Brakes squeaking and excessive brake dust

[lunker56]

I have searched many sites but have been unable to find an answer. I have surge brakes on a 2007 Ranger z21 trailer. Pads were recently replaced over the winter. Everything was fine. Then my actuator starting clunking. The brake fluid resevoir was empty. I filled it. Now I have excessive brake dust on the two back wheels. Also, they squeak really bad when towing. Sometimes they will stop when I apply the brakes and sometimes not. Is it possible that I used too much brake fluid?

I have never had brake dust on my wheels before.

Any help is appreciated

[Champ 2001]

The first question is, do you have any fluid in your master cylinder? Next, when you filled your empty master cylinder, did you bleed the brakes?

[shall36]

Brake dust is a function of the pads being used. Some pads will kick off more dust than others. It could also indicate that your brakes are dragging. You can use the touch method or an infrared thermometer to check the heat kicked off on your wheels. If it’s over 100°, you probably have a dragging brake.

ensuring that your caliper slides are properly lubricated, and free of corrosion is critical to proper caliper functioning. It is easy for those calipers to hang up due to corrosion.

if you are losing fluid, you have a hole in a brake line somewhere or you have fluid coming out of one of the pistons. The steel lines on those trailers are prone to rust out, especially since they are run through metal guide tubes, which trap water and caused the lines to rust out. You can get rubber hose in long runs for boat trailers off of Amazon.

also, there is a reset tab on the bottom of the actuator itself. Sometimes those actuators will hang up in the tab, releases the piston from the master cylinder. When you hook up your boat, you should push in that tab on the underside to make sure the piston is disengaged.

[DaveBrabec]

My wheels always get brake dust. Just means that they are working.

[mactlman]

My wheels always get brake dust. Just means that they are working.

or dragging badly?

[wmitch2]

Sounds like you have a leak somewhere in the system and also, the calipers may need rebuilt as it sounds like they are sticking. You will always have some brake drag as that is typical with disc brakes. Also, the type of brake pads leave more and less dust depending on the composition.

https://www.bridgestonetire.com/lear...ic-brake-pads/

[Fireball]

Lots of brake dust tells me someone installed cheap organic pads instead of ceramic pads. Always get the best parts installed because the labor stays the same.

[1BADAIR]

Make sure metallic pads weren’t used. Ceramic would be best for the water

[Lightning 6]

Surge brakes drag…..IMHO 100 degree Rotor Hub temp is not anything to worry about this time of year. A better indicator is temp difference between idler hub temps and rotor hub temps….mine usually run +/- 20 degrees higher than my idler hubs…..which makes sense since I have to stop prior to checking hub temps.

[lunker56]

i did not bleed the brakes. That is myn next step. Thanks very much

[Champ 2001]

i did not bleed the brakes. That is myn next step. Thanks very much

Keep us updated on what you find.

[lmoore]

I always compare to the rotors on my truck. The temp on my truck and temp on my trailer is surprisingly close most of the time. The variation in temp from the non braking hubs to brake rotors really depends a lot on how hard I brake, so I check that but don’t have much of a hard and fast rule on it.