Trailer Auto Reverse Fault.

[Tim Falce]

The auto reverse on my Brian James trailer seems not to be working, when I reverse the brakes come on. IIRC this may have started when I last adjusted the brakes at the hubs rather than the linkage. When I apply the handbrake the lever has a lot of travel in it. I backed the brakes off a bit but it has made no difference.
Does anyone have any experience of this?

[dtype38]

Did you do this....

Raise the trailer onto a pair of axle stands at each end, carefully avoiding damage to electrical wiring and other components under the trailer. Remove all the road wheels.

Stage A - brake shoes
Adjust the shoes on each brake to the lock-up point by turning the adjuster ‘nut’ on the brake back plate (using a cranked, 17mm ring spanner) The adjuster should then be released gradually while at the same time rotating the brake drum wheel to achieve a free turning brake.

PLEASE NOTE
i)Slight contact of the shoe/drum is permissible; too much freeing-off of the shoes will result in poorly adjusted brakes.
ii) Rotate wheel in forward direction only during adjustment procedure.

Stage B - brake rod
1) Adjust the self-locking nut at the rear of the long central brake rod until slackness is taken up, to leave 1 mm of free play at the nut.

IMPORTANT:Care must be taken with this adjustment to avoid over tensioning the system which would cause the brakes to bind - this can be checked by rotating each wheel individually during the adjustment of the main central brake rod nut.

2) At this stage, the handbrake will have been automatically adjusted.

WARNING:
An over-adjusted brake system can lead to severe heat generation and failure of wheel bearings.

Stage C - final checks
1) Replace road wheels, ensuring that the wheel nuts are tightened to 65 lbft (90 nm).
2) Road test trailer to ensure safe and proper operation of the trailer brakes.
3) Should any aspect of the above procedure be unsatisfactory, please contact Brian James Trailers for advice.

[Tim Falce]

I did all of stage A but not stage B. will try stage B when I can get a space outside my house to do it.

[JohnD]

dtype,
Did that come from an owner's manual for the BJ trailer.
I bought mine (nearly new) but didn't get one, or any maintenance instructions. Do BJ sell them?

JOhn

[dtype38]

I don't have a BJ trailer myself, I just lifted that off the BJ website FAQ section cos I thought it might help. Its mostly sales stuff, but they also have quite a lot of info you can download here: http://www.brianjames.co.uk/pages/literature.html

[Tim Falce]

Originally Posted by JohnD

dtype,
Did that come from an owner's manual for the BJ trailer.
I bought mine (nearly new) but didn't get one, or any maintenance instructions. Do BJ sell them?

JOhn

I bought mine new and did get a set of instructions and diagrams of the brakes and how to adjust them, since lost but I am sure they would supply you with a set if you ask nicely, they are quite helpful.

[Chris Y]

I have the little green booklet that came with my trailer, and it's basically the same as posted by dtype38

Which reminds me, I need to do mine!

[Tim Falce]

Originally Posted by dtype38

Did you do this....

Raise the trailer onto a pair of axle stands at each end, carefully avoiding damage to electrical wiring and other components under the trailer. Remove all the road wheels.

Stage A - brake shoes
Adjust the shoes on each brake to the lock-up point by turning the adjuster ‘nut’ on the brake back plate (using a cranked, 17mm ring spanner) The adjuster should then be released gradually while at the same time rotating the brake drum wheel to achieve a free turning brake.

PLEASE NOTE
i)Slight contact of the shoe/drum is permissible; too much freeing-off of the shoes will result in poorly adjusted brakes.
ii) Rotate wheel in forward direction only during adjustment procedure.

Stage B - brake rod
1) Adjust the self-locking nut at the rear of the long central brake rod until slackness is taken up, to leave 1 mm of free play at the nut.

IMPORTANT:Care must be taken with this adjustment to avoid over tensioning the system which would cause the brakes to bind - this can be checked by rotating each wheel individually during the adjustment of the main central brake rod nut.

2) At this stage, the handbrake will have been automatically adjusted.

WARNING:
An over-adjusted brake system can lead to severe heat generation and failure of wheel bearings.

Stage C - final checks
1) Replace road wheels, ensuring that the wheel nuts are tightened to 65 lbft (90 nm).
2) Road test trailer to ensure safe and proper operation of the trailer brakes.
3) Should any aspect of the above procedure be unsatisfactory, please contact Brian James Trailers for advice.

This didn't work so I phoned Brian James and the man there said there should be 8mm free play on the brake rods, that's on all the adjusters not just the central one.
I haven't tried this yet but will give it a go later.

[JohnD]

Full marks, I think, to Brian James Trailers.
I emailed them and asked if I might buy an owners manual or instruction leaflet.
By return of post, I received three pages of printed advice, FOC.
The content is very similar to that posted by dtype, but specific to my trailer.

I've had similarly helpful dealings with them in the past.
Well done, BJT!

John

[Tim Falce]

I tried backing the rods off by 8mm and it seems to have worked OK, yesterday I reversed my trailer with the car on it up my drive which is quite steep and not helped by me having an automatic.