For you guys in colder climates, do you run brake covers or not and which way causes the least amount of brake pads frozen to drums issues? I know without covers it much easier to hammer the pads loose, with covers on, you need a bar or punch to stick through the hole in the covers and then hammer them loose or without covers on you can get heat to the pads easier to try to thaw them out and get them to snap loose. It might just be me, but lately we've had issues with pads frozen to drums and it seems those with covers on them are the worst, but maybe its got more to do with how much harder it is to hammer those pads loose than compared to drums that don't have covers on them. Was wondering which way others prefer, covers or not in freezing weather.
If it was me the covers would be gone. The covers hold sand and grit in causing the shoes and drums to wear out faster. Plus it's easier to check the wheel seals, brake shoes and hardwear with out them. But one thing to do when parking is leave it in gear with brakes released and block a wheel. Truck Shop
Ride the brake very lightly under 10psi the last couple hundred feet before you park. Don't set the trailer brake. Usually a 4 lb clunker on the bottom of the drum knocks em loose. If it persists rip the covers off and zing them in the weeds. The DOT will give you a red *** if they cant see the thickness of the lining through the little hole.
Same thing we do heat the brakes on the way in, Get rid of every one of those darn covers Try not to set the parking brakes in the winter by the time the truck airs down and sets the brake the water will be frozen already hopefully If all else fails we keep a pipe handy to slide over the torpedo heater to thaw frozen trucks
All my trailers have parking brakes on all axles, so when the engine is shut off, it only takes a few minutes before the air pressure drops low enough to have the parking brakes lock the brakes anyhow.
Ditto leaving the brakes off when parking. The worst is when running in snow. Warming the brakes up the last couple hundred feet by light application helps. The water usually drips out before they cool enough to freeze. We never ran covers on the brakes.
Park in heated shop. :falldownlaugh sorry couldn't control myself.
Yair . . . Once only in my life have I encountered this problem up in the high country. I just happened to be working with an Alaskan who's remedy for the situation involved a gallon of methylated spirits, a straw broom and a Zippo. Cheers
Ok Scrub, lets hear how it was done, I heard of a lot of ways of going about it, but none involved a straw broom, also is this method insurance company approved?? or is it one of those things where Bubba and Leroy come in from out back as say, we accidentally lit the trailer on fire and someone should call the fire department to put it out??
Once the truck or trailer burns to the ground I bet the brakes will be unfrozen.
Yair . . . Randy88. He gave me the impression it was common practice (we're talking 1960's) Birken Vogt is on the money . . . he just dunked the broom in a bucket of metho, lit it and held it under the brake drums and then he'd have me slip under with a lump hammer and give them a whack. Cheers.
ointlaugh :falldownlaugh
I wonder if that's how they do it for thawing fuel tanker trailer brakes?? We were thawing the trailer brakes the other night in the dark in sub zero weather and nobody was in a good mood and I said if you guys think this job sucks on a lowboy, how would you like to do on livestock pot loaded with live animals as we were hunkered down slid in between the triple axles looking up trying to hit the pads with a five pound hammer to crack them loose. The only thing worse than that I told them was to hammer the brakes loose on a rendering truck in the dead of winter that was still loaded. Somewhere along the line, the job at hand looked far better than it would be for others less fortunate out there dealing with winter misery.
Funny... I just finished a rant about frozen stuff on the HTF forum. I hate winter already.
I never stopped hating winter, and I haven't changed my mind.
Your local co-op propane dept will have a 55gal drum of methanol. Pour it on ice and it melts. No fire needed. Chemicals are cool.
I don't really hate winter time & freezing temps . But sure as hell don't agree with it .
Don't think there are enough chemicals to pour on winter to make that go away anytime soon. I'm really going to have break down and put up a shed large enough to put my trucks and trailers indoors so they are at least not buried in a snow bank like they are now. As for hating winter, Its more like enduring winter long enough to enjoy spring again..................eventually. But with another 8 inches of snow coming this weekend and wind chills more than 40 below zero, its looking like there will be a lot of enduring going on.
And for that level of winter, the local liquor store still has ethanol in various flavors in the 375ml, 750ml and 1750ml containers. Living here in the East Tennessee mountains, this is the latest I have ever gone without putting snow tires on the truck. Usually by now there is a foot of snow. Howard