Adjusting Trailer Brakes

[smfdva]

I have a 2010 MOntana 3455SA and the brakes are doing nothing. I slide the lever to emergency and it slows trailer down a little. I was told to adjust the brakes on each hub, however mine has 2 slots right next to each other instead of one. Any instructions on how to do this?

[oldelmer1]

I would pull the drums off first to see if you have a blown seal. Mind did the same thing, and when I took the drums off, 3 of the 4 had blown seals and grease was all over the brake shoes.

[steelpony5555]

I would pull both and try to see which one has the star wheel behind it....

[CORattler]

Agreed. Find out what you are facing 1st.
I too had 3 out of four brakes contaminated by excessive lubing. This was when the RV was new. It was Dexters fault and they made it right (much to their credit).

quote:Originally posted by oldelmer1

I would pull the drums off first to see if you have a blown seal. Mind did the same thing, and when I took the drums off, 3 of the 4 had blown seals and grease was all over the brake shoes.

[Irlpguy]

quote:Originally posted by smfdva

I have a 2010 MOntana 3455SA and the brakes are doing nothing. I slide the lever to emergency and it slows trailer down a little. I was told to adjust the brakes on each hub, however mine has 2 slots right next to each other instead of one. Any instructions on how to do this?

You likely have self adjusting brakes, you cannot adjust the brakes tighter without pushing the self adjust away from the adjuster, you can do that using the second hole.

However the best advise is to pull the drums and check the brake pads and all moving parts, if your brakes have never been serviced they will definitely not be moving freely and the magnet might be worn beyond spec as well. As mentioned grease on the pads could also cause the brakes to fail, but I would be betting on just plain needing new brake assemblies.

Repack, replace rear seal and you will be good to go for a long time again, but they should be checked annually.

[WaltBennett]

X2 what Ed said. I've the same brakes and they are supposed to be completely self adjusting both when going forward and when backward & applying brakes. Only time they're supposed to be manually adjusted is when brand new to get them close to the right position. You've probably one of the two problems others have described, and I'd believe it's the grease on the shoes one.

[Ishler]

Self adjusting brakes were a mid year change in 2010. If your unit was built in November of 2009 or later it should have them. You may also have a broken wire in the brake system. hold a compass near each wheel and look for movement while someone activates the brakes. This will tell you if the magnet is operating.

[smfdva]

ANy body have any idea what brake assembly to order? Gonna replace entire hub on all four. Any recommendations or tips appreciated.

[1retired06]

The Dexter Manual that came with my rig has charts which list all the various parts for each of their axles. Hopefully you have one with yours which should be a good starting point.

[dieselguy]

Try this for Dexter part numbers. http://dexteraxle.com/12__x_2__brakes I'd focus on either 458/459's or 464/465's depending on what axles you have. You'll find them cheaper if you shop around. I'd go with self adjust since they bolt right on with no extra issues should you originally have manual adjusters. You have 12" by 2" electric brakes. You don't have a parking brake. You may need to roll under your unit and get the axle number off the tube to determine if you have 6000# or 7000# axles. It's pretty easy to swap out and cheaper to buy the whole backing plate assembly. 5 bolts and two wire connections, adjust em up, put the tire back on.

[rohrmann]

Yes, easy to replace the whole assembly, but there is another thing to do before the job is done. You need to get the drums turned and there are very few shops that can turn the drums for electric brakes, as they also need to machine the magnet contact surface. If that surface is not trued up, your magnets will fail early, and your braking will suffer. Best to call around for a shop that can turn them for you, as your normal auto parts store that turns drums and disks, can't turn these drums.

[dieselguy]

Guess I've always been lucky ... never had an issue with the inner drum surface the magnets rub on. Sure they have a little groove here an there, but not enough to worry about using up a magnet early on or lessening it's effectiveness.

[jbcason]

Dexter had problems with their magnet along this time frame. The magnets would become magnetized and stay on all the time a bit. Wore shoes out fast. Dexter will stand behind them, at least partially. Contact them. Even if you have already fixed them. I did and they reimbursed me for the loaded backing plates.

[Art-n-Marge]

Some of you may recall I recently replaced my Marathons with new Maxxis STs and this is what I am full-timing with. During the tire changes, I removed the tires on each side then had them replaced (including the spare) and while the wheels were off I did a grease job on the wheels and adjusted the brakes. I have manually adjustable brakes. WOW! what a difference. I was getting to 9.5 or 10 on the brake controller and now after the brake adjustment I can lock the rig at about 6.5 to 7.0! I am very happy with that little maintenance number. Too bad, it was 105 degrees outside, but the wife kept the ice cold drinks coming and I was able to finish. Everything else looked good and when I was checking on brakes, I did call Dexter and it was easy for them to tell me what I needed, fortunately since prior to that, we rarely used the rig, all was good and I needed to replace nothing.

Now the full-timing has started, so next year, I'll probably need spindles, bearings, brakes, yada, yada, yada.