Fixing brakes on 1990 Mac S Trailer

Sep 3, 2015
21
Vandestadt & McGruer Ltd. 17' Siren Cleveland
Has anyone replaced the drum brakes on the trailers for the MacS? What about the Dico Brake assembly on the hitch? Where would you find these?

Recently purchased this boat with the brakes not hooked up. Figured I'd replace everything.

We currently get the two second delay bang when braking the boat at startups and stops. If the system is working properly will we still get this?

Thanks for any info you can provide.

Mitch
 

Tedd

.
Jul 25, 2013
745
TES 246 Versus near Vancouver, BC
The brakes should work seamlessly if they're properly maintained and adjusted. If you're getting lash on both stop and start (and it's not the hitch), I would suspect the mechanism that actuates the master cylinder. It's a fairly simply assembly and well worth your time to disassemble and inspect. If there's that much lash, then I would say there's a reasonable chance something is worn and needs to be replaced.

The original brakes on my Mac 26S trailer got pretty grotty when I launched in salt water and then had an accident shortly afterward (on my bicycle, nothing to do with the boat) and forgot to rinse it off--for the whole winter! I thought about restoring them but, in the end, I bought a stainless steel disk brake kit and installed that. Best thousand bucks I ever spent.
 

Tedd

.
Jul 25, 2013
745
TES 246 Versus near Vancouver, BC
That's one of the things I like about a trailerable boat. That thousand bucks (thousand Canadian, by the way) I spent on trailer brakes was by far the most I've ever spent on the boat at one time. The "boat unit" for a trailerable boat is more like a hundred bucks.
 
Sep 3, 2015
21
Vandestadt & McGruer Ltd. 17' Siren Cleveland
I stopped at a NAPA today to inquire on the brakes and the actuator thing. They had no idea what to look up. What do I tell them it's for? I know they were made by DICO but that didn't help.

Mine was sitting for 3 years and had been in salt water so I'm thinking the brakes at least need replaced. I won't be putting her in salt water so I'm thinking of just getting a normal brake replacement if I can find them and replace the lines to the actuator. After doing that I'll see if the actual actuator works.

I've noticed a grease pin on the inside of the tires. Is that for the brakes or bearings? Guessing brakes.
Thanks
 
Mar 2, 2019
433
Oday 25 Milwaukee
This type of braking system is commonly refrred to as surge brakes . I would suspect the master cylinder is in need of a rebuild. Very inexpensive and straightforward . The clearance of the drum show to the drum needs to be checked as well. Once this is completed ,braking will be vastly improved
 
Sep 20, 2014
1,320
Rob Legg RL24 Chain O'Lakes
One of the faults with drum brakes is they use the rotation of the drum to increase the braking force. This creates a delay in the response time as well as making it difficult to apply the correct amount of braking. The response is very non-linear. I used to own a custom chassis front wheel drive motorhome. It used a tandem Dexter trailer axle for the rear. Stock had drum brakes. I used the Kodiac kit to convert to discs. The improvement in braking was nothing short of amazing. (I also chose stainless, but did that because stainless is a poor conductor of heat, so the fluid is less likely to boil)
 
Jul 23, 2009
857
Beneteau 31 Oceanis Grand Lake, Oklahoma
Try a trailer shop. They are in the book or Google it. Etrailer.com is also a good source. I've used both.

I rebuild the brakes on my San Juan 7.7m trailer. Dual axle with single axle drum surge brakes. Within 4 miles of finishing the brakes I put them to the test when someone pulled in front of me and then stopped to turn left. Jerk! That happens a lot when towing, wish I knew why. That boat and trailer was 12.5 feet tall and 9.5 wide, it's not invisible!