Stuck overun brake.

The overrun brake on our Comet trailer is jammed in the "brakes-
on" position, and has defied all attempts to free it.

I understand there are nylon components inside the trailer
tongue, so we don't want to try the time honoured option of heating it
with a blow lamp.

Does anyone have any suggestions?
--
Mike Lindsay

Mike Lindsay wrote:
> The overrun brake on our Comet trailer is jammed in the "brakes-
> on" position, and has defied all attempts to free it.
>
> I understand there are nylon components inside the trailer
> tongue, so we don't want to try the time honoured option of heating it
> with a blow lamp.
>
> Does anyone have any suggestions?

I guess you've already tried hitting the wheel nuts with a lump hammer,
with the wheel jacked up so it can rotate if it frees. Works on my
trailer, but not if I hit other parts of the hub - no idea why.

Been there--done that, but with a Cobra!

I bought a Glider, used, in California. I noticed the bellows of the overrun
brake was collapsed, and asked the owner. he said-"I thought that was the
way nit was supposed to be" ! He was the second owner.

He had no idea when the tires were last changed, and I brought a set of new
tires, mounted and balanced, on the wheels from my other glider--same
trailer. The wheels turned freely.

Tried some "forceful" backing and braking--no luck. Checked drum temps every
5 mi for a few times and found them cool.. Proceeded home to Georgia
uneventfully.

At home, I pumped a "ton" of grease into the two Zerk fittings, and did
more backing and braking. It freed up easily. Then I removed the drums and
inspected the brake linings. I found them "fried" as expected. Fortunately
the hubs & drums, bearings, and fittings were fine. The "lockup" must have
come on gradually.

A new set of linings, and an adjustment, and I was back in business!

The moral of the story--do grease the tongue fittings at least once a year.
If the brake is stuck, remove the drums and inspect!

--
Hartley Falbaum
DG800B "KF" USA


"Mike Lindsay" <mike@sailplane.> wrote in message
news:gXNna0AMvgrFFwTG@sailplane....
>
> The overrun brake on our Comet trailer is jammed in the "brakes-
> on" position, and has defied all attempts to free it.
>
> I understand there are nylon components inside the trailer
> tongue, so we don't want to try the time honoured option of heating it
> with a blow lamp.
>
> Does anyone have any suggestions?
> --
> Mike Lindsay

There are various possibilities:

1) The brake drums may have become rusted onto the
shoes. This can happen to any vehicle when you leave
the handbrake on for a long period. NB. It is better
to leave the handbrake off, if you can secure the trailer
in some other way.

2) The linkages may be seized

3) The tow hitch may have seized on (less likely)

Try spraying all the linkages with penetrating oil
and greasing the tow hitch mechanism and then waiting
for a while.

If this doesn't work try rocking the trailer backwards
and forwards with either a lot of people or a powerful
towing vehicle. If that doesn't work, jack the trailer
up and remove the wheels. Tap the brake drums reasonably
firmly with a copper or aluminium faced hammer to free
the brake shoes. If that doesn't work, place a long
bar across the wheel studs and hit that in alternate
directions with a hammer.

Good luck!
Derek Copeland


At 12:00 17 January 2007, Mike Lindsay wrote:
>
> The overrun brake on our Comet trailer is jammed
>in the 'brakes-
>on' position, and has defied all attempts to free it.
>
>
> I understand there are nylon components inside
>the trailer
>tongue, so we don't want to try the time honoured option
>of heating it
>with a blow lamp.
>
> Does anyone have any suggestions?
>--
>Mike Lindsay
>

Derek beat me to the punch. I had a similar problem on my Komet. The
tongue was only partially collapsed; ie. it remained in one position
which was about halfway between fully extended and fully compressed.
Granted, it had been bent/damaged in an accident by the prior owner.

Solution was to pump a lot of grease under fairly high pressure into
the fittings (watch as it oozes out of various gaps and holes, then
pump some more). Then, we got some of the more (ahem) "substantial"
members of the club to provide resistance while we alternately pushed
and pulled on the hitch using a car. It sprang free on one forward
pull and worked fine after that. We also did some adjusting on the
star nuts to get the friction point right on the brakes.

We eventually replaced the entire tongue assembly with a new OEM part,
and after that it was obvious that the range of motion (throw) of the
braking mechanism was actually still slightly restricted on the old
part.

P3


Derek Copeland wrote:
> There are various possibilities:
>
> 1) The brake drums may have become rusted onto the
> shoes. This can happen to any vehicle when you leave
> the handbrake on for a long period. NB. It is better
> to leave the handbrake off, if you can secure the trailer
> in some other way.
>
> 2) The linkages may be seized
>
> 3) The tow hitch may have seized on (less likely)
>
> Try spraying all the linkages with penetrating oil
> and greasing the tow hitch mechanism and then waiting
> for a while.
>
> If this doesn't work try rocking the trailer backwards
> and forwards with either a lot of people or a powerful
> towing vehicle. If that doesn't work, jack the trailer
> up and remove the wheels. Tap the brake drums reasonably
> firmly with a copper or aluminium faced hammer to free
> the brake shoes. If that doesn't work, place a long
> bar across the wheel studs and hit that in alternate
> directions with a hammer.
>
> Good luck!
> Derek Copeland
>
>
> At 12:00 17 January 2007, Mike Lindsay wrote:
> >
> > The overrun brake on our Comet trailer is jammed
> >in the 'brakes-
> >on' position, and has defied all attempts to free it.
> >
> >
> > I understand there are nylon components inside
> >the trailer
> >tongue, so we don't want to try the time honoured option
> >of heating it
> >with a blow lamp.
> >
> > Does anyone have any suggestions?
> >--
> >Mike Lindsay
> >

