Brake Adjustment - Montana Owners Club

rickfox · 10-28-2006, 06:15 PM

According to the axle supplier (who also supplies the brakes) and Keystone, the brakes are supposed to be adjusted after a 100 miles or so to ensure proper adjustment after they have worn in.

I doubt that happened as part of the make ready at the dealer as the brake rubber dust protectors on my trailer do not look like they have ever been disturbed.

I now have about 6,000 miles on my trailer and now believe the brakes are not working as they should - I now have to juice up the controller to apply maximum current but still feel the trailer pushing the TV on stops.

I'm thinking its time to adjust the brakes. What does the MOC Brain Trust think?

LonnieB · 10-28-2006, 06:33 PM

I'm in agreement with you Rick, I believe you need to adjust the brakes. It might even be a good idea to pull the drums and check the magnets, shoes, and drums for wear. If I were going that far, I would go ahead and pack the wheel bearings too.

Montana Sky · 10-28-2006, 07:06 PM

I had my brakes adjusted this summer just before I left for Goshen. I am on my 3rd year and had approx. 15,000 miles on it. The shop said it was a good thing I brought it in as they were in need of adjusting. I did not notice any "pushing" or other problems before I brought it in. I actually did not even know you needed to adjust them, thanks to the moc it was brought to my attention. Had no problems while on the trip and stopping power was great.

Rick,
If you feel the coach is pusing, I would suggest having them checked out.

JH Sechelt · 10-28-2006, 08:20 PM

Yep, I would think they should be adjusted up. Often wondered why they never put automatic adjusters on trailer brakes.
Maybe trailers don't get used enough and the adjusters would seize up anyways. My mechanic had a wheel seize up on his 5ver last summer just as he was leaving for a trip. stopped back at home and pulled the wheel to see that the lining had come unglued from the backing plates. The lining had less than 2000 miles on it. Checked the rest of wheels and 3 of the 4 wheels had loose lining. Sent all the backing plates to town and had better lining riveted to the backing plates. Apparently it is not uncommon to see trailer brake lining come unglued from the backing plates. I guess something else to watch for.

J&D

Native Tex · 10-29-2006, 05:02 AM

I did all of mine as I removed each well as part of my efforts to stop the dreaded brake controller errors on my Ford. I did find the problem and fixed the errors and adjusted the brakes as I reassembled each wheel. Some were in bad need and the coach stops so much better and requires less adjustment and a lower number to achieve great braking. I went from a 7.5 to a 6.5 with an adjustment. You must be careful not to adjust them too tight however or you will wear out your lines very quickly. Happy Trails!

bsmeaton · 10-29-2006, 05:28 AM

I adjusted mine a few months ago for the first time, and like Native Tex, I was able to back off to 6.5 on the Ford Controller. I also agree with Native Tex the overtight is Bad

, especially on the trailer. I think you can smoke them pretty easy and not notice it from the TV.

lightningjack11 · 10-29-2006, 09:15 AM

For my Alko's the manual states to adjust the brakes so you can feel the rub for 1/4 turn. If they do that there is no reason to adjust. So I check mine before every trip and adjust only when I can't feel that rub.

But that is just the way I do it.

rickfox · 10-29-2006, 09:41 AM

I checked them before our last trip, but getting the baby jacked up one wheel at a time - I had only one 3-ton bottle jack - is not an easy task.

When I rotated the wheels, I did hear a slight rubbing of the shoes on the drums, but only for a short period of rotation - perhaps 30 degrees or so. All seemed to be about the same. Not knowing any better, I decided they were adjusted good enough. Maybe not.

I have decided to take the trailer to a local camper dealer, who, for $90 will adjust them.

Montana Sky · 10-29-2006, 09:59 AM

Rick,
I just paid $105 to have mine done back in August. Your getting a deal.... =)

daneboy · 10-29-2006, 06:50 PM

NATIVE TEX,
WHAT DID YOU FIND CAUSING THE BRAKE CONTROLLER TO SOUND OFF? MINE STARTED BEEPING ABOUT ONCE AN HOUR GOING DOWN THE ROAD. I HAVE NEVER ADJUSTED THE BRAKES AND HAVE 15k MILES ON MY 06 2955RL.
THANKS,
JERRY

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by Native Tex

I did all of mine as I removed each well as part of my efforts to stop the dreaded brake controller errors on my Ford. I did find the problem and fixed the errors and adjusted the brakes as I reassembled each wheel. Some were in bad need and the coach stops so much better and requires less adjustment and a lower number to achieve great braking. I went from a 7.5 to a 6.5 with an adjustment. You must be careful not to adjust them too tight however or you will wear out your lines very quickly. Happy Trails!

JH Sechelt · 10-30-2006, 12:26 PM

Hi Jerry,

The most common trouble setting the Ford brake controller off is............ A wire rubbing through in side one of the brake drums. The most common wheel is the back (curb side). There is two wires inside the wheel going to the magnet. there are clips holding the wires in place, and in mine one of the clips came off allowing the wire to make contact with the face of the brake drum. The studs for the wheel nuts are counter sunk a little and that alloyed the edges of the counter sinks to rub through the magnet wire. At some points the wire is over the the counter sunk hole and at other points it's touching the face of the brake drum. therefore making it a intermittent short.
Hope this makes sense.

J&D

daneboy · 10-30-2006, 05:11 PM

THANKS FOR THE INFO, NOW I KNOW WHERE TO START LOOKING
JERRY

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by JH Sechelt

Hi Jerry,

The most common trouble setting the Ford brake controller off is............ A wire rubbing through in side one of the brake drums. The most common wheel is the back (curb side). There is two wires inside the wheel going to the magnet. there are clips holding the wires in place, and in mine one of the clips came off allowing the wire to make contact with the face of the brake drum. The studs for the wheel nuts are counter sunk a little and that alloyed the edges of the counter sinks to rub through the magnet wire. At some points the wire is over the the counter sunk hole and at other points it's touching the face of the brake drum. therefore making it a intermittent short.
Hope this makes sense.

J&D

rickfox · 11-04-2006, 03:37 PM

Got the brakes adjusted this past Wednesday. Things are working much better now.

What got me excited was when we were coming back from a trip several weeks ago. I had to make a panic stomp on the brakes. When I did, the mechanisim in our glideride pin box made quite a banging sound as it slammed forward. The TV was clearly trying to stop faster than the trailer.

I suggest that all of us keep our brakes properly adjusted. One of these days, we will be glad we did!

Montana Sky · 11-04-2006, 04:14 PM

Rick,
Sure glad to hear your brakes are working great again!

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