Trailer brake help

[oakley24]

I don't know much about brakes and axles in general, so I figured I would look to the experts for some help. I put the trailer on blocks, pulled a tire and found this. The trailer is 8 years old, I bought the boat and trailer in July, towed about 400 miles since then. No issues with braking or towing (that I know of). I plan on driving it 100 miles in the spring and then docking the boat for the summer, so it won't be used much. Should I be worried about the rust on the rotor? Is there anything I can do besides pulling them and have them resurfaced?
I'll probably replace the Shorlander bearing buddies with the real thing. When i spin the tires on both sides, they spin easily, but with a little scraping sound. Any advice would be appreciated

 

[BlkGS]

Rust on the rotors wouldn't concern me. That will get scrubbed off the first time you hit the brakes.

If you're concerned about the appearances you could always pull them and paint the non swept area. Maybe powdercoat the calipers too. How crazy do you want to go? Lol

 

[dgfreeze]

I don't see anything that concerns me function wise. Some surface rust on rotors is normal after a period of not being used. If you're worried about it, drag it down the road for a few miles. If your brakes are functional, they should be fairly rust-free after that.

 

[AZMark]

The scraping noise is your pads dragging on the rotors. All disc brakes do that.

As the others said that’s not much rust and it’s hard to avoid on bare metal. The pads will take it right off when you drive. Just don’t let it sit like that forever.

 

[kjr6306]

The rotors are fine. Your cars probably do the same when they get wet. The bearing buddies are good too....

 

[oakley24]

Thanks all. I was more worried about if you all might see something concerning, but the consensus seems to be they look pretty normal. As for the bearing buddies, does it looks like it needs some grease? have no idea what previous owner did or didn't do for maintenance, but I'm assuming not much

 

[AZMark]

Thanks all. I was more worried about if you all might see something concerning, but the consensus seems to be they look pretty normal. As for the bearing buddies, does it looks like it needs some grease? have no idea what previous owner did or didn't do for maintenance, but I'm assuming not much

Grease looks very full to me.

Edit: you are missing a spring and retainer that fits in the groove towards the outside. The spring should be pushing in on the plate that has the zerk in it. If you didn’t take those off then something is wrong.

 

[oakley24]

Grease looks very full to me.

Edit: you are missing a spring and retainer that fits in the groove towards the outside. The spring should be pushing in on the plate that has the zerk in it. If you didn’t take those off then something is wrong.


View attachment 190719

I did take the spring and retainer off before I realized that there wasn't a reason to. I'm going to put it back together after work today.

 

[itsdgm]

As everybody else has already stated. They look fine to me.

 

[Julian]

Thanks all. I was more worried about if you all might see something concerning, but the consensus seems to be they look pretty normal. As for the bearing buddies, does it looks like it needs some grease? have no idea what previous owner did or didn't do for maintenance, but I'm assuming not much

I'd be mostly concerned about if they are actually working. Before I drove to FL for the Bimini trip this year, I checked mine and they were not (the rotors also looked the same as yours). I ended up bleeding and freeing up the brakes with the help of a neighbor. Took a couple of hours, and tools I don't own.

So what you need to do is unplug our wiring harness from the tow vehicle and attempt to back the trailer UP an incline. If the tires don't lock up....your brakes aren't working.

 

[oakley24]

Thanks Julian, I suspect you may be right on the brakes not working. Especially since the others said that rust should come off when driving, and I just drove it back from camp a few weeks ago. I'll try your testing suggestion. Then hopefully find a neighbor with the right tools (and knowledge) to help if needed

 

[WestMIJet]

Check the basics. Do you have fluid in the reservoir? If not you may have a leak in the system. Possibly a cracked hose somewhere. Start at the tongue and follow the line. This system is simple.

 

[Maslin]

Thanks Julian, I suspect you may be right on the brakes not working. Especially since the others said that rust should come off when driving, and I just drove it back from camp a few weeks ago. I'll try your testing suggestion. Then hopefully find a neighbor with the right tools (and knowledge) to help if needed

The brake rotors will rust like that in a few hours if you park it wet. The majority of the rotor is clean, that rust would probably wipe off with a rag.

 

[oakley24]

Quick update:
Tested the brakes, and they do work.
Most of the rust did come off the rotor by scrubbing with just a rag, looks much better
I did add some grease, it took quite a few pumps before it started moving the retainer plate with the zerk forward a little
There is fluid in the reservoir, it looked kind of dirty, not sure what causes that, but I guess I should probably bleed the brakes and get some new fluid in there at some point