going to pick up used talbert tbt20 with air, 300 miles away.going to pick it up with my one ton truck without air.so i need to release the brakes so i can haul it home. talked to the engineer at talbert he said the front axle should have a parking type brake that i need to release. anybody ever did this before? thanks Tim
You just need to cage the brakes. Since its new the cage bolt should be right on the top or the bottom side of the brake chamber. Usually 3/4" wrench will be required (a ratcheting wrench is my perference, it will save some time and deep well sockets are usually not deep enough) The bolt will have a T on the end, pull the rubber cap out of the end of the brake chamber and stick T end of bolt in the hole, you will kinda have to fish around to find the slot the T goes into (should be dead center) and twist it about 1/4 turn to lock it into the spring. Then just tighten the nut until the wheel spins freely. While you are tightening you should see the slack adjuster moving. You should be good to go, you just wont have any trailer brakes. Good Luck
As said above you need to cage the brakes, you can get the caging tool anywhere, there might even be some on the side of the brake chamber if they arent rusted solid. Be careful pulling that trailer, even empty itll be a load for a 1 ton pickup esp without brakes.
how to unlock brakes on talbert 20 ton tag: Hello earthscratcher, (Tim) The engineer is probably referring to what are commonly called maxi brakes, maxi cans, spring brakes, or sometimes, parking brakes, or dual brake chambers. They will apply the brakes, with a big spring, if you happen to lose your air supply.... Caging the brakes is probably the best idea... but if the fellow has a truck with an air system, and could hook up to your trailer and build up air, you could release the the brakes, and just back the slack adjusters off a ways... Far enough, so the springs wouldn't apply the brakes when you unhooked and lost your air. I don't know which would be the easiest, although I've used this method. And I've caged them too. I would give you a chance to see if your slack adjusters worked ok, though...:cool2 OCR
I was thinking if he was talking to the engineer about the trailer it is a new trailer so that rust wouldn't be an issue.