A-60 Braking issue

I have an 02 Nitro with a swing away trailer and discs. Both brakes will partially engage but not readily release. when this happens, the actuator is very easy to push in about 1/4 to 1/2 way - there seems to be absolutely no resistance at all. if I park it overnight with the actuator manually extended they usually release and then has normal resistance with just a tad bit of play.

shop lubed the slide bolt between the calipers (2x now) but that doesn't seem to be the problem and the shop guy doesn't really seem to know much about the actuator http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/mad.gif so I need some help narrowing this down.

where should I begin looking for the brake issue and do I also have a bad dampener?

If both brakes are not releasing all the way, it could be the hose inside the swing tongue is getting kinked and not letting the fluid release, or the bore of the master cylinder has corrosion inside, not letting the piston release properly, I see this all the time. If you can move the actuator in & out by hand easily, you may need a new shock, there should be about 50 lbs of resistance in & out...When you are not attached to a tow vehicle, the actuator should be fully extended,if not, this will cause corrosion in the master cylinder bore.
Extend the actuator do do a swirl test with a screw driver....read pages 6 thru 8 here to learn how here.....http://ufpnet.com/Portals/0/PDFs/A-6...aintenance.pdf...

thanks Lyn. I somehow suspect that was what the answer would be...I think I need to find a new shop. I'malmost sure they didn't do a swirl test...just went right to the calipers.

If both brakes are having a problem at the same time,always start diagnosis at the actuator. If it was a caliper problem, generally only one side will have a problem...

took apart the actuator...shock was shot, brake line had tons of crud in it from the master cyliner (looked like rust)...who knows what else- I stopped looking as the answer was clear...just going to get a whole new inner member assembly and be done with it. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif

so I got the new inner member and have a stupid question...

I took the slide pins off the new one and put it together. now my old one had all metal washers on the pins, but in putting the slide pins on the new one back in I realized that two of the washers are plastic, each has a flat side and an 'angled' side. didn't catch this when taking it apart so now Im confused:

which pin do the plastic/angled washers go on and does the angled side face in or out? http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/doh.gif http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emhammer.gif

Look here and figure it out. Click on the link.
http://ufpnet.com/Portals/0/PDFs/Actuators.PDF

thanks http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/eyes.gif ...I did...the pictures in the brochure actually look like its from the old version, all metal. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/doh.gif

and the assembly instructions don't say anything about it http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/ohwell.gif although I did run across the parts diagram and see that its been updated...sooo nylon towards the front...ok- half way there...Now, which way does it go on? angled side in or out


Modified by NitroMusky at 2:54 PM 10/31/2009

The front washers are plastic and cone shaped to give your paint some protection. The old metal washers would chew up the paint quickly on a brand new trailer. To try and allieviate this, the plastic cone shaped washer was installed on the front slide pin to limit the amount of surface to paint, to a minimum. Of course the bevel will go to the inside to achieve this purpose.

thanks Dennis. I suspected as much. a good idea but a little late for me...my paint is long gone there.