Bleeding Surge Brakes

[Barry Eller]

Well, I spent Saturday changing out my trailer springs and brake rotors and calipers. Now I need to bleed the brake lines...any tricks to surge brakes? It's not like I can have the wife pump the brake pedal and hold it to the floor. I don't have a vacuum pump either.

[gcarter]

On all the surge brake master cylinders I've had, there's a slot in the sheet metal housing behind the cylinder linkage you can stick a long flat bladed screw driver into that facilitates manipulating the master cylinder.......
You still need two people to bleed the brakes unless you buy one of those kits for doing it w/one person.

If you need more description, just speak up, but it's pretty easy.

[flying tomato]

To gravity bleed: Either jack up the front of the trailer, or go to a boat ramp. Open the reservoir and keep it full. Open the bleeders at the calipers and the heavy brake fluid will push any air out. I have done this many times. It sounds like it will not work, but it does. Just make sure the reservoir does not go dry.

Flying Tomato

[BUIZILLA]

if your filler cap has a bleed hole in it you can get a compressor nozzle and just hit it with about 20-30# a few times while someone works the bleeder fitting.. i've seen a couple trailer builders that had those caps with the air chuck fitting screwed in it and they just blip it a few times with air and it's done..

[mrfixxall]

i use a power bleeder,you can also move the emergency stop chain or cable..

[yeller]

I've always used the safety brake.
Pull up on the safety brake and it locks in place. Loosen the bleeders, bleed the fluid, then re-tighten and release the safety brake.
Repeat as necessary.

[gcarter]

Screwdriver's a LOT easier to use than the chain.

[Cuda]

To gravity bleed: Either jack up the front of the trailer, or go to a boat ramp. Open the reservoir and keep it full. Open the bleeders at the calipers and the heavy brake fluid will push any air out. I have done this many times. It sounds like it will not work, but it does. Just make sure the reservoir does not go dry.

Flying Tomato
That made sense to me. Air will rise to the top. Anyway you can open a place that's on the highest part should bleed the system.

[BigGrizzly]

I do the Buiz thinh.

[RPD]

I never realized there were so many ways to bleed brakes.

Barry, have you been out on the bay recently? I saw a nice Regulator with bad oil stains on the bottom yesterday ... right across from Shoreline Park on the island side .... I haven't been out on the Donzi lately because I'm never sure whether the booms will be open on Bayou Texar to get back in, and now I'm worried about the oil stains. My sailboat is over on Bayou Chico and I think I might pull it this week. At least I can use my HydraSport .... don't care so much about the oil stains on it and, anyway, it has bottom paint which could always be sanded off to remove the oil. Really sucks and I feel sorry for the businesses on the beach....

[Planetwarmer]

I never realized there were so many ways to bleed brakes.

Barry, have you been out on the bay recently? I saw a nice Regulator with bad oil stains on the bottom yesterday ... right across from Shoreline Park on the island side .... I haven't been out on the Donzi lately because I'm never sure whether the booms will be open on Bayou Texar to get back in, and now I'm worried about the oil stains. My sailboat is over on Bayou Chico and I think I might pull it this week. At least I can use my HydraSport .... don't care so much about the oil stains on it and, anyway, it has bottom paint which could always be sanded off to remove the oil. Really sucks and I feel sorry for the businesses on the beach....
The booms closing you off never occurred to me. What would you do if you were in a 16' boat and stuck out there?

[RPD]

mainly just an inconvenience .... there are places to pull out that are outside of the booms but I would have to call someone to come help me ..

[Barry Eller]

I never realized there were so many ways to bleed brakes.
Barry, have you been out on the bay recently? I saw a nice Regulator with bad oil stains on the bottom yesterday ... right across from Shoreline Park on the island side .... I haven't been out on the Donzi lately because I'm never sure whether the booms will be open on Bayou Texar to get back in, and now I'm worried about the oil stains. My sailboat is over on Bayou Chico and I think I might pull it this week. At least I can use my HydraSport .... don't care so much about the oil stains on it and, anyway, it has bottom paint which could always be sanded off to remove the oil. Really sucks and I feel sorry for the businesses on the beach....


No, I haven't been out since the oil hit the bay. I too am disgusted with the oil situation. I'm concerned with hitting a patch of oil and ingesting it through the water pump. It is so thick, I'm worried it will clog up the water passages in the coolers and engine. I guess it might be time to install fresh water cooling. "Salt Away" has been very good to the engine so far, but now this is different, its worse than salt water.

I may start towing the boat up to the Blackwater River in Milton. The ramp at Shoreline Park is boomed off, but they have a gap in it that they will open on occasions. The ramp at the end of the Pensacola Bay Bridge here in Gulf Breeze is one I don't like to use. The ramp is so shallow I have to get my truck wet to launch and retrieve there.I will probably watch the Blue Angels Air Show from the Elks Lodge Balcony or the Sandshaker balcony.

Thanks everyone for the help on bleeding the brakes! Now that I have new springs and brakes, towing somewhere to find clean water to boat in will be safer.

[RPD]

Barry .... the problem with Blackwater is there isn't really anywhere to go except up and down the river .... back in the early 70's when Texar was getting lots of bad press, we skied up there all one summer... I hated the taste of that fresh water (give me E coli and a little salt anytime), and the snakes and alligators were bothersome ... then I skied for several years over in Satsuma, AL, and got used to the snakes and alligators but still didn't like fresh water ....

This weekend, I'm spending Friday night on the beach at our condo across from Shoreline to avoid the morning traffic .... we have some friends from Mobile coming to the show so I will run across to the yacht club in the HydraSport to pick them up .... hopefully, there will be as big a turnout as usual, the beach businesses really need it!

[Barry Eller]

Barry .... the problem with Blackwater is there isn't really anywhere to go except up and down the river .... back in the early 70's when Texas was getting lots of bad press, we skied up there all one summer... I hated the taste of that fresh water (give me E coli and a little salt anytime), and the snakes and alligators were bothersome ... then I skied for several years over in Satsuma, AL, and got used to the snakes and alligators but still didn't like fresh water ....
This weekend, I'm spending Friday night on the beach at our condo across from Shoreline to avoid the morning traffic .... we have some friends from Mobile coming to the show so I will run across to the yacht club in the Hydra Sport to pick them up .... hopefully, there will be as big a turnout as usual, the beach businesses really need it!


I got ya. I've lived here since 1961 and have never boated on the Blackwater. Been down it in a canoe many times. Have a good time watching the "Blues". And I like the "taste" of salt too, mostly on my Margarita!:drunk:

Hopefully we will get a break and somehow this oil mess will be resolved soon.

[RPD]

Barry ...The Blues were great as usual ... I love to see the condensation in the air on the low pressure side of the wings as they make their tight turns ... had a teenage girl visiting and she was asking how old the pilots are ..... ha, I think she's in love... But the crowds were still a little less than usual .... the national media should have to pay the tourist businesses for the bad press ... in all of this oil spill stuff, I've only seen it bad on the beach one day and there was a tourist there that day that didn't even see it.... he asked me if I'd seen any oil and I had to show it to him....

Anyway, went to Perdido Pass in the HydraSports today and did see some oil in the water .... I could see it because I had on polarized sunglasses .... my wife's sunglasses were not polarized and she couldn't see what I was pointing at .... That was the worst in water oil I have seen, though .... it was thin and there was no problem with it in the cooling system nor did it leave the boat dirty ....