M101 Hydraulic Brake Resistance?

[oddave715]

How much resistance should a properly working hydraulic actuator have? Are they easy to push in by hand? How do you test to see if the shock is functioning properly?

 

[FloridaAKM]

My experiance with hydraulic/surge brakes is that when you have a load on your trailer & you have to stop, the actuator reacts to the load & slows down the trailer as if it is not even there. With no hydraulic/surge brakes, your trailer & load will push you right thru the stoplight if your reaction time is poor. You should not be able to test anything by hand unless you are superman & can compress the actuator to simulate a quick stop situation.

 

[oddave715]

I can push mine in by hand. That's the reason I asked because it seems as though that is too easy.

 

[FloridaAKM]

Have you consulted the TM's on that trailer to see what the specs say? I am going on experiance from what I have dealt with, YMMV!

 

[Recovry4x4]

How is the fluid level? Shouldn't be able to compress it much by hand.

 

[oddave715]

Well the fluid level is good. But, the fluid is contaminated with water. It had the vent pipe broken off at the top of the master cylinder right at the cap.

 

[FloridaAKM]

You might want to replace the vent cap & bleed the master cylinder of the contaminated fluid/water mixture before you go any further!

 

[oddave715]

That's the plan. I will be replacing the axle due to a bent spindle and have a friend with a Jeep master cylinder that I may be getting. I'm just trying to figure out what all I need to be looking for as far as parts go and was not sure if the shock was providing enough resistance.

 

[gimpyrobb]

I usually jack up one tire and have someone spin it. Then I use a monkey wrench on one of the 4 "hinge bar" thingys to see if it will stop the tire from spinning. After that, I check the other side.

 

[rustystud]

If you had water contamination in you master cylinder you might want to consider rebuilding it. You could have rust inside the bore and valving . Plus check your wheel cylinders. These are simple master cylinders, and you might not have to replace anything just clean it up and remove any rust.