Trailer brakes

[wayneward25]

Hi Ive bought a trailer with overun brakes, everytime i reverse the brakes lock up on the trailer. I cant find any where to lock the brakes off when reversing drives fine when moving forward.

Ive attached some photos the only thing I can think of is if you cant lock it off when reversing the the shock absorber underneath is faulty because the large bar moves quite easily with no real resistance

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• wayneward25
• 28 Nov 2013
• 1

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• wayneward25
• 28 Nov 2013
• 1

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• wayneward25
• 28 Nov 2013
• 1

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• wayneward25
• 28 Nov 2013
• 1

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• wayneward25
• 28 Nov 2013
• 1

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• wayneward25
• 28 Nov 2013
• 1

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• wayneward25
• 28 Nov 2013
• 1

 

[Mursal]

There should be a half moon shaped plate that can be dropped onto the front (ball-hitch side) of the pushrod (diagram 2), to stop it applying the brakes when reversing

 

[kbdiy]

Beat me to it!

However the regulations changed in 1989 as that method relied on manual intervention so an automatic system was introduced as here http://www.indespension.co.uk/Brakes.html

 

[wayneward25]

Thanks so am i right in saying if I got pulled over by the police I could be fined for not having the automatic brakes? are they expensive to buy and difficult to fit?

 

[wayneward25]

could i remove the brakes?

 

[Mursal]

The way I read it would be that as long as the trailer is original, leave it as it is with working brakes, definitely don't take them off. If its built after the date, it should have auto brakes

 

[wayneward25]

cant find a half moon plate anywhere on it, I cant see how im gonna get this fixed without spending a lot of money on it I bought an unbraked trailer on ebay and ended up with this lol

 

[Mursal]

What is the little handle on the right of the pushrod for, will it lock the pushrod if the ball hitch is out (brakes off) fully?

http://vintagecaravans.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=technicalstuffboard&action=print&thread=1603

 

[wayneward25]

im not sure what it is cant get it to do anything just moves back and forth a tiny bit

 

[paulc2]

Thanks so am i right in saying if I got pulled over by the police I could be fined for not having the automatic brakes? are they expensive to buy and difficult to fit?

No, non-auto-reversing brakes are okay before a certain date.

You can remove the brakes if you wanted to but you need to remove almost all of the braking system, ie if the wheels bolt to drums, these can remain but the shoes, cables, etc need to be removed. Basically you can't use a trailer with non-working brakes and just say "oh yeah this ones unbraked". And you'd need to comply with the lesser weight limit ie 750kg max weight.

Be thankful the brakes work!

Should be possible to add something which can be dropped in to stop the rod pushing when you reverse and applying the brakes.

shows the semi circular thing which is dropped in to turn off the brakes.

If you did make the trailer non-braking, I think you'd need to replace the hitch too since its part of the braking system, so you may be able to find and buy secondhand (or new) eg an older style Bradley hitch, which is what the picture is of.

 

[wayneward25]

Hi thanks for the pic, im struggling to see the semi circular plate on the pic, could you point it out to me please

 

[paulc2]

Its the bit in the middle of the hitch with the blue tint to it. BTW yours doesn't look like a Bradley hitch (well, that model pictured) so it won't have the same thing, but there should be something similar.

 

[Mursal]

Just above the 410 on the second image. Its pivoted on a 6mm bolt, in the current position the trailer has no brakes (reversing). Flick it on the pivot and the hitch can move back to activate the trailer brakes.
Sorry I couldn't upload an image for you

 

[wayneward25]

oh yea i see it i cant see anything on mine just that rubber collar

 

[wayneward25]

if i buy a new hitch would it come with the plate?