Repairs - Brake Line Problem


Last Changed 3/9/2010
Electrical trailer brakes can be totally lost if the main feed wire should break. A wheel brake can be lost if the wire from the main feed wire to the brake solenoid should break. Hydraulic brakes can suffer brake loss if the main hard feed line should break. You can also lose your hydraulic brakes if the hoses from the main feed line to the wheel cylinders should break or get a hole in one. A failure of a brake caliper/cylinder can also result in lost brakes. We had a wheel brake hose get a hole in it from rubbing on the frame. A small hole does not give you a sudden lose of brakes, as the hole resistance will retain some of the brake pressure in the system. But eventually enough brake fluid will shoot out the hole and there will be no brake pressure. This is when the brakes on *Red Rover* became very important. Since we drive gently and brake likewise, the lose of brake fluid really did not become apparent until the was no fluid. At that point, we knew *Tige* was not helping with the braking, but *Red Rover's* brakes did stop us. If we have had a pickup, we would be been pushed down the road and probably into an accident.
	This is the left rear wheel which had the hole worn into the brake hose at the point indicated by the arrows in the two upper photos. The position of the replacement hose exaggerates the contact with the frame because of the device added between the hose and the caliper unit. The original hose did not make contact with the frame when still. The rubbing that caused the hole in the hose happened while in motion.


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	This is the left center brake hose. You can see that there is a gap between the hose and the frame. But if you look closely at the arrow in the lower photo, you will see a slight abrasion on the hose from rubbing the frame. We added a rub protection around this hole after we took the photo.

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	This is the left front brake hose. There is no indication of any hose abrasion.
	The right front brake hose. It also shows no indication of any abrasion on the hose.
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	This is the right center wheel and there was an indication of slight hose abrasion. We also added some rubbing protection to this hose after the photo was taken.
	This the right rear brake hose. It was replaced, as the abrasion on the hose was not slight, in fact it was almost a hole.
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	Update During the annual lubrication of the suspension, we found the right rear hose protection had slide down and the hose was again rubbing on the frame. First we used a grinder to take the sharp edge off of the frame piece. But that was not enough. \ We contacted MOR/ryde and got new brake lines. These lines had 90 degree elbows and swivel nuts on the male ends of the hoses.
	Now the brake lines are well clear of the frame pieces. This is a far better fix than covering the brake lines with sacrificial coverings.
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