Brake shoes

[stiles watson]

Has anyone replaced the brake shoes on your rig and did the work yourself? If so, did you turn the drums? I am going to do a shackle, wet bolt, and MOR/ryde equalizer repair on my rig.

While I have the wheels off, I may as well do whatever needs to be done to brakes, wheels, etc. I also want to lube the axles, but have read horror stories about over lubing. Comments or cautions welcome.

[robb]

Just like a car, I did ours last year. (had a Dexter full of grease)
Changed seals and adjusted.
No big deal.
Robb

[ARJ]

quote:Originally posted by stiles watson

Has anyone replaced the brake shoes on your rig and did the work yourself? If so, did you turn the drums? I am going to do a shackle, wet bolt, and MOR/ryde equalizer repair on my rig.

While I have the wheels off, I may as well do whatever needs to be done to brakes, wheels, etc. I also want to lube the axles, but have read horror stories about over lubing. Comments or cautions welcome.

Take the damn zerks out and throw them away and clean out the accumulated grease inside the hub. Take the bearings out and pack them by hand. I question why anyone feels they have to have their bearings packed yearly. Does anyone pack the bearings on their cars and trucks yearly? I have been driving for almost 60 years and the only time I have ever packed the bearings on my vehicles is when I do a brake job-never lost a bearing!

Only reason to turn the drums is if the brake lining is worn away and the shoes have scored the drums.

By the way, if you can't find new seals locally, Amazon had seals for my TT. Unfortunately, I bought seals at NAPA and paid an arm & leg. They also mentioned something about my first born.

I suppose I will get a ration of crap for these comments but I was a mechanic in my younger days at Pontiac & Chevy dealers including Hydramatic & front end repair so I feel qualified to make these statements!

[wild willy]

After the fall rally we had Moryde replace the brake shoes, install wet shackles, and put the brace between the suspension. They relaced the backing plates with everthing attached as that was more cost effective for them. They also said never lube those axles as instucted in the manual because the inner seal is not strong enough to take that pressure. They said if you really feel the need to lube them do it after a lenghty trip when the bearings are warm and then only a couple pumps of grease per axle. I found this all out after a very nerve racking experience of having little to no trailer braking due to grease on the shoes.

[dieselguy]

Stiles: Here's a link to when I did quite a bit of suspension work on my 2980 http://www.montanaowners.com/forums/...erms=Equa,Flex It shows in general what you're looking at as far as shackles and spring work. You're going to need the place and equipment to do it safely ... a level patch of grass and a couple of bottle jacks will NOT work well for you. As for the brakes ... I agree with others ... very similar to vehicle brakes with out a slave cylinder and fluid bleeding to mess with. Basic tools here, but a brake tool for the springs does make things easier. If you've never done a brake job before, there are several parts that go back together all at once especially around the adjuster and shoe retainers ... just take your time. Take just one wheel assy apart at a time so you will be able to look at another assy for reference. As mentioned earlier, unless your brake drums are really grooved or scored by shoes clear down to the metal, just clean them up. As for bearings, a solvent tank or similar and a stiff bristle brush to clean the old grease out of the bearings will be in order. You can cup you hand and repack the bearings, but a grease gun and one of those inexpensive dual cone bearing repackers like you see at Autozone will make it much easier. Be sure and use the appropriate grease recommended by say Dexter. The wheel seals can be popped out with a long screwdriver or a seal remover if you have one. You can square a new seal on top of the wheel bore and tap it back flush in place with a small block of wood and hammer. The lip points toward the grease ... always. Long and windy and not much in depth, but I tried to cover most of the issues you'll encounter. Sorry if I went a little too basic for you experience.

[bsmeaton]

I personally always turn the drums when replacing shoes. It doesn't matter if you are worn down through the lining or not, the linings wear uneven agains the drum surface causing ridges. New linings take a while to wear down into those ridges and in the meantime you only have a percentage of the surface contact you need. If they overheat and develop a squeek, you end up doing it over again anyway.

[noneck]

We did ours next to the house...

[wild willy]

While you have it apart I'd replace the electro-magnets too.

[kmh3212]

You can buy the entire 12" x 2" backing plate assy with shoes, magnets, springs etc. for $65.00 at etrailer.com. Quicker and better job.

[n3jxe]

Stiles,
Replaced the whole assembly got it at.
http://www.redneck-trailer.com/ They have a location about
10 miles from us. Nice people to deal with.

Fred