Trailer brakes dragging

[Jameson Clark]

A few weeks ago, while on the way out of town, I had a caliper lock up while my wife was pulling the boat(while I was pulling the camper on the same trip.) She could hear something was wrong so she called me and we pulled over to check it. By that point, the left brake was metal to metal. We were about 2hrs into a 6hr trip so I improvised and removed the caliper and bungeed it to the axle and we finished our trip that way without issue.

Once back from vacation, I went ahead and ordered new calipers for both sides and a new hub/rotor for the left that got destroyed. Installed everything and bled the brakes and it was great on the first 1.5hr trip. But, this past weekend on the way to the lake we stopped for gas and I could smell hot brakes from the trailer. Jacked up the trailer and now the right side is hanging some. It's not locked down, but definitely dragging. You can spin the tire and it goes about a half of a rotation before stopping.

I haven't had time to pull it all apart yet and inspect, but I'm just scratching my head on why it would be dragging.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

I did this thread a while back.. maybe it will help you with your issue.

The quick answer is that occasionally you need to compress the calipers one at time and pump them back up to keep the piston moving freely and you need to lubricate the slider pins..

Thread 'Shorelnd’r wheel bearing & disc brake caliper maintenance'

Jan 31, 2025

This one is a long time coming as I had wanted to do a more comprehensive thread after I got home from WI this summer and had to replace a wear sleeve while I was in WI. While the concept of the replaceable wear sleeve is a good one, it sure would be nice if Shorelnd’r would have included bearing maintenance and wear sleeve replacement in the owners manual. As well, the disc brake owners manual leaves a lot to be desired in terms of maintenance as well as parts.

When I was in WI this summer the drivers side front wheel started spitting some grease, I had worked on this wheel a few years...

• FSH 210 Sport
• Replies: 18
• Forum: General Discussion

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Do you boat in fresh or salt water?

 

[Jameson Clark]

I currently have brand new calipers with brand new greased slide pins on both sides. So, I don't think I have a slide pin hanging up.

I boat in fresh water 90% of the time, but we do take the boat to the coast usually at least once a year.

 

[suke]

I did this thread a while back.. maybe it will help you with your issue.

The quick answer is that occasionally you need to compress the calipers one at time and pump them back up to keep the piston moving freely and you need to lubricate the slider pins..

Thread 'Shorelnd’r wheel bearing & disc brake caliper maintenance'

Jan 31, 2025

This one is a long time coming as I had wanted to do a more comprehensive thread after I got home from WI this summer and had to replace a wear sleeve while I was in WI. While the concept of the replaceable wear sleeve is a good one, it sure would be nice if Shorelnd’r would have included bearing maintenance and wear sleeve replacement in the owners manual. As well, the disc brake owners manual leaves a lot to be desired in terms of maintenance as well as parts.

When I was in WI this summer the drivers side front wheel started spitting some grease, I had worked on this wheel a few years...

• FSH 210 Sport
• Replies: 18
• Forum: General Discussion

• 
• 
• 

Do you boat in fresh or salt water?

I need to do this on mine. I just serviced mine and one side is getting pretty hot. I jacked up each braking wheel and spun the wheel. No weird bearing noise and the brakes were EVER so slightly dragging on both sides. I guess one side more than the other. REALLY don't wanna pull everything back apart and check the bearings as they sound perfect. Gotta be something with the brakes. I'll give it a go compressing the caliper and greasing the slide pins.....again.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

I need to do this on mine. I just serviced mine and one side is getting pretty hot. I jacked up each braking wheel and spun the wheel. No weird bearing noise and the brakes were EVER so slightly dragging on both sides. I guess one side more than the other. REALLY don't wanna pull everything back apart and check the bearings as they sound perfect. Gotta be something with the brakes. I'll give it a go compressing the caliper and greasing the slide pins.....again.

When you say pretty hot… like so hot it burns when you touch it or it’s just too hot to leave your hand on it? Is the side that’s getting hot the curb side?

