My wife and I were on our way back to Denver from a long weekend trip to the Salida area. On the way back we got caught in bumper to bumper traffic because of construction, they had narrowed the highway to 2 tight lanes using those concrete barriers. It was because of our slow speed and those barriers that my wife said she heard a noise. Sure enough, when we rolled down the windows, you could hear a grinding noise. We were coming down the north side of Monument Hill and I pulled off at the first exit we came to (it was a desolate exit with no kind of service, just an exit that led to some county roads). I got out of the truck and went around to each wheel feeling for excess heat. When I found the rear right trailer wheel hotter than the rest, I was pretty sure I found where the problem was (just to confirm, I had my wife move the rig forward a few feet so I could listen for the noise, it was the rear right trailer wheel). I used the level-up system to raise the wheel off the ground and pulled the tire. Thankfully I had enough tools to pull the hub and drum assembly. When I pulled the Hub/Drum all of the brake hardware fell out on the ground (brake shoes, magnet, wires, springs, adjusters etc).
SEE IMAGE BELOW Everything that was attached to the backing plate was now laying on the ground. Luckily, there was nothing wrong with the bearings, hub, and spindle.( the drum had some good size grooves in it). So, I remounted the drum/hub back on the axle, and then remounted the tire. I now able to get the rig back home to Denver.
I called Keystone to tell them of my problem and to see what could be done. Unfortunately, trying to get the rig in for repairs during the summer was a 6 to 8-week drama. Keystone said they would reimburse me if I wanted to do the work myself, I was fine with that. They said I would have to buy the parts and they would then compensate me for my costs. I was going to get a new "Never Adjust" backing plate and a new hub/drum assembly from Etrailer.com, but, when researching this I found that there are 2 different seal options for a 7K axle (one is 2 and 1/8 and one is 2 and 1/4). I didn't want to take the wheel apart (and leave it that way until I received the new parts) to find out which seal was needed. So, I took a picture of the axle tag and called Dexter with the serial number. When I explained what happened with my trailer the woman at Dexter arranged for me to pick up all of the parts as well as an additional complete left side backing plate. They wanted me to replace both sides, and they also gave me the seals and hardware to pull the wheels off of the front axle to inspect those wheels for damage, and they arranged to do this at no charge, all of the parts were supplied from a local Dexter distributor. When I get everything done they said they would send a call tag to get the damaged parts back to them for inspection. This made my job very easy.
Now, the cool tools. When trying to complete my "off highway" repair I ran into two problems. First, I really struggled to get the tire and rim back up on the hub, it was a painful problem to overcome. The second problem is trying to get under a trailer at the storage lot that has a gravel parking, I can't find a creeper that does well. Listed below are my 2 solutions. I am not paid and was not given free products. I paid for these myself, maybe someone else will find these useful.
First the Tire and Wheel Lifting tool. This thing works great. It is heavy duty and very well built
https://www.tiretoolproducts.com/sto...ting_Tool.html.
Second, is Kaizen Foam. I use 2 peices of the 57mm version. Kaizen foam is not specifically made to use as a dirt parking lot creeper, but it does a great job. It will Not absorb water, mud or oil, you can wash it off with a hose when you are done. This stuff is very light weight, it is rigid, and it is easy to stack somewhere in your basement. What it's real purpose is for, is organization, you'll see when you go to Fastcap's website. I suspect some of you will buy this stuff and use it for it's intended purpose.
https://www.fastcap.com/product/kaizen-foam
I hope some finds this post helpful
Jim