KAYAKFISH wrote:
I had the trailer inspected in the late fall of 2012 and went to Fl this year and returned in march.
In other words, YOU have never actually inspected the brakes yourself.
Just because you "had {it} inspected" does not mean that the person doing the inspection pulled the wheels and actually looked inside. That's a lot of work and a lot of garage time for a $21 inspection.
You can pretty much rest assured that since the wheel was still firmly attached to the trailer, the inspector simply assumed everything was fine, passed the trailer, and collected your $21 or however much it was.