trailer brakes and salt water

[Megunticook]

Just used a new Triad Trailer for the first time yesterday. The rear wheels, equipped with drum brakes, were immersed in salt water for 15 minutes or so.

I was planning to rinse the brake assemblies with fresh water at home but didn't get a chance to (I rinsed the trailer off but didn't have time to jack it, remove wheels, remove outer bearings to get hub off, etc.)

Any advice from folks with drum brakes on their trailers who launch/haul in salt water? Am guessing I will need to thoroughly disassemble, clean, and re-lube everything at this point since the salt water probably dried on the drive home (only 4 miles, but probably enough to dry). Plus it's been a full day sitting.

Are those flush kits worth installing or do they not really do a thorough job?

Thanks.

[Megunticook]

Pulled the hubs today, brake assemblies didn't look that bad but it was clear some water got into the grease. Definitely some surface rust on the inside of the hubs for the salt water.

I'm thinking probably since the trailer only gets submerged twice a year, and it's only an 8 mile round trip to the boat launch, I won't bother with the flushing kit--sounds like they don't necessarily do a great job anyway--I'll just disassemble everything each spring and fall. Kind of a hassle but probably only 2 hours all told.

Still be curious to hear others' experiences.

[Sleepwalker]

I just started using Salt-Away on my trailer. Read some good reviews on it.

[Alan Stewart]

The aftermarket brake-flushing kits (around $50-60), are fairly simple to install and are the best way (aside from stopping by a freshwater boat ramp on the way home if you’re near a lake!), to ensure that you’re getting fresh water inside the brake drums where it’s needed most after submerging the trailer in salt water - without this feature on your trailer you can be sure that there will be rust/corrosion damage even after just a few immersions in salt water. So a flushing kit is definitely worth the cost, time and effort required (less than an hour), to install one.