Try to apply torsion many times. Left, right, left, right.....
George

"Mike Lindsay" <mike@sailplane.> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:gXNna0AMvgrFFwTG@sailplane....
>
> The overrun brake on our Comet trailer is jammed in the "brakes-
> on" position, and has defied all attempts to free it.
>
> I understand there are nylon components inside the trailer
> tongue, so we don't want to try the time honoured option of heating it
> with a blow lamp.
>
> Does anyone have any suggestions?
> --
> Mike Lindsay

George wrote:
> Try to apply torsion many times. Left, right, left, right.....
> George

All the previous suggestions have merit for this and various other
Cobra/Komet trailer ailments, of which there are many. But George has
the right idea: when this happened to me, I took a long (six feet)
steel bar and placed one end of it perpendicular to the front of the
tongue, then wrapped a chain around the intersection to fix it. I then
pulled up/pushed down on the other end of the bar to twist the movable
part of the tongue. Simultaneously I applied fore/aft force, though it
would have been easier with more people and/or using a tow vehicle. The
combination of torsion and axial force gradually loosened it.

My problem had nothing to do--this time--with the brake shoes rusting
to the drums (that used to happen regularly until I found a way to park
it by chocking the wheels instead of using the parking brake). It was
caused by water getting into the mechanism and corroding the underside
of the "piston" (i.e., the inner tube) that slides in the plastic
bearings inside the immovable part of the tongue (i.e., the outer
tube). It took a lot of filing and smoothing to clean things up.
Chucking the whole inner tongue assembly in a big lathe would have made
it easier.

Also, the aft plastic bearing seemed to have swollen and it required
opening up with some careful grinding/sanding. Regular lubrication
should ward off some of these problems but you need to cycle the tongue
fore/aft every once in a while (i.e., drive it around the block) to
distribute the grease.

Of course, the best preventative maintenance is to take the glider to a
contest at least two or three times every year. Not only will it keep
the moving parts loose but anything that can go wrong is bound to
happen in the middle of a contest where you've got a lot of people
around to help. :)

Chip Bearden
ASW 24 "JB"

On Jan 17, 6:36 pm, "Chip Bearden" <jnbear...@> wrote:
> George wrote:
> > Try to apply torsion many times. Left, right, left, right.....
> > GeorgeAll the previous suggestions have merit for this and various other
> Cobra/Komet trailer ailments, of which there are many. But George has
> the right idea: when this happened to me, I took a long (six feet)
> steel bar and placed one end of it perpendicular to the front of the
> tongue, then wrapped a chain around the intersection to fix it. I then
> pulled up/pushed down on the other end of the bar to twist the movable
> part of the tongue. Simultaneously I applied fore/aft force, though it
> would have been easier with more people and/or using a tow vehicle. The
> combination of torsion and axial force gradually loosened it.
>
> My problem had nothing to do--this time--with the brake shoes rusting
> to the drums (that used to happen regularly until I found a way to park
> it by chocking the wheels instead of using the parking brake). It was
> caused by water getting into the mechanism and corroding the underside
> of the "piston" (i.e., the inner tube) that slides in the plastic
> bearings inside the immovable part of the tongue (i.e., the outer
> tube). It took a lot of filing and smoothing to clean things up.
> Chucking the whole inner tongue assembly in a big lathe would have made
> it easier.
>
> Also, the aft plastic bearing seemed to have swollen and it required
> opening up with some careful grinding/sanding. Regular lubrication
> should ward off some of these problems but you need to cycle the tongue
> fore/aft every once in a while (i.e., drive it around the block) to
> distribute the grease.
>
> Of course, the best preventative maintenance is to take the glider to a
> contest at least two or three times every year. Not only will it keep
> the moving parts loose but anything that can go wrong is bound to
> happen in the middle of a contest where you've got a lot of people
> around to help. :)
>
> Chip Bearden
> ASW 24 "JB"

I beg to disagree. The best preventative maintenance is a regular
glider and trailer upgrade. I happen to know someone who can help ;-)
See you in Memphis,
Best Regards, Dave

> I took a long (six feet)
> steel bar and placed one end of it perpendicular to the front of the
> tongue, then wrapped a chain around the intersection to fix it. I then
> pulled up/pushed down on the other end of the bar to twist the movable
> part of the tongue. Simultaneously I applied fore/aft force, though it
> would have been easier with more people and/or using a tow vehicle. The
> combination of torsion and axial force gradually loosened it.

OOPS! I forgot to mention one tiny detail in my earlier posting: before
you do this, remove the bolts that secure the inner and outer tubes of
the sliding trailer tongue together. Most trailers I've seen have a
little play (i.e., you can rock the coupler back and forth a few
degrees either way) but you don't want to really lean on the six-foot
lever without removing these bolts. Having done so, you can actually
rotate the inner tongue a full 360 degrees (at least on my Cobra),
which is a good thing to do every once in a while to distribute the
grease more evenly. Or maybe it's just good for the soul.

Chip Bearden
ASW 24 "JB"