Poor Brakes

[bgassie]

I see a lot of Road Warrior and Cyclone owners complaining about poor brakes. I too have always felt that my road warrior brakes were not up to par. So a few days ago I was greasing the bearings and inspecting the brakes, and noticed that my camper may have the wrong brakes. My Road Warrior 305 has tandem 7000 lb axles; however, according to the number on the brake backing plate the brakes are only rated for 6000 lb axles.

I talked to Dexter about the problem and they said that either the wrong brakes wear installed or maybe even the wrong axles. I have to get them the serial number off the axles so they can verify if the 7000 lb axles were installed.

Has anyone else had this issue?

 

[dougw]

Yes the brakes on my cyclone could be stronger for sure. What part number did you find on the brakes, I'd like to check mine as well? Was there a list you compared part numbers with?

My axles have 7k stickers on them but did they tell you if the s/n are actually engraved on the axles?

Thanks
doug

 

[bgassie]

The brake part numbers are on a sticker on the inside of the brake backer plate; therefore, you have to remove the tire and drum to see the numbers. I read that the wires coming from the magnet are white for 6000 lb brakes and black for 7000 lb brakes. You could check the wires first, but make sure to look close because the wires may be coated with black paint.

See attached document for brake part numbers.

The axle serial number is engraved on the center of the axle. I am going to call Dexter tomorrow with