Hello can someone please tell me where to add alcohol to brakes to avoid freezing in cold weather?

how new is your trailer? i have a 2018 stepdeck and it clearly states putting additives in brake lines voids the warranty

 

Don’t set them in freezing cold, just tractor, long as you arent parking on the side of a mountain it’s not going anywhere

 

That's not recommended.

Not with today's materials in braking systems.

What you want is the older Rubber black lines between truck and trailer gladhands. Not the plastic red and green lines. They snap in severe cold if you jack her around too hard.

What you want is a change in your thinking about setting brakes on a Semi in severe cold. Especially wet and below freezing. You need to do whatever you can to warm them drums up, essentially applying 10 pounds service and adding 1st gear horsies at 1750 Drag the wheels until they warm up when you walk around with your hand just under the wheel rim but not hot or abused. That will get the water out of the drums so you can park and be reasonably assured that you wont freeze your pads to the drums.

Thats about all I have for here. There is in worse case scenario a method to introduce evaporating alcohol into the glad hands of the trailer then adding air from the trolley back there until the trailer brakes release and start to rotate. But thats a gamble. USUALLY should work, but expect to go to the shop soon after to examine for additional damage on the materials used in the trailer braking system that may not tolerate that alochol.

This is strictly for older trailers. Anything newer than say 2005 you are going to ruin it and the dealer will not touch it. Again I have said that alcohol and trailers do not mix today.

 

Just take your red and blue gladhands off the trailer poured in there hook them back up if your truck freezes up you can run it through the intake on the air compressor !!

 

I always poured it in the glad hand lines. That's what the mechanics told us to do at several companies.
I don't set the trailer brakes in extreme weather either. Mechanics also told us to do that.
Old timers also said don't set the trailer brakes; that was before I was an old timer.

 

It depends on what you are driving /pulling. We deal with severe cold so have sniffers on all trucks, but I also just about freeze up take plugs out of my tanks themselves and pour a pint or a little more in every one.
If your air does freeze, you can pull the main line off your compressor and add antifreeze there, but it is a pain and has to go to the air dryer too.

 

Several years ago we pulled in to the truckstop at meade Ks during a pretty good snow storm. The next morning a younger gay had set her brakes on the trailer without drying them first, and the air was not froze but the shoes were froze to the drums. I explained what she needed to do, she diiid not have a hammer, so I got mine and was just about to crawl under it and smack her drums for her, when I mentioned next time don't set the trailer brakes. She said no way was she going to park without setting them. So I said I will just loan you my hammer and you can crawl under there in the snow, maybe that may change your mind next time. lol she didn't want to use my hammer either, I don't know how long she sat there. lol

 

Always carry a bottle torch for warming frozen stuff imo. Drain tanks daily and once in a while, with full charge, pop your gladhands off. Theyll spit a lotta vapor out that will no longer be in the system waiting to raise hell. Watch your eyes when you do.

 

you dont. use break antifreeze