Posted: 06/12/2009 at 9:52pm | IP Logged

Thought I'd write this in case someone else had a similar problem. What happened was I was moving the trailer in the back yard and I had the emergency break away cable connected and forgot to unhook it when I was leaving the trailer, which naturally activated the hydraulic brakes. Weeks later I forgot about getting to it until the smell of brakes reminded me of the problem when I got back from the test run. I researched it on the internet and fortunately found one reference to replacing that cable, but they didn't go into details except for one tiny bit of info about the C clips. That was the key, so here's the repair/release process if you ever need to know it.

First, you'll need a C clip tool, to open the clip (red arrow) up and slide it off the pin, then take a screwdriver or anything else convenient to tape the pins out (green arrow). Once removed, gently slide the actuator assembly out.

Here's what it looks like removed

The yellow arrow shows where those pins were holding the assembly in place. The red arrow shows the part that pushes the plunger to activate the brakes and the breakaway cable connects to a little L bracket, so if the cable is pulled (mandated by federal law to be in place).

See the red arrow, the clip is in a locked position to keep the plunger activated applying hydraulic pressure on the brakes. Just pop that L at the red arrow (like a little claw) up, and tape the plunger (yellow arrow) toward the front of the assembly. That little L claw will move to another slot like the one shown at the red arrow, further inside the assembly to keep it in a locked release position allowing the plunger to release when you release pressure from your brakes. The green arrow is the emergency breakaway cable.

Sorry for the slightly blurry view, but you can see to the left, the slot where the L clip of the emergency break away cable will look the plunger into a hydraulic applied position (to prevent your trailer from continuing down the highway if if comes off the hitch, and lock's the brakes). You can see the plunger spring and actuator rod. Assembly is just the exact opposite of removal. Total time of clearing problem, less than 10 minutes. Tools needed, C Clip tool (best, small screwdriver is desperate) and any device to punch out the pins.