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UFP surge brake actuater


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I have an SMP trailer under my VLX. It has the UFP brake system on it. When braking, it groans and clunks much more than my last trailer that had the same coupler. It was low of fluid when I bought it at 1 year old. I filled, flushed and bled all 4 lines and that helped some. Is there supposed to be some type of cushion to absorb the shock of actuater sliding back and forth? I know the ball mount will bang in the receiver some. Most of my noise is from the coupler sliding back and forth.The brakes work fine.

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There is a shock inside the coupler to absorb some shock but, if you get a lot of "bang" at take-off, you probably are low on fluid again. Probably due to a leak, probably at one of the caliphers.

Here's a good place to see an exploded view of the actuator. You probably have an A-60. BTW, IMHO, these brake systems suck and require a lot of maintenance and parts replacements.

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Mine's been pretty quiet.

IIRC if you read closely, the actuator shouldn't travel more than 1/2 way for a single axle, 3/4 way for tandem.

I have no sound, but a minor 'clunking' when taking off from a standing stop only. It shouldn't clunk at all when stopping.

My experience with UFP has been pretty good. I did replace a failed actuator right after I purchased my first boat - the new one worked great for 4 years with little maintenance. The one on this boat has worked great for 2 years after I had it checked, serviced & flushed by our local UFP shop.

The biggest thing I was told to do was make sure the actuator is always fully extended when parking the trailer for any amount of time. If not, the actuator piston can corrode & cause premature leaking & failure.

Edit: Spelling

Edited by wienrdog
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If it clunks when stopping you are probably low on fluid.

And I agree with Pete these things are a PITA. The disc brakes on my response decided to hang up yesterday, they were smoking when we got to the ramp, fine on the way home.

-Chris

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i bet it's not even your trailer bracke actuator.

Have you wiggled your ball recieved in your hitch? is there a lot of play? i will be that's where the clunk noise is coming from... i put one on and noise is completly gone...

this video exsplains it all....

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I don't have an SMP trailer, so my actuator may be different, but I'll tell you what mine does. When the brakes are adjusted right, as noted above when I stop the slider only moves about half-way through the range before the brakes fully engage and it won't move any further. As the brake shoes wear down, it will move further and further into the range until it gets to the point where I can move it to full travel with my hands. The brake pistons at the wheel are "sticking out" further as the pads wear and this added volume makes it look like you are losing fluid but you've just actually got more down at the wheel cylinders. Sorta like when you put new brake pads on a car.....you don't want to fill the master cylinder before pushing the brake pistons back in or it will overflow when you do. Anyway, the real problem with mine is apparently there is no self adjuster to keep the brakes tight as the shoes wear or it's not working. I periodically have to pull the plug out of the backing plate and manually tighten the brakes. This will put the travel of the coupler back where it should be and reduce the bang at takeoff. All you have to do to check this is back your trailer a bit and get out to see if your coupler is fully bottomed out.

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I don't have an SMP trailer, so my actuator may be different, but I'll tell you what mine does.  When the brakes are adjusted right, as noted above when I stop the slider only moves about half-way through the range before the brakes fully engage and it won't move any further.  As the brake shoes wear down, it will move further and further into the range until it gets to the point where I can move it to full travel with my hands.  The brake pistons at the wheel are "sticking out" further as the pads wear and this added volume makes it look like you are losing fluid but you've just actually got more down at the wheel cylinders.  Sorta like when you put new brake pads on a car.....you don't want to fill the master cylinder before pushing the brake pistons back in or it will overflow when you do.  Anyway, the real problem with mine is apparently there is no self adjuster to keep the brakes tight as the shoes wear or it's not working.  I periodically have to pull the plug out of the backing plate and manually tighten the brakes.  This will put the travel of the coupler back where it should be and reduce the bang at takeoff.  All you have to do to check this is back your trailer a bit and get out to see if your coupler is fully bottomed out.
Sounds like you have drums, I have discs. I didn't think discs had adjusters? I will have to look at my manuals. I know my last trailer with drums had to be adjusted. I did it every spring.
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Yep, drums. Wasn't for sure what you had. There would be no adjustment on disc brakes that I know of. So, I'd go along with low fluid or air in the lines, but you said you covered that.

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Vette,

The way drum brakes adjust themselves on cars is when you're backing up and hit the brakes, there is a lever built into the drum brake system that will spin that "star wheel" inside the drum to tighten up the brakes. Since, on a boat trailer, when backing and braking, the brakes on the trailer are not getting applied, there is no way for the drums to tighten up. So, you have to manually do it the way you've been doing it.

BTW,

I like Bakes marine just fine but, you can get that actuator and all other brakes parts cheaper at D.H.M. trailers.

Edited by Pistol Pete
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My trailer had the same brake system when I bought it that the previous owner didnt maintain and it was dry. I got sick of the slamming and cut the whole hitch assembly off and welded and reinforced a bullnose hitch on mine and swapped it to electric brakes. No more issues now!!

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Vette,

The way drum brakes adjust themselves on cars is when you're backing up and hit the brakes, there is a lever built into the drum brake system that will spin that "star wheel" inside the drum to tighten up the brakes. Since, on a boat trailer, when backing and braking, the brakes on the trailer are not getting applied, there is no way for the drums to tighten up. So, you have to manually do it the way you've been doing it.

Actually my brakes are applied when I'm backing the boat since I've never locked out the coupler and they've never self-adjusted. The brakes actually apply quite easily when I back up my drive which has a slight incline to the house....not much different than hitting the brakes while moving forward on the road.

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Looked at the link from Petes post and looks like maybe Shock is shot. Will check it out when I get time. Fluid is full.

I talked to Dennis at UFP TN Plant. He said probably air in lines as others have suggested. Also suggested removing pins and sliding actuator out and lubing it to eliminate groan. I did lube and it fixed groaning. Just replaced dot3 synthetic fluid and rebled tonight. Did get some air on first brake bled. Will not know till Saturday when I pull boat back out of garage if it fixed banging or not. I am guessing (hopeing) yes. Shock seems to be ok.

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Got out today and all is well with trailer brakes. No more clunking. It was caused by air in lines. I bled lines with the tongue below the calipers this time as instructed by UFP. That did the trick. Last time I bled, I left trailer level and it must hold an air pocket somewhere that way. Anyway, no more groaning and clunking behind my truck anymore.

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How did you get the tongue below the caliphers? Remove the tongue and lay it on the ground?

Usually when gravity bleeding brakes, you want the master cylinder as the high point and everything else lower than it.

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How did you get the tongue below the caliphers? Remove the tongue and lay it on the ground?

Usually when gravity bleeding brakes, you want the master cylinder as the high point and everything else lower than it.

I don't believe in gravity bleeding because you are not compressing our sucking out any of the air. Air can just sit at a high point in the line. When pressure bleeding you want the master cylinder at the high point so that the air will be compressed in the lowest area. By having the trailer system tilted so that the master cylinder is at the lowest point it help let the air raise/float to the high points of the system (calipers) witch in turn makes it easier to bleed the system. On cars and trucks you have a foot petal that will put a lot of force on the fluid thus pushing the air pocket to the caliper.

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Goose, I think that leaving my trailer set with tongue at lowest point on jack allowed any air to float to caliper end of system. I left trailer set like that for 2 days before I bled it. Talking to UFP and reading several websites sounds like that is the magic bullet for these systems. Anyway , it worked for me this time.

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Allright boys,

Here's the Million dollar question....how did any air get in the line?

It was low of fluid when I bought it at 1 year old. I filled, flushed and bled all 4 lines and that helped some.

you can send money to my paypal account :)

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