[chrismahon]

Had a big problem earlier in the week with reversing our BV125 x 7' high box trailer. Drove the van and trailer onto some grass and left it there for a month or so. Since then it has rained heavily and despite all efforts could not get sufficient traction to over-ride the braking system when reversing. Unable to move forward or uncouple the trailer and drag it back I contacted Ifor Williams.


They told me I could buy a Manual Reverse Kit P00915 which would allow me to over-ride the brakes. Small problem -they wanted £31.00 for the part and £17 for postage to France!


Well, determined not to be forced to part with that much I had a look at the coupling. There is a slot under the handle which the part fits into. Good news is after a couple of hours attacking a piece of 4mm plate with saw, drill and files, plus a few washers and a bolt, I managed to make a part to fit securely into the slot and do the job. What I must remember to do is remove it before driving off otherwise the brakes on the trailer won't work!

[wonderwooly]

you couldnt move it at all? like the brakes on?
not sure if i had understood the problem properly but, I thought I would post.
My ifor trailer was parked in a field for a couple of weeks could not
budge the thing. In the end I banged around the brake drum with a hammer
and they worked ! after a while i posted on another forum and
had an inundation of reply's saying exactly the same, they just stick
if you leave it standing for too long in the damp. bang it with a hammer.
I hope its that easy. good luck
 

[steve_pr]

Sounds a bit more like the brake drums have seized - they do this on most trailers especially when conditions are damp.  After you have applied a large club hammer to teach the system the error of it's ways it is generally best NOT to apply the handbrake when leaving it parked since that only encourages them to stick.  Sounds a bit stupid I realise but a couple of concrete blocks either side of the wheels does just a good a job at stopping the trailer moving when you don't want it to and letting you move it easily when you do.

[chrismahon]

I leave the trailer handbrake off when it is parked for extended periods, for just the reason mentioned. It gets secured by the drop down legs at the back and the jockey wheel on the front -they are set securely onto wood blocks. Reversing requires sufficient push to activate the cam override of the auto braking system, so if you have insufficient traction on the towing vehicle you can't push the trailer hitch hard enough. The part I fitted prevents the auto brakes from operating at all by stopping the hitch piston from hitting the braking bar.

[Possum]

Well now our trailer has done the same thing. It is kept in a garage so I didn't think it would be a problem.
We have hit it and hit it and it is still seized.


Is there anything else we can do?

[shep53]

 IF you've done all the usual  drive forward then reverse      jacked the wheel up taken off the wheel so that you can hit the drum all round then all that's left is to take it apart to find the problem   ( when you say you've hit it and hit it with a hammer or sledge hammer ?  )

[Possum]

Yep. Done all the backwards and forwards stuff
Then we took the wheel off and started hitting the drum with a lump hammer (Cushioned with a piece of wood so that we didn't damage the drum). We all had a go, just in case my technique wasn't right.

[/size]Have come to the conclusion that the drum needs to be taken apart [/size]but we don't have the tools to do it. Our plan is to ask the mechanic from the local garage to come and take it apart, but if there is anything else we can do ourselves, that would be better.

[shep53]

Wouldn't of used any wood just hit it and keep hitting it all round and between the studs , keep applying penetrating oil around the studs  ,   can take   a long time if really bad .

[Possum]

Thanks Shep. Will give it a go.