adey Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 I`ve acquired a flat bed Ifor Williams trailer to move my Mk 3 landy chasis from my home garage to workshop. It was cheap and the reason has become clear. I have replaced all 4 sets of brake shoes and the cables as all were seized and cables rusted. The biggest problem is the dampener on the tow hitch (the tube that moves and applies the brakes on the trailer when the tow vehicle brakes); that has seized also. Does anyone have a genius solution for un-seizing this. I`ve tried greasing and applying WD40 to no avail Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happyoldgit Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Pull back the rubber bellows / gaiter from the hitch and make sure you get plenty of lubricant in where the hitch slides, I would then hook it up to a vehicle and drive forward and back, forward and back until it frees off. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbekko Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Hook/reverse it to a tree so it frees up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve b Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 the damper is inside the hitch ,or directly under it . it sounds like the slider(that the ball socket is fixed to ) has stuck . Be careful if you use heat as iirc the hitch slides in nylon bushes . A mix of diesel and oil in the grease gun and pressure it in thru the grease nipples may free it off cheers Steveb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanuki Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Rather than trying brute-force stuff to get it sort-of working, I'd suggest careful disassembly and an if-in-any-doubt-replace-it approach. Why? Well, someone I know when they really-really needed every-last-percent of trailer braking capacity which it turned out wasn't there managed to flip a loaded trailer across the central-reservation of M5 some years back, resulting in the motorway being closed both-ways for five hours . Life's just too short to skimp on *anything* relating to brakes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happyoldgit Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Absolutely and nobody is suggesting skimping However if it's seized then getting the hitch apart may be problematic, loosening it by the means described will then permit proper overhaul. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adey Posted October 2, 2014 Author Share Posted October 2, 2014 Thanks for all your advice. I took the hitch off the trailer and from there I could see that the cylinder/piston had a lot of surface rust on it, some of which was flaking off. I think this makes it clear that it wouldn`t work effectively even if it was cleaned. I will order and new one and see if I can remember how to put it all back together again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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