suladas,
Sorry bud but I have to say this:
You asked some basic stuff at the start of this thread and you were given solid advice from the folks here. From the replies you have posted, either you did not know how or did not have the time to take it (when I say clean up and grease, it means just that. Including slack adjuster pins, not force some grease through the fitting). If you came to me for a safety inspection (I have a license and do PA. state inspections) I would do the same thing as the shop you took it to (to cover my a$$). You can bit$h about the shop, but they can tell that you are taking too much risk with your rig considering your knowledge and experience from what you have posted here.
For what it's worth I have benefited from help on this forum and feel I should be helpful to others in return and in this case it is going to be the people that share the road with you and beg you to take hauling heavy equipment more serious.
I am open in that I was trying to do what I needed to get it back on the road to get my hoe moved to the next job, and it was simply too cold after that for me to want to bother, so I took it in expecting there to be some other stuff with the brakes, however there really was nothing, the trailer needs a few minor things but really is "safe" for the road right now based on their list. I know i'm not overly experienced with air brakes, that's why I asked so many questions to absolutely make sure I was confident in what I was doing, and that it was done right. I'm assuming you're referring to the clevis pins being seized, I have looked at them, and I absolutely do not see in anyway how them being seized is negative to anything, other then removing them. It's a fixed pin that holds two items together, nothing else. And really, I am going off of them saying they are seized, and I don't exactly trust their word.
I read every single reply i've got and take the advice, however there is a few that contradicted others, so I asked follow up questions. I was not ignoring any advice I was given.
I can assure I do not run anything that is unsafe. I could have caged the brake, put on 2 tires and ran the trailer with a brake not working, but I wanted it to be safe, I guarantee you a decent amount of guys would just do that and run it. In 7 years of driving heavy trucks, I have never failed a roadside inspection, had a ticket, or an accident of any kind.
As far as the shop, I am tired of mechanics who think it is up to them what is/isn't in the inspection. It's SAFETY, and SAFETY only, if it's not safety it's none of their concern. I do not give a chit if they "think" having a bent jack foot is a problem, it's not safety and i'm not fixing it to pass inspection, I could take the jacks off and it would pass. There is way too much left up to everyone's interpretation and each shop varies way too much (I hear it all the time from others who are tired of it also). A mechanic cannot say oh it looks like you don't maintain stuff, so i'm going to be more picky and call you on stuff that I wouldn't on someone else, that is someone who shouldn't be working on equipment. If it's not safe for one, it's not for another. If it's safe for one, it's safe for another. Now, if there is a company who they let by with safety stuff and it keeps coming back the next year and it's obvious they don't look after stuff, I can see being stricter as far as letting stuff go, that's fine. But trying to make me put a handle on the latch to tilt the deck? Not happening. I will put one on, simply to make it easier to tilt it but out of principle I am not doing it for inspection. I told them very bluntly what I will have them do, what I will do, and if they won't put a sticker on it after that I will pick it up and take it elsewhere for everything.
I mean in the summer with my other trailer, there was mud flap brackets between the duals, and one was missing so what did they do? They took a grinder to the other side "so they matched". BS like that is what absolutely drives me insane. It never should have happened.
If I didn't care, I would have taken the trailer to a shop who will pass anything, the shop it's at knows I could go get a sticker without doing anything. But I want a safe trailer. But I also am not going to be gouged and do things that aren't needed, there is a fine line and frankly I wish I could find a shop that knew how to be closer to it.