All brake lines and fittings were rusted beyond salvage. Full replacement necessary.

Rust!!!

Back view of brake drum

Back of wheel drum - Rusted!

Old rusted brake line connection

Brake line connection

This was the condition of the flexible hose used for the extendable tongue application on the H26 trailer.

Brake flex hose

The trailer came from CA which has different legal requirements than PA. In PA, if a trailer has brakes, then all axles on trailer must have brakes. Only the forward axle had brakes when I got it, so I need to install a 2nd set on rear axle as well.

Axle view

Closer view of rusted brake drum. All components rusted and non functional.

Brake drum

Brake drum removed to backing plate. Rust damage clearly evident. Brake cylinder non functional. Axle spindle in excellent shape though. Im lucky previous owner kept grease in bearings even if he didnt take care of anything else.

Backing plate

Backing plate removed. Brake flange showing and ready to accept new bake assembly. Spindle cleaned and inspected for wear. All OK!

Brake flange

I decided to convert the trailer to disc brakes instead of the heavy, clunky drums. I did extensive research on the subject and decided that this was the best solution for my needs and trailering habits. These are lighter, more efficient, much less prone to rust as they are stainless and much easier to adjust (they require none) and replace. Overall, a great choice for this application. Each kit does one wheel.

Brake kit

This is the content of the brake kit. Very simple and pre-assembled and greased. Hub and bearings are included.

Brake kit contents

New backing plate from kit installed to trailer brake flange. Perfect fit.

Backing plate

New brake assembly slips as one piece on to the spindle and into backing plate pins. Again, perfect fit!

Brake assembly

New disc brake assembly installed.

Disc brake

Both axles receive new brakes...

Disc assembly

Rear view of kit assembly showing position of assembly on backing plate pins.

Disc calipers

New bearing protectors (bearing buddies) in this case Fulton brand installed to keep grease in and water out!

Bearing protectors

Completed wheel assembly with dust cap on bearing protectors installed.

Wheel

Old actuator rusted beyond service. Master cylinder was full of mud-like rusty fluid.

Old actuator

New actuator installed. This one is from Tie Down Engineering like the brake kits and built specifically for disc brakes. It is heavier duty than the old.

New actuator

Different view of actuator. Notice emergency brake cable. This model also has grease fittings to allow for the regular greasing of internal contact points. I also replaced the safety chains with heavier galvanized ones.

New actuator - 2

When installing disc brakes a back-up solenoid is necessary since they will lock up automatically when pushed in reverse. This one is electric and tied to the back up lights in my truck hitch circuit. When the vehicle is in reverse the solenoid is activated and trips a valve which prevents the flow of brake fluid to the brakes leaving them free.

Solenoid

I had a new custom brake hose made to replace the old rotted one. This is of a new uv resistant material which has a fabric feel rather than the traditional rubber hose.

Brake hose

New stainless steel brake lines were installed to replace the old rusted ones. These come as pre-cut lenghts so the extra is just neatly coiled and strapped with wire ties.

Brake line

The brake line kits also include the necessary flex hose where lines are fastened to moving parts ie. the wheel.

Flex hose

Axles were just as rusted as everything else so I stripped them with a wire brush, primed and painted them.

Rusted axle

Newly painted axle. Notice the brake line has been passed through a small plastic hose to protect it from metal to metal contact at fastening points.

Painted axle

Here is a close up of the brake hose fastened to the axle through the plastic hose for protection.

Brake hose

Old bunks were loose and rotted. Replacement was needed. Also, centerboard of H26 was hitting forward crossmember of trailer and causing damage to centerboard. After reading a number of post on the same problem others were having I decided to replace the stanchions with larger taller ones.

Old bunks

Old bunk removed exposing old stanchions and brackets.

Old stanchions

Picture here shows the height difference of the old vs new (bolted) stanchion. Top of new stanchion is approx. 2 1/2 higher than old one. With new bunk boards it should give plenty of clearance for centerboard. To make up for the added height I increased the size of the steel to 2 X 2 X 1/4. Probably more than needed, but I was only doing this once!!!

Stanchions

View of new stanchions during installation.

New stanchions

Another view

New stanchions - 2

View of newly primed and painted stanchions.

New painted stanchions

Closer view.

New painted stanchions - 2

New 2X8X12 pressure treated boards installed.

New boards

New bunk boards after new carpeting installed.

New carpet

Centerboard now comfortably clears trailer crossmember. Blue streaks indicate where board was hitting.

Centerboard

Another view of the clearance the centerboard now has. A keel roller on an adjustable bracket will be added here to snug the centerboard during travel.

Centerboard - 2

All rusted hardware was removed and replaced.

More rust

New hardware installed all around.

New bolts

A larger extendable tongue locking pin was installed. This one is much easier to remove and very heavy duty.

Tongue pin

Another view.

Tongue pin - 2

New lights and reflectors were installed to replace old corroded ones.

Brake lights

New light bar for rear.

Rear light bar

New and 1 additional side markers installed.

Side marker

New side marker light for front of trailer installed along with reflectors.

Side marker - Front

All wiring and brake lines are fitted through plastic hose at all frame thru points for chaffing protection.

Wiring

Another view.

Wiring - 2

All connections are siliconed in to plastic tubing for corrosion protection.

Wiring connections

New wiring harness to tow vehicle with 7 pin plug. Separate 2 wire assembly for extended tongue mode (yellow/red velcro straps). When I extend the trailer tongue, I unplug the main harness (a good habit) and only plug in the back-up solenoid and a ground. This works great.

Harness

New heavy duty winch with 2 1/2 wide strap.

Winch

Another view

Winch - 2

New heavy duty 1500# tongue jack.

Tongue jack

New VIN plate courtesy of Hunter Marine. When I purchased the trailer there was no identifying plate or sticker on it. There is a # etched in the frame rail, but a trailer should have a capacity plate. Hunter kindly looked up my boats original info. and made me a new plate.

VIN plate

View of the completed project! It took me 3 weeks of working all weekends and many week nights as well as countless trips to hardware store for last minute parts and ideas. Most major trailer parts were supplied by an online trailer parts store. Total cost of re-build was approx. $1600.00. Much cheaper than a new trailer!

Completed trailer!