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Bleeding brakes

deldel

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How do i bleed these trailer brakes? Surge disc, tandem axle. I've cleaned all bleeder valves, have the mityvac hand pump but they still aren't grabbing!!!
 

ToMorrow44

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Just did this myself. Its very hard to bleed trailer brakes because the master cylinder isn't much above the bleeders like a car. I made a cap for the master cylinder and I hook a pressure bleeder to it as opposed to vacuum bleeding. I just ripped all the lines out of mine and redid the whole system, what I found is any excess steel tubing was looped inside the tube of the trailer. Those loops would be even or higher than the master cylinder and thus air can get stuck in the top of the loop. One thing you might want to try if you don't have a pressure bleeder is to jack up the tongue of the trailer as high as you can possibly get it (use a floor jack) then try to bleed them.
 

CobraDave

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Shooting from the hip here. Could you keep the brakes actuated by being on an incline then bleed each hub? Making sure to top off as the fluid gets replaced?
 

Yellowboat

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1st check for leaks, they happen, and its annoying as all hell, trying to bleed something that has a leak.


I had a trailer that I could not bleed no matter what I did with the hand pump. ended up putting a 4x12 between the wheels and went back and forth in drive then reverse about 20 times with the lines opened and in cups of fluid, that worked, but it was a pita.
 

ToMorrow44

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Shooting from the hip here. Could you keep the brakes actuated by being on an incline then bleed each hub? Making sure to top off as the fluid gets replaced?

When you open the bleeder on the caliper it will collapse the tongue just like when you open the bleeder while holding pressure on the brake pedal of the car. So the trailer would roll a couple inches and you'd have to move the tow vehicle to extend the tongue again.
 

FAST EDDIE

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if you have a receiver hitch, just put it in the coupler & use it like a brake pedal. run a hose from the bleeder into a jar with a little fluid to cover the end, keep your eye on the master cylinder level and pump until clean, air free fluid fills the jar.
 

bocco

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if you have a receiver hitch, just put it in the coupler & use it like a brake pedal. run a hose from the bleeder into a jar with a little fluid to cover the end, keep your eye on the master cylinder level and pump until clean, air free fluid fills the jar.

This ^^^^^ or the UFP type actuators have a whole in the bottom that allow you to pump the brakes using a big screw driver.
 
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