There should be a noticeable amount of play in the bearings, not a lot, but you should feel a tiny bit. Trailer bearings are not like the front or steering wheels on a car. Disc brakes will always drag a little bit, so dragging ever so slightly is normal.

When you compress the caliper, do one side at a time, and pump the actuator to re extend the piston before doing the other side or you will push a lot of brake fluid out of the reservoir, and there will not be enough to re extend the pistons and you’ll push air into the system. Keep a close eye on the brake fluid level. As it was, when I compressed mine OAT brake fluid got pushed out.

 

[suke]

When you say pretty hot… like so hot it burns when you touch it or it’s just too hot to leave your hand on it? Is the side that’s getting hot the curb side?

There should be a noticeable amount of play in the bearings, not a lot, but you should feel a tiny bit. Trailer bearings are not like the front or steering wheels on a car. Disc brakes will always drag a little bit, so dragging ever so slightly is normal.

When you compress the caliper, do one side at a time, and pump the actuator to re extend the piston before doing the other side or you will push a lot of brake fluid out of the reservoir, and there will not be enough to re extend the pistons and you’ll push air into the system. Keep a close eye on the brake fluid level. As it was, when I compressed mine OAT brake fluid got pushed out.

It's not burn your hand hot, but noticeably hotter than the other one. It's not on the curb side. The other day when taking it back to storage that side was in the sun the WHOLE trip and it was over 90* outside. Also coming into storage is a dirt road on a hill, so the brakes are on basically the whole way down. When it was cool out the other night when I brought it home it was barely warm. The bearings were seated properly and then backed off to hand tight. I've done quite a bit of trailer work in my day. Not a TON of experience with trailers with braking systems, though.

 

[suke]

Not super scientific and probably not 100% accurate, but the hub and the caliper were definitely warmer on one side than the other. Feel like one side is either sticking longer before releasing or is working better. Something to dig into or not enough to worry about? The one side that was 113* was barely warm. Those brakes may not be working or hardly working. May need to bleed the brakes again. It is another 93* day and it was after a 40 min drive with plenty of stops.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Not super scientific and probably not 100% accurate, but the hub and the caliper were definitely warmer on one side than the other. Feel like one side is either sticking longer before releasing or is working better. Something to dig into or not enough to worry about? The one side that was 113* was barely warm. Those brakes may not be working or hardly working. May need to bleed the brakes again. It is another 93* day and it was after a 40 min drive with plenty of stops. View attachment 237234View attachment 237235

Two things, was the higher temp side in the sun? And or was the higher temp side on the passenger or drivers side?

 

[suke]

Two things, was the higher temp side in the sun? And or was the higher temp side on the passenger or drivers side?

Higher temp side was not parked in the sun. Off and on in the sun while driving and on the driver side. Cooler side is in the sun while parked in the driveway, but I just got home from picking up the boat from storage and getting gas when I measured the temp. In storage it's out of the sun and inside.

Looks like the brakes were dragging a bit. Cleaned out the center but. Still tons of brake life left.

Compressed the caliper in and out several times. Seemed to move smoothly. Slide pins seemed stiff but not stuck. Pulled them out, cleaned them really good, and then greased really well. I did notice the metal brake stay was touching the hub. That could be enough to make it hotter. Fixed that and spun everything again. It sounds really good, no noise or grinding. Next step would be pulling everything apart and replacing the bearings.

 

[suke]

Ok so took the boat out today. It was another super hot day with the heat index over 100*. The drive to the boat ramp is all back roads except for my neighborhood. Still a temp differential but doesn't feel as huge of a difference. I'm an idiot and should have paid better attention prior to repacking the bearings and replacing the seals. It's very possible it has been this way the whole time. I've never really paid too much attention to the temps just made sure I could put my hand on them and then not feel scorching hot. Only thing really do to is let it ride or replace the bearings and replace the rear seal again. That would rule out that and if the temp differential is still there it's a nothing burger and just carry on with life.