Boating & Outdoor Photos - Improved salwater washdown

Some of you remember I was rebuilding my brakes. I finished that with the last newly sandblasted and painted hub.

I noticed after removing the old brake hardware, there was a plastic fitting for the wash down kit. I installed a brass barbed fitting and then installed a brass cap. I then drilled a few holes at an angle(THT suggestion) and installed 1/4 inch hard tubing with plastic fittings. I also found a "water blaster" that is used to unclog drain. I can pour the salt away solution into this tube thing and then connect the garden hose. The holes are fairly small so they project a good spray to all the brake hardware.

I also installed galvx (TY East Coat Trailers) for the idea. I also used all stainless steel hardware and new lug bolts and nuts.

I am still figuring out a system to wash the brakes at the ramp with no readily avaialble water supply.

I must admit that I did no maintenace for 3 years to the brakes on the trailer, but now after the season I will take apart and check the system.

The admiral and I bled the brake system this am and we are ready for the road.

Total cost was:

150.00 for brake hardware
12.00 for fittings and tube.
20.00 for sand blasting
24.00 for 2 hubs being turned.

As an answer to your question of how to flush the brakes at a ramp with no hose, what I made was a brake flusher from a winterization tank used for I/Os, it is a pretty good sized tank, that I was able to attach a livewell pump to. I attached a short line of hose to this, and hooked up the livewell pump to my 12 volt battery jumpstart pack. Works well, if a bit heavy when it's full of water. But you probably could mount it somehow on the tongue of the trailer, make the hose long enough to go to the connection by the brakes, etc.

I bought that thing to winterize my IO years ago, and realized that it's a bad way to winterize, sucking the AF up the drive, (leaves too much raw water in the block) so I just drained and backfilled with AF. So I had this big tank sitting in the garage, wondering what I could do with it, found a livewell pump that screwed right into the threads on the tank and presto!

Questions/observations for ya......

Would the fitting be better suited more towards top dead center so it would flow over more of the internals? I would think that where it is, it basically flows down and misses most of the top where the piston assembly is. Unless the pump has enough pressure to really splash it around in there I would think a lot would be missed. Maybe use a 90 degree fitting facing up for more coverage above the level it is at?

That being said, if a fitting could be installed up top, maybe a pump would not be needed at all? How bout having a 5/10/15 gallon drum of fresh water sitting in the back of the truck, run a garden hose to the fitting on the trailer and just open the valve and let gravity do the work? I would think that as you slowly drive the rig away from the ramp to finish your packing up and tying down, the flow combined with the wheels turning would be enough to give a decent rinse without a pump.

I only flush with a garden hose, and the little hose spary pretty hard.

I can't answer the other question.

kingair: take a 2-3 gallon garden sprayer (the kind you pump up and has a short hose with a squeeze handle) and mix up your salt-away solution in it. take it with you and must pump and spray down the down the brakes and hubs as best you can. this works better for disc brakes but you could try to do it with your hose setup.

Kg

Thanks for the tip :thumbsup:

keith91 - 1/27/2009 3:53 PM

kingair: take a 2-3 gallon garden sprayer (the kind you pump up and has a short hose with a squeeze handle) and mix up your salt-away solution in it. take it with you and must pump and spray down the down the brakes and hubs as best you can. this works better for disc brakes but you could try to do it with your hose setup.

Kg

What Keith said.
I have one spray pump with a SaltX solution I leave at the coast, and another I keep inland in case I head to a different part of the coast I can take one with me.

Nice Kingair.

Good job. The stupid hose going into the drum installed by the manufacture doesn't do very much.

As to flushing at the ramp. That is the most critical time to flush. Even flushing when you get home after hauling the boat doesn't help as much. You really need to flush the brakes while they are still wet from launching or hauling. This means you need to flush right after launching and right after hauling. Once the water dries and leaves the salt behind it is already eating into the metal.

You can build a permanant flushing system right in the truck. Install a 10 gallon tank in the bed of the truck and mount a heavy duty 12 volt washdown pump. Rig power and a switch. Then run the flush hose up to the tounge of the trailer. Run the hose from the pump in the truck to the hitch ball on the truck. Rig a quick disconnect. When you hook your boat up you connect the washdown hose just as you would the ltrailer lights.

Now you can flush the brakes very simple and quick every time. You can even put the switch to the pump in the cab of the truck so you can be flushing the brakes while you are looking for a parking space after launching and while you are leaving the ramp after hauling.

I did this to a truck and trailer years ago, it worked awsome. I had a 25 gallon tank in my truck so I wouldn't have to fill it every time. Plus the extra weight of the water in the truck helped out on those low tide days.