Adding brakes and I have a question...

[JASinIL2006]

Re: Adding brakes and I have a question...

Didn't now about adjusting the drum... I'll take a look at that.

The bearings are new, and they came pre-packed. (Before I decided to do the brakes, I was going to check and repack my bearings anyway, so I had investigated that already. The new bearings looked great and thoroughly packed. The spindle was nice and clean, too, without much apparent wear. It looked like someone had been doing regular maintenance on the old bearing; they looked very good, without wear marks, or discoloration or anything.

Anything else I should be looking at while I'm in there?

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Adding brakes and I have a question...

You don't adjust the drum. YOu adjust the brake shoe using a flat tool inserted through the back of the backing plate. The flat tool spings the toothed adjuster to expand or retract the shoes. A very slight touch of the shoes on the brake drums is normal and no cause for concern. They should not cause the drum to drag however. If you back them off too far there may not be enough travel to allow full braking.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Adding brakes and I have a question...

Buy one of these from your local auto parts store. Way better than using a screwdriver.

http://www.amazon.com/Tools-KDT295-...QU86/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330711967&sr=8-1

 

[JASinIL2006]

Re: Adding brakes and I have a question...

So maybe I DO need a new tool for this job after all....

 

[MRS]

Re: Adding brakes and I have a question...

So maybe I DO need a new tool for this job after all....

New tools are fun got to have them. If you have drop spindel's it will cover that adjusting hole no biggie just pull the hubs and adjust I know that is the way mine are. I have electric on two boat trailers and a trailer we use for hauling quad's on camping trips love them took the surge off one boat trailer and added the eletric. The only reason you unplug for launching is because without the weight of the boat on the trailer it will lock the brakes up when you park the truck and trailer without the boat on it. Plus I have run the boat in salt alittle but made a adapter that fits on a water hose that will fit in the hole on the backing plate and rinse the heck out of the brakes works for me. So far three years running on boat trailers no problems....

 

[Grandad]

Re: Adding brakes and I have a question...

The only reason you unplug for launching is because without the weight of the boat on the trailer it will lock the brakes up when you park the truck and trailer without the boat on it.

I was wondering about the previous comment about unplugging before launch. I don't unplug now that I have sealed LED lights and the brakes have never been a problem. I recommend buying a controller that has an on/off switch separate from the adjustment. Mine didn't, so I added one. Now I can switch it off when the boat's off the trailer and yet it remains adjusted for when the boat is back on again. - Grandad

 

[MRS]

Re: Adding brakes and I have a question...

I was wondering about the previous comment about unplugging before launch. Mine didn't, so I added one. Now I can switch it off when the boat's off the trailer and yet it remains adjusted for when the boat is back on again. - Grandad

If you unplug still adjusted when you plug back in. But I did not know they had them now that you can turn off and on need to get me one nice to have that option if you do have a problem Thanks for the info....

 

[JASinIL2006]

Re: Adding brakes and I have a question...

OK... I am a moron.

I thought my brakes were rubbing when I turned the tire. I heard some sort of friction-type sound and I assumed it was the brake shoes hitting the drum. I got a drum brake spoon and adjusted the bejesus out of the brakes. Made no difference, except after a while it clearly was getting worse. More noise, clearly more drag on the wheel.

So I take it all apart. Remove the tire, remove the drum and look at the insides to see what's going on. Can't see any obvious wear marks where there might be rubbing, especially on the part of the drums where the brake shoes would rub. So I reassembled everything, spin the hub, and I'm still getting some sort of rubbing noise.

I take it all apart again. Then, I notice the brake activating mechanism, the thing that apparently engages the brakes, is spring-loaded so that it rubs on the inside of the drum (behind the lug bolts). It looks like when current is applied, it will be drawn to the drum and stick to it, and in doing so, push the levers that cause the brake shoes to rub against the drum inside drum surfaces. The rubbing seems to be part of the design of the electric brakes. Does this sound right?

