Brake Check;

jpmorgan37

Well-known member
:eek: While doing a routine pre-trip check yesterday, I noticed that one backing plate was distorted is several places. I jacked the wheel up so that I could check the brake adjustment and found that part of the brake adjuster was laying loose inside the drum. I did check the other three wheels and the brake adjustment was good. I have the 3 3/4 x 12 1/4 brakes with never lube hubs and the nut to secure the bearings is torqued at 145 to 150 ft lbs so I left it alone. I'm waiting to hear what steps to take next since I am 463 miles from the closest Landmark dealer. I'll keep you all posted on what happens.

John
 

BluegrassMan

Well-known member
Hi JP:
I crawed under my GC yesterday and adjusted my brakes for the 1st time. I only had a few hundred miles on it before my vacation, now 1600 miles later; my brakes were way out of adjustment. (couldn't have been right from Lippert) I guess the high spots are wore off and shoes are seated in. It didn't take long, it sure beats the RV centers $85hr. While under there I lubed the gear racks in the slideouts. I felt I saved myself a small chunk of change.
 

jpmorgan37

Well-known member
Hi Denny;

I probably have 10,000 miles on mine. I adjusted them at about 2000 miles and they weren't too bad then. I'm not sure when it came apart. It's the first time I've crawled underneath since we got here. Could have been when we were running the mountains in PA but I don't know for sure. I had the same thing happen on a Wildwood back in the 90's. It broke the tension spring and let the adjuster come loose. That was an easy fix. Bad part about this is that I sold most of my tools at the auction last Saturday. Figures, huh.
John
 

svd

Well-known member
John,

That bearing pre load nut should not be anywhere near that torque. There was a link to the Lippert axle maintenance manual on another thread. It stated that the nut should be torqued to 50 ft/lbs, then backed off, and retightened by hand to allow re installation of the cotter pin.
 

jpmorgan37

Well-known member
Steve;
According to the tag that is on the nut (and I have never seen anything like it) the torque should be 145 to 150 ft lbs. I've been packing wheel bearings for over 50 years and haven't seen any set-up quite like this. It has a snap ring on the end of the axel that has to be removed in order to get the nut off. No cotter pin. So thats the reason I left it alone. Thanks for the reply, though.
John
 

svd

Well-known member
John,

Sorry for questioning, I just was worried something would get damaged at that torque. That is amazing to me, I have never heard of such a setup either! Guess I learned something new today!
 

nscaler2

Well-known member
A dumb question here. Bear with me I am a NEWBEE to adjusting brakes. Heck I'm a NEWBEE to this whole trailer thing. Which way do you move the star wheel adjuster (up or down) to tighten the pads to the drum. I'm a little confused about how this is done and I would like to get it right without messing something up. Thanks
 

Wild Wind

Active Member
Our Sunnybrook had life time never lub bearing packs, they side in as a whole kit. You have to replace the whole thing, there is nothing to adjust. That's why the 150# of torque. I will take the old fashion bearings any day!
 

Wild Wind

Active Member
There several posts on adjusting brakes a week or two ago. I too, just installed XPS Ribs, what a difference in pulling and handling.
Did you check your clearence's good? On the door side I only had a 3/4" clearence between the angled out rigger floor supports and both tires, driver's side was ok. I had to rework both floor supports to get a 1 1/2" clearence at the inside corner of the tires. It is hard to notice, but luckly I saw it when installing the new tires & adjusting my brakes. I doubt that a tire shop would have noticed it. Unfortionitly the only to get things done right, is to do it your self.
 

jpmorgan37

Well-known member
Tom;
First, block all trailer wheels except the one you are adjusting. Then, jack the wheel you are adjusting the brake on until the tire clears the ground. (I use a 12 ton hydraulic jack.) To tighten, move the star wheel up (or your brake spoon down). Once the shoes contact the brake drum so that you can't turn the wheel, move the star wheel down (or the brake spoon up). You will probably find that this is a little more difficult than when you were tightening it. Loosen until you can turn the wheel with minimal effort but you will still have a very slight drag on from the brake shoes. All wheels should have the same amount of drag when you are finished. Good luck.
John
 

jpmorgan37

Well-known member
I got a reply from Heartland this morning and am taking the coach to a truck repair shop close by. There is a RV dealer in Bemidji that sells RV's and Parts-No Service-and an independant RV repair shop in Cass Lake but they have never worked on a never lube system and didn't want to get into it. I called the truck repair and he said that most of the newer trailers have the never lube hubs and it would be "no problem" I asked about the 150 ft lbs of torque and he said "that's what they run". So I'll be there at 8:00 AM tomorrow. I just hope I don't need a lot of parts that have to be ordered.
John
 

jpmorgan37

Well-known member
The RV's fixed and the brakes are fine. It was a Dexter brake system and there were a number of pieces missing. The cable and self adjuster, several clips and part of the adjuster were gone. The shop ordered the whole brake assembly, rather than try to get all of the clips, springs, cables, etc. that were missing. Fortunately, the drum wasn't scored badly so it was a fairly easy repair and they just straightened the backing plate. They had the parts the next morning and the whole process took about an hour and a half, so I was a happy camper and now, 1450 miles later, am basking in the warmth of Texas. It was hard to say what caused the adjuster to come loose. Were parts missing from the original installation or did something come loose and pull the pieces off and they came out when the backing plate was bent? There is really no way of knowing, but it's fixed now and that's the main thing.

John
 

ChopperBill

Well-known member
Asked my dealer to check the brakes when it was in for warranty because the last mountain we came down it was real butt pucker! Got to the bottom and the truck brakes were hot and the trailer brakes were ice cold. When I picked up the BH they said the brakes were fine. They hooked up the truck and found the problem. Being a rookie I didn't realize the Prodigy should have some numbers showing while braking. They said the brakes weren't working at all! They also knew that for some reason Prodigy's and GMs from time to time have a problem working. They ran a jumper wire from the Prodigy to the brake wiring. Cant really say where as I haven't looked. No charge and I didnt even buy it from them! Now the rig will stand on its nose when I hit the skids!
 

ChopperBill

Well-known member
Read the instructions, guess I didn't have a full concept of them. Wasn't too lucky because I started using the manual lever when stopping. Just thought the brakes needed set up. Now that the dealer gave me a little school I am all set. :)
 

jpmorgan37

Well-known member
Bill;
Glad you have it fixed. It is very comfortable driving when you know you have good stopping power. Enjoy.
John
 

driver311

Well-known member
Brakes

some of these posts are unbelievable. YOU don't know your trailer brakes weren't working:mad: :mad: so so sad. YOU shouldn't own and rv if u don't know how to operate it.

people complain about to small of trucks if u keep all the brakes working it can be stooped

some of u all just scare me

driver311None None
 

jpmorgan37

Well-known member
We all need to be kind. When opinions hurt others, it's best that we keep them to ourselves. I started this thread over a year ago to share information that I thought was of some interest, if not of some value. I hope that there will be a continuation of the this thought process.

JP Morgan
Moderator
 
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