Electric brake testing on old trailer

[Diamondpilot]

Well the good news is everything is there. Bad news is its old and rusty. I have never seen round magnets. Most are oval now days.


Chris

 

[sailorman]

ok, here 's a few more. Drum is 10 " .

 

[Diamondpilot]

Those drums can be cleaned up and used. May need to turn them at a brake shop but I would go though the bearings and clean, inspect, repack, and new seals.

10" brakes are still used so getting parts should be no issue.

Chris

 

[brain55]

If it was mine, I'd just go buy all new complete backing plate assemblies. Not that expensive and far less work than cleaning all of that up.

Brian

 

[sailorman]

Well the good news is everything is there. Bad news is its old and rusty. I have never seen round magnets. Most are oval now days.


Chris

Yep, and one of the springs broke off when I grabbed it. Thinkin' about the backer plate thing some one posted and wondering if the best route would be to install brand new brakes. Is backer plate a part of the whole brake unit so that it all comes off if plate is removed ? Can you point me in the right direction on how to remove the junk brake system and put new one on ?

 

[Diamondpilot]

How many lug are the wheels? 10" trailer drums should use a 154 brake shoe kit. For example at Napa they use True Stop brake parts so it would be TS-154.

Auto Zone may use Bendix sot he shoe part number will be BEN-154.

The good new is most trailers use Ford parts for brakes. Knowing this can save you a ton. You can get shoes, springs, ect at your local auto parts store. Something like a 68 Falcon used 10" drums in the rear if I remember right. Have the parts guy do some checking.

154 brake shoes are 10" x 2.25" wide.

Chris

 

[brain55]

Yep, and one of the springs broke off when I grabbed it. Thinkin' about the backer plate thing some one posted and wondering if the best route would be to install brand new brakes. Is backer plate a part of the whole brake unit so that it all comes off if plate is removed ? Can you point me in the right direction on how to remove the junk brake system and put new one on ?

Remove the 4 nuts on the back side of the backing plate, and remove the backing plate as an assembly. You'll have to cut the wires for the magnets also, but if I remember correctly you said they were already cut.

Brian

 

[Diamondpilot]

Brian is probably right.

Go to http://www.randpcarriages.com/ for good service and fair prices.

Nice help section on how to install a controller, fix your brakes, wire your trailer, ect.

Chris

 

[sailorman]

Diamondpilot I thought some pix would better serve as to you lug question. They 're actually 4 bolts through the wheel into the drum. Thanks for the link to trailer parts.

 

[sailorman]

Remove the 4 nuts on the back side of the backing plate, and remove the backing plate as an assembly. You'll have to cut the wires for the magnets also, but if I remember correctly you said they were already cut.

Brian

Yep, wires were cut. Got about 2 inches sticking out back side. All brake wire that lead up to tongue plug was also removed. I think as you said it would be less work and stress intensive for me to just install new brake system. I got no desire to try and restore the old system.

 

[sailorman]

I think tomorrow I 'll remove backing plate ans snap a few pix. I got a feeling the backer plate bolts on this rig are in a weird place compared to some of the pix I just looked at.

 

[brain55]

I think tomorrow I 'll remove backing plate ans snap a few pix. I got a feeling the backer plate bolts on this rig are in a weird place compared to some of the pix I just looked at.

Nope, I saw them in the pic. They are right in the center near the spindle.

Brian

 

[sailorman]

Nope, I saw them in the pic. They are right in the center near the spindle.

Brian

Yes, I just crawled under trailer to look at back side. The axle is a bit strange though. Its kind of a drop axle ( my term ). Axle goes straight across, but on the end is an approx. 5 in. arm pointing upward. On the end of that is a plate that the backer bolts into. This makes the actual center of spindle, drum, and wheel/tire higher than the axle. Not looking forward to spending danger time under trailer unbolting even though I got safety jack stands in place and tongue hooked to tractor for no roll movement. I may have to soak bolts for a few days to break the rust.

Question: Can I remove the back plate and reinstall drum and wheel/tire without running into clearance problems with the thin layer of back plate missing.

 

[brain55]

That should be no problem at all.

Brian

 

[Diamondpilot]

Biggest issue I see is that the wheels you have are odd ball. I am thinking you are going to have to pick up some new 13" trailer wheels if you plan on finding modern brakes to work with it. Good news is they are about $30 each.

Chris

 

[sailorman]

Biggest issue I see is that the wheels you have are odd ball. I am thinking you are going to have to pick up some new 13" trailer wheels if you plan on finding modern brakes to work with it. Good news is they are about $30 each.

Chris

I 've been pondering that also. Seems like I would also have to get new drums with the correct number of lugs to match the wheels. If I have this right its gonna take new backer plate with all the guts, drums to match, and wheels. I 'm guessing the matching drums are sold separate from the backer plate. Add 7 pin plug for trailer and truck plus controller.

Now I know why people sometimes just buy the whole camper new :laughing: . But I got it for free and won 't end up with near the money in it as a new one :thumbsup:

 

[CurlyDave]

I bet the drums are still good, if you can find a set of brakes they would still fit.

 

[sailorman]

I bet the drums are still good, if you can find a set of brakes they would still fit.

Was rethinking the whole thing last night about tire rims and drums. If the drum depths and radius are right for the backer plate and shoes I don 't see why they wouldn 't work. Drums are expensive for my wallet and I could also save some bucks on 3 rims. Gotta do some more research.

Drum looked hardly used when I took it off except for a little light rust. Gotta do more research to figure out what to measure for proper fit. My knowledge is limited at this point and brain is slightly fried from the research I have done.

 

[Reg]

Was rethinking the whole thing last night about tire rims and drums. If the drum depths and radius are right for the backer plate and shoes I don 't see why they wouldn 't work. Drums are expensive for my wallet and I could also save some bucks on 3 rims. Gotta do some more research.

Drum looked hardly used when I took it off except for a little light rust. Gotta do more research to figure out what to measure for proper fit. My knowledge is limited at this point and brain is slightly fried from the research I have done.

Check out the Dexter axle web site for current "standard" set-ups.
Most likely; diameter (say 10 or 11 inches ?) and shoe width (probably 2 inch ?, maybe 1 7/8, so measure to within an 1/8th) for the drums and shoes.
Then backing plate # of bolts (typically 4 on light axles, some are "adaptable" to 4 or 5 bolt hole axle flanges) hole diameter and spacing.

One thing that can be a PAIN is that the backing plate bolts are typically pressed into the plates and once you get to a 1/2 turn or so on the nut at the back the knurl of the stud head lets go of the plate.
Only way I know out of that is to grind off the head and punch it through, or blow it off with the cutting torch.
If you have tons of time on your hands hose the nuts and bolts off with penetrating oil every day for a week or two - THEN have at it (-:

 

[Diamondpilot]

These are all reasons I only run Disc Brakes on my trailer now. I till have drums on my 18' car hauler but the Disc are so much more effective and easy to work on just like with a car.

Chris