www.iFourWinns.com

Hey Guys,
I am going to Lake Powel this week for five days , so I started to do my check through on everything. For those of you who don't know, I just purchased this boat probably a month ago from a guy who forgot to winterize the motor. The block cracked and he just wanted to get rid of it. He also must have thaught that beaching it without a keel guard was perfectly fine too! Anyways, I just put a new brake actuator on replacing that stupid one that folds up and over you ball, to the one that just goes in and out. After cleaning out all of the lines and bleeding the brakes I was in business. I wanted to check the conditions of the bearings and pads on my drum brakes. When I spun the wheel and applied the actuator with a screwdriver on top (as the insturctions say to do), the wheel didn't stop. I took off the wheel and inspected the bearings. I will replace them in the off season, but still in good shape. Next I looked at the pads and here is where the tables turned. My pads had grease from the bearings all over them. So I think that a seal is probably bad. I again acuate the brakes and they dont even expand the brakes. I thought they would perform differently when I cleaned everything off. I continued to do this and cleaned everything out. Once the tire was mounted, I torqued all the tires to 90 ft lbs and aired them all to about 45psi. Driving home I wanted to make sure the surge brake acuated so I put the brakes on a little hard at a stop sign, got out and it did not go in, it stayed out. I continued down the road and stopped about three times, still no actuation. So I figured it would do it when I backed up. I backed up and then I smelled something. I looked down and the right rear tire was actually SMOKING, but not the left? I did clean out the left one and just repacked to the right. But, I have taken this boat the Lake Pleasant (1.5 hours away) and never had a problem. I have no idea whats going on. Those lines where do full of stuff that fluid has never even reached that wheel until today. I know my car will handle this 1994 Horizon 190 with an Expedition with a V8 if I am unable to get brakes before than. Please help and thank you for your time!

Sounds to me like you need to replace the brake assemblies with new ones after making sure you flushed out the lines. I'd do the bearings and seals at the same time. The wheel cylinders in drum brakes tend to get sticky and sometimes stick on. Drum brakes for boat trailers are usually free backing, but you may have corrosion locking it up. See for info:
http://www.championtrailers.com
look in the tech articles section. I got my brake system from them, still works well 4 seasons later.

_________________
88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

When I replaced the pads and pistons on my last boat, I actually found the whole assy at Croft Trailer. It was very easy, and worked great. Again, flush the lines. I did so every season. Check the surge-part on the actuator as well. Lube it up so it moves back and forth with little effort.

_________________
Walt B
"Debt-Charged"
Black '07 H210SS
6.2L Bravo One turning a 21P HIFive
Wakeboard Tower with Perfect Pass Stargazer version
Missouri River; Kansas City, Mo.

After some searching I deffinitely know I need new seals as you should never get grease in the drums. Also, is it possible that I put to much pressure in the lines, and if so I do I release some of that pressure? Because right now my actuator wont even go in!

Some actuators have grease fittings that need to be greased, but there was that much crud in the lines, the master cylinder may be seized up though. I flush the fluid in my trailer brake system regularly, and it stays clean because I started with a new system 4 years ago. I'd do some more checking, but if the cylinder will not move it may be internally corroded and you will get better results replacing the actuator and wheel units, after flushing the lines. At least that way you know you are starting with good equipment and are less likely to have trouble. You can get a drum actuator for a little over 100 from Champion Trailers, and a set of Tie Down Galvax drum brake units are about 110 for the 10" uints and 153 for the 12" units. You already have drums so this is the least expensive way to go. Drums will do OK in freshwater, many people in saltwater use the Kodiak silver cad or stainless ($$$) disc brakes.

_________________
88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

I swapped my Drums out to Tie Down Engineering Disc on our trailer. The job wasn't that hard but I had to change the wheels also due to the back spacing. It was the best thing I did for our trailer. After the swap we moved from NC to TX which was about 1200 miles and didn't have any problems and didn't know the boat was behind our Expedition. Everything stopped great. I got the parts for the swap from http://www.easternmarine.com/. They where very helpful.
Good luck.

_________________
Troy
2008 Centurion Avalanche
1994 Four Winns Horizon 180 SE 5.0L OMC Cobra (Sold)
2002 Ford F150 Harley Davidson Edition (http://www.nhtoc.com) 378 hp & 465 tq at rear wheels
2008 Honda Accord EX-L w/Nav