerged, especially in corrosive salt water. Thus, I have always used hydraulic disc brakes. From what I read it looks like modern e brakes are more waterproof if you take certain precautions. The folks at e-trailer suggest that all connections are made using heat shrink fittings with hot melt inside (marine grade) and they also suggest that you unplug the trailer before going down the ramp. If you do go with electric please let us know how that works out.
 
Thanks Jeff. I rethought the caps to seal the slider pin as well. Unless I'm sealing both ends, I think it's better just to leave them open so any water or sand can flush out. There is very little freeplay between the pins and bushing anyway. I may still have to grease the pins every so often. So far, on my trip up here to the Apostle Islands (350 miles), my bronze bushings seemed to work well. If everything goes good on the way home, I'll install bronze on the remaining axle. I'll know more after the next two months with a trip to the Erie and another one out west.


Tom Hruby":1fpv7mbp said:
Colby, I was just doing some research on electric brakes for boat trailers. I started trailering 30 years ago and that was a "no-no" at the time because the brakes were not up to being submerged, especially in corrosive salt water. Thus, I have always used hydraulic disc brakes. From what I read it looks like modern e brakes are more waterproof if you take certain precautions. The folks at e-trailer suggest that all connections are made using heat shrink fittings with hot melt inside (marine grade) and they also suggest that you unplug the trailer before going down the ramp. If you do go with electric please let us know how that works out.
Click to expand...

Hi Tom,
Don't get me started on the nay sayers of electric brakes. Up until this trailer with the EOH, only because Loadrite would not install electric brakes, I ran them on past boat trailers. (Also fabricated an internal fresh water flush system using the small hydroponic sprayers.) They work great! Of course I rarely launch in salt water. But I don't think the problem there is the electricity, but the materials used in drum brakes. And that doesn't matter rather they are electric or hydraulic. The issue really is the material. SS or Iron...The electric magnet itself is sealed where the wires go in, and rather it's for brakes or trailer lights, your wiring connections should be sealed. I still unplug my pigtail when launching the boat. Don't know if that's even necessary anymore. Just a habit. But I do use the sealing connectors when I repair or rewire. And my LED trailer lights are sealed at the light. Colby
 
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