On the positive side, I'm getting pretty good at installing and removing the hub and bearings...

 

[MRS]

Re: Adding brakes and I have a question...

Spin your wheel an adjust when it makes contact and stops the wheel back off so it will spin free without stopping. Then you should be good to go....

 

[JASinIL2006]

Re: Adding brakes and I have a question...

Spin your wheel an adjust when it makes contact and stops the wheel back off so it will spin free without stopping. Then you should be good to go....

I'll do that. I still need to do the other side and then run the wiring, so it'll be a few days before I get to test them. Thanks!

 

[itsaboattime]

Re: Adding brakes and I have a question...

Where are you in Il.?
My trailer isn't equiped with brakes but there are times that i sure wish I had them.
Where did you get your kit? I do some driving along the Mississippi and the hills and valleys always bring trailer brakes to mind. My boat isn't all that big but I can certanly feel it pushin my jeep on the downhill stretch.
I have had surge brakes on campers before. I won't have them again. There are several reasons but the main one is just because I had to disengage them every time I backed up.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Adding brakes and I have a question...

the noise you hear is the magnetic puck and it does grab the inside of the drum but it actually slides as the drum rotates or it would be pulled free if grabbed solid. The amount of grab is determined by how much current is being fed to it by the controller. The noise is normal.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Re: Adding brakes and I have a question...

Where are you in Il.?
My trailer isn't equiped with brakes but there are times that i sure wish I had them.
Where did you get your kit? I do some driving along the Mississippi and the hills and valleys always bring trailer brakes to mind. My boat isn't all that big but I can certanly feel it pushin my jeep on the downhill stretch.
I have had surge brakes on campers before. I won't have them again. There are several reasons but the main one is just because I had to disengage them every time I backed up.

I found these guys (http://stores.ebay.com/R-and-P-Carriages-Trailer-Sales) on ebay and I ended up emailing them and they set me up with what I need. They are in Seneca, IL and I picked up my stuff, although they will ship it, too, for a reasonable cost. They seem to be good people and I feel like I got pretty good value for the cost. I wouldn't hesitate to buy from them again.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Re: Adding brakes and I have a question...

the noise you hear is the magnetic puck and it does grab the inside of the drum but it actually slides as the drum rotates or it would be pulled free if grabbed solid. The amount of grab is determined by how much current is being fed to it by the controller. The noise is normal.

Silvertip, I wish you had been around about a week ago! I eventually figured it out when I noticed that the puck was the only thing showing wear marks and as I thought about it, I figured that puck had to be integral to the brakes working. Thanks for the clear explanation!

 

[JASinIL2006]

Re: Adding brakes and I have a question...

Well, I'm happy to announce that I finished my brake installation and everything seems to be working fine. I bought a Prodigy P3 controller, which was a snap to install, and I even had to devise my own rigging to mount the battery for the breakaway switch. Between all the help I received here on the forum and the good instructions that came with my brake kit, it was not too bad of a job.

I'll be taking the boat out soon, and it should be a blast. If I can ever get the hang of backing the dang trailer where I want it to go...

Thank again for all the support!

 

[Lou C]

Re: Adding brakes and I have a question...

as a reference source go to:
www.championtrailers.com
look in the tech articles, they tell you how to adjust drum brakes, I tighten the adjuster till it just starts to drag, and then back off till there is no feeling of drag (with free backing surge drums you have to spin the wheel foward) you WILL hear some scraping of the shoe lining against the drum, that is normal.

Make sure you adjusted the spindle nut correctly, that is really important, instructions for that are also found on the above website.

Any connections that you crimped, seal them with liquid electric tape before dunking the trailer, I did that with my trailer lights and they always work even in salt water.

 

[MRS]

Re: Adding brakes and I have a question...

Glad it worked out for you good job Now go enjoy the boat.. Backing up the more you go the easier it will get just go slow.