The first part of my planned winter trailer maintenance was to check the status of the wheel bearings and dig in to the braking system to see what needed to be replaced/serviced.

For more information on how surge brakes work, check out this eHow article.

As I mentioned in my previous post, the brake system is 100% non-operational, there is no brake fluid in the system, all but one of the brake shoes came off when I removed the drums and the master cylinder is seized up from years of sitting and more likely, lack of maintenance.

Normally, when you remove the brake drums, the shoes are NOT supposed to come out without removing the mounting hardware. Too bad, they had a fair bit of meat left.Who needs brake fluid? The whole system is bone dry, I'm sure the wheel cylinders must have leaked and it's been dry for many, many years.

Being such an old and not common surge brake system (it’s a weld-on A-frame style from Atwood), most of the parts are no longer available, and a new coupler would cost around $400 plus installation. After a few hours of googling and surfing various trailer websites, I stumbled upon the info I was after, the measurements for the master cylinder and along with that information, a listing of a DICO Model 6 (part #10271) master cylinder that is basically an exact fit. That part is on order and I should have it tomorrow for a test fit.

This discovery basically means the coupler can be saved with a bit of maintenance. I plan to redo the paint, lube everything up and hopefully find a replacement shock absorber, though the one that is on the trailer isn’t in terrible shape so I may have to reuse it for now.

Because the coupler is a weld-on A-frame style hydraulic surge coupler, I really don't want to replace it. Master cylinder removed and the shock absorber removed from its mounts. The shock isn't in bad shape so I may re-use it unless I can find one that fits.

I did find one other great resource, hopefully! It’s WKS Tent Trailer Rebuilders in Edmonton, Alberta. They specialize in wrecking 1967+ tent trailers for parts. In several of the website images are a few of the important parts I’m after. I have emailed them and hopefully this ends up being a good find. We shall see…

As for the wheel bearings, they have been serviced and are actually in great shape. I’ve got a couple of new seals, cotter pins and fresh grease that will ensure they keep turning for a while longer. The rest of the brakes are shot, so now it’s just a choice as to change the whole brake assembly or try to order parts. Upon initial research at the local parts store, it will only cost a few dollars more to get the whole assembly, which is likely my path, but that will have to wait until I can confirm the replacement master cylinder will work.

7" x 1 3/4" drum brakes. I have a feeling this whole assembly will be getting replaced due to the small difference in costThankfully the bearings were in good shape. Someone actually took care of this part. Along with that, the wheel bolts came out nicely and everything else on the trailer has unbolted fairly well with a bit of help of penetrating lube.Remember the photo gallery has many more photos than I post in the blog so check it out for more detailed shots of the project. More to come tomorrow…