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Old 07-23-2014, 03:55 PM   #1
johncamtravel
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Need To Adjust Brakes

Today I greased the EZ Lube bearings ( thanks for the help from this site) and now I need to adjust the breaks. There are 2 caps which is the one for the adjustment. And I think it says to tighten the wheel
and then back off 5 turns so after you spin the tire it should go about 1 turn and stop?? Does this sound right?? And how often do you adjust the breaks?? Once a year same as greasing the bearings??
Thanks for any help...
 
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Old 07-23-2014, 04:22 PM   #2
Irlpguy
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Unless I am completely wrong your 2013 will have Dexter self adjusting brakes which do not need to be adjusted manually. It is wise to pull the hubs and bearings to inspect the brakes from time to time and I would not go more than two years without doing that, annually if you put on a lot of miles would be recommended.

For about $160.00 you can have the bearings repacked and the brakes checked at a lot of dealers. Bad things happen when you don't neglect checking the condition of the brakes and bearings.


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Old 07-23-2014, 05:53 PM   #3
dieselguy
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There's lotsa variance in ideas on adjusting brake shoes. Even if you have self adjusting brakes, it doesn't hurt to jack the wheel up and get them close for starters should your fiver be pretty new. Going by your post, you can pop both caps off the backing plate ... the star wheel will be aligned best with one or the other. I'd just turn the star wheel till you feel a slight drag while spinning the tire and call it good. Some authorities say turn the star wheel till the tire stops turning, then back it off so many "clicks" not turns. Following your post, that would be 5 "clicks" not turns. Theoretically the self adjusting brakes should be good to go from that point on. If the brake is adjusted up too tight ... you'll have to push the adjuster arm away from the star wheel to enable you to turn the star wheel in the opposite direction ... the second plug comes in handy for this move. As far as greasing ... I'm not going to get into the EZ lube debate ... some that travel a lot each year clean and repack their bearings once a year ... some that don't travel all that much go every two or so. That call will be up to your traveling habits.
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Old 07-24-2014, 12:01 AM   #4
Phil P
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Hi

I have had the hubs off one time when it was 4 years old and had 60,000 miles on it because one wheel wasn’t releasing properly. I replaced the brake shoes at that time. We now have 75,000 on the trailer. I use the EZ lube system for bearing lubrication once a year.

If you do in fact have the self adjusters then I would recommend removing the hubs and inspect the brake linings for wear when you have about 40,000 miles on the trailer. I was able to keep track of wear by the number of times I adjusted the brake. We don’t have self adjusters.

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Old 07-24-2014, 04:41 AM   #5
WaltBennett
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The only time the Dexter self-adjusting ones need to be manually adjusted is right after installation to get the shoes close to the drums. Otherwise, you can verify where they are by just jacking & spinning a wheel by hand. You should hear the slight drag from the shoes on each wheel. If you don't, then pull the wheel & drum to find out why. Just popping the rubber caps and manually adjusting them may hide a bigger problem.
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