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Old 07-14-2005, 01:45 PM   #1
RMccord
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Join Date: May 2005
Location: Santa Paula
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M.O.C. #3727
Trailer Brake Adjustment

How many of you have had your trailer brakes adjusted and checked by dealer or have done it yourself after about 300-400 mmiles of towing on your new Montana or Mountaineer.
I have about that on mine at this time and will be leaving for a 2500-3000 mile vacation trip and am considering whether to have one done or not. I have never done it so don't feel too good about doing it myself the first time.
Thanks
Bob
I was just thinking of lubing the hubs.
 
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Old 07-14-2005, 03:00 PM   #2
Montana_2785
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by RMccord

How many of you have had your trailer brakes adjusted and checked by dealer or have done it yourself after about 300-400 mmiles of towing on your new Montana or Mountaineer.
I have about that on mine at this time and will be leaving for a 2500-3000 mile vacation trip and am considering whether to have one done or not. I have never done it so don't feel too good about doing it myself the first time.
Thanks
Bob
I was just thinking of lubing the hubs.
Bob, its easy.

Get a bottle jack and jack up the wheel at the axle right under the spring just enough to get the wheel off the ground. At the bottom of the back side of the backing plate is a plastic plug. Pry this plug out. Using a brake adjuster tool or a regular screwdriver feel inside this opening for a star wheel. The teeth will be facing you. You will need to pry up or down on the edge of the star wheel to perform the adjustment. While you turn the star wheel, turn the tire in the forward roll direction. You want to turn the star wheel until you feel the brake start to drag. If you don't get it to drag you are likely turning the star wheel in the wrong direction and you are loosening the brakes. Turn it the other way

Once you feel the brakes drag, you need to back off the star wheel the other direction just until the brakes are no longer draging (you should still be turning the tire...)

DONE!!! By the time you finish reading this you could almost be finished with one brake.

It only takes 5 minutes per tire once you've done it a time or two.... Guaranteed that even on your first try you will be finished with all 4 in WAY shorter time than just even dragging your trailer to your dealer.

As far as lubing the hubs, do you have the easy lube axles? Save yourself some trouble and DON'T.

I have removed the grease zerks on mine so the only way to srvice my hubs is to do it the old manual way. Take 'em apart and inspect them while lubing. Someone had overlubed mine before I got it and forced grease past the rear seal and got grease in the brakes. Others on this forum have also found out the hard way that it is really REALLY REALLY easy to over grease those things.....

Eric
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Old 07-14-2005, 07:35 PM   #3
sreigle
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I manually adjusted mine once and it didn't take any longer than it used to take adjusting brakes on cars back when they had drum brakes. Eric described the procedure nicely.

As for lubing the hubs, if you decide to go ahead with it (I do) remember to put in just one or two squirts per year. Our dealer told me this but when we went fulltiming I figured it would need it more often. So I did it two or three times in a year, just a couple of squirts each time. When I had the dealer check the brakes last summer he told me I'm over greasing them and reiterated to do just one or two squirts per year. Where people get in trouble with this is putting too much grease in them. Do just one or two squirts per year and you should be fine. We have been, anyhow.

In case you're wondering how long the brake linings last, at roughly 20k miles of use the brake linings were half worn. However, ours had heat stress cracks. Our dealer told me I had the Prodigy (which we had at that time) cranked down too hard. I was running it at 8.0. I backed that off to around 7 or just under, if I recall. So having the brakes set too aggressively can be bad, too. He told me the magnets (I think that's what he said) were worn off at nearly a 45 degree angle and were close to the point where a hard application of the brakes would take them to a point the brakes would not release. So now I set the brakes where they stop well but not overly aggressively. Next check I'll find out if I'm doing it right.
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