Anti gel for frozen trailer air lines?

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Don't confuse the diesel fuel anti gel additive with the air line de-ice additive! Agree about manually draining air tanks daily(if truck is equipped). If there’s ice in the air lines, usually remove the red line from the trailer and pour some anti ice additive in the red pigtail(never use pure isopropyl alcohol). Apply the brakes several times until the ice is freed, and repeat process if necessary.

If ice has coated the brake drums(different issue then ice in the air lines), usually remedied by taking a 5 pound hammer to the outside of the affected brake drums(be careful to avoid hitting the brake linings), until the brakes are freed.

 

Had a friend of mine who went home for a week. Owner Op. Got back in the truck and one of his drives had a frozen brake. He put the power divider on, revved a 550HP engine and dumped the clutch.

“Hey Six, what does it mean when you have one set of wheels on one side of an axle going forward and the other side going in reverse?

It means you busted the differential. That’s $2500-$3000. Why didn’t you get under the truck and hit the drums?

“Well, I didn’t want to lay in the snow…”

For $2500, I will take a 10hour break laying in the snow.

 

Years ago I was driving then 'high plains' during a nasty cold snap (-20°F and lower, with wind...), I learned from local drivers why there were always telephone poles laying at the back of the truck lot, staked into the ground; the drivers there only set their tractor brakes, meaning only the forward drive axle was set, if even that. The telephone poles would hold the rig when the trailer tires were up against it, and some very careful drivers didn't even set THAT brake, preferring to throw down a wheel chock just for safety.

Never use medical-grade isopropyl; it's 30% water. You can usually find 91% isopropyl at any home Depot or Menards, and some places you can find industrial isopropyl which is almost pure. BTW, if you put that stuff into a garden spray bottle, it can free up a frozen brake shoe....

 

Unless you're parking on a steep hill the only thing setting your trailer brakes will get you is less air in your tanks when you get going. All sorts of setups with trailers dumping their tanks or dropping their suspension which can be a pain in the butt on a short stop. I can't tell you how many times I got freaked out when I forgot to set the trailer brakes and wait a bit before setting the tractor and then an hour later the tractor jumps because of the trailer pushing against it. Makes you think you got backed into.

 

Wait... Your airlines can get freezing up too?

 

Primarily an issue if your air dryer isn't working. If you've got moisture in your air tanks when you drain them, you might have to worry about that moisture freezing in the trailer air lines causing blockages. Maybe in valves.

 

On my Doepker super-b the spring brake valve would freeze occasionally. It would still release the brakes, but the suspension would not air up.
A few shots of air line antifreeze usually did the trick.
Brake shoes frozen to the drums, no amount of alcohol in the air system will have any effect. This problem is just wet snow or slush that got into the brake assembly either on the road or just maneuvering in the parking lot before parking for the night. Then it freezes, I just had a short 4 lbs sledge hammer to beat the brake drums to get it to release. Generally I didn't set the trailer brakes in the winter if I could avoid it.

 

It usually doesn't take much. If they ring try the next one. Frozen drums thud instead of ring.

 

How dangerous is it using a blowtorch to heat the brake drums? I could see dropping the blowtorch next to the tire and it exploding in your face.