Found this on the "other" site about MFI trailer brakes

[jcyamaharider]

I seen castiljd post this on the other site and thought it was informative for us over here as well. Seems like the poster did a lot of leg work for us dealing with these brakes.

@Julian @Bruce



"You can buy brakes and other parts at any auto part store like autozone and get brakes for a 1997-2000 Kia Sephia. Eastern marine has the brakes for $24.99 plus shipping. I think I got the Autozone Gold DG766 for $44.99 and had to trim a little metal piece on the bottom. Wasn't that difficult. They have cheaper brakes for $23 but were semi metallic. I also think the cheaper brakes didn't have this piece. Now I have lifetime brakes for my boat. I do believe it brakes better but that could be from a lot of different things considering you have to bleed the lines and all new parts. Brakes, caliper dust boots, piston seal easily available at part stores. Found brakes at Autozone (Any part store) and dust boot and piston seal at Advance Auto Parts. Caliper dust boot and seal at Advance Auto Parts (Cheapest place) part # 15202 $4.99 or D352020 $1.99. Autozone part # 66335 $6.99 Caliper piston was hard to find so I ordered off eastern marine. The only place I could fine the caliper piston. I rebuilt both my calipers and didn't cost that much. Just time. Rebuilt both calipers in about an hour. Some rather just buy a new caliper. To rebuild here is what you will need. You might not need all of this. My caliper piston was pitted and rusted due to dust boot being tore. So I had to get a new piston. All these parts listed below for rebuild is less than $21 plus shipping. For me s/h was like $15. So about $36 to rebuild caliper which doesn't take that long. I did both of mine and was less than $60 with shipping. Parts list from Eastern Marine. If you only need dust boot and seal go to auto part store. Order a couple extra dust boots if ordering online. They can tear pretty easy.
UFP DB-35 Disc Brake Caliper Piston #33005
UFP DB-35 Disc Brake Caliper Piston #33005 - Stock #: 5415073
Edit $11.99 $11.99
Remove item
UFP DB-35 Disc Brake Caliper Piston Dust Boot #33307
UFP DB-35 Disc Brake Caliper Piston Dust Boot #33307 - Stock #: 5415102
Edit $1.19 $1.19
Remove item
UFP DB-35 Disc Brake Caliper Piston Seal #33004
UFP DB-35 Disc Brake Caliper Piston Seal #33004 - Stock #: 5415072
Edit $0.75 $0.75
Remove item
UFP DB-35 Disc Brake Caliper Slider Pin #33007
UFP DB-35 Disc Brake Caliper Slider Pin #33007 - Stock #: 5415074
Edit $2.25 $4.50
Remove item
UFP DB-35 Disc Brake Caliper Slider Pin Boot #33305
UFP DB-35 Disc Brake Caliper Slider Pin Boot #33305 - Stock #: 5415107
Edit $0.75 $1.50
Remove item
UFP DB-35 Disc Brake Caliper Slider Pin Boot Plug #33306
UFP DB-35 Disc Brake Caliper Slider Pin Boot Plug #33306 - Stock #: 5415108
Edit $0.50 $1.00 "

 

[Bruce]

Great info. Hopefully the author will join us someday.

 

[Julian]

I'll add this to the FAQ!

 

[Julian]

Added under the trailer maintenance #13

 

[BravoMike]

Very nice. Good reminder for me to check my brakes before I start using the boat this season. Thanks @jcyamaharider

 

[Rickala]

What about the rotors? Any idea what they cross to?

 

[AZDANSX230HO]

I found out the hard way after having Discount Tire install new tires & ultimately they cross threaded 6 lug nuts which ultimately snapped 6 wheel studs when I went to remove the tires to go through the bearings. UFP wheel studs are not easy to find in my area, had to buy two new hubs for the front axle, pound out a couple of studs to replace on the rear axle with rotors on the hubs. Discount Tire did reimburse me for my costs and my time which was very honorable of them to do.

 

[itsdgm]

What about the rotors? Any idea what they cross to?

Check out www.pacifictrailers.com. They sell the ufp db35 brake system parts.

Hope that helps

 

[Marvin willis]

I'm gonna get blasted for this but I took my brakes off and threw them in the trash. Salt water ate them up and I didn't see the point in replacing them for the salt to do it all over again

 

[McMark]

That's good info right there

 

[2nazt]

@Marvin willis I had mine ate up by saltwater, and old age. I just ordered and put on the galvanized aluminum ones hoping they hold up. Found them on the pacific trailer site. Just figured I would share that with you if you choose to reconsider.

 

[Smassey22180]

I talked to MFI about the trailer brakes a couple of weeks ago. The calipers are cheap Chinese knock offs of the UFP DB35 so that is why they don't say UFP on them. Mine rusted away after 5 years and were not worth rebuilding when new aluminum ones are $60.

The rotors/hubs are UFP DB35s and I was able to re-use them. The master cyl was shot because I think it got water in it because the 2" cover was missing. If you pull the actuator shaft and it has brake fluid/rust on the end, it is bad. It was also UFP. I spent $150 for 2 aluminum calipers w/ pads and a new master. Good as new now.

 

[pagekl]

I posted something on this a few weeks ago. I am in the process of changing all 4 calipers on my trailer. Mine where Tiedown Engineering, so I used calipers for a 1990 Chevy Cavilier. The front axles, the calipers and brakes fit perfectly, but on the rear, the caliper with the pads is snug. Not sure which caliper would be better on the rear axle, but since MFI doesn't have much information on line about replacement parts for their trailers, this was the best I could do. Also, for my setup, I had to buy the caliper brake hose and connect it to the lines and hose on the trailer to make it work.

 

[Marvin willis]

I'm going to put brakes back on it next spring but how do I bleed the brakes on a trailer?

 

[pagekl]

You can bleed the brakes by yourself, but better to have two people, one to do the actual bleeding and another to watch the fluid reservoir. If you can, actuate the trailer tongue a few times to get fluid in the entire system, then open the bleeder screws and bleed until no bubbles are in the fluid.

 

[Marvin willis]

So what I thought....fwd rev fwd rev etc...

 

[pagekl]

Anyone know how much to torque the wheels on these MFI trailers? I torqued to 100ft.lbs., but for some reason I feel that is not enough.

 

[McMark]

I'm going to put brakes back on it next spring but how do I bleed the brakes on a trailer?

I had the Mrs help me. She used a 2x4 as a lever to push in the actuator. It took a while with having 4 calipers to bleed. I started with the one with the longest run. The other 3 bled pretty quickly since the air was then out of the line.

 

[2nazt]

I just used a screwdriver on the actuator from under neath. Real easy an if you go far enough it locks and holds. Just hit the spring release to undo the lockout

 

[Marvin willis]

Anyone know how much to torque the wheels on these MFI trailers? I torqued to 100ft.lbs., but for some reason I feel that is not enough.

I stop tightening when the impact socket quits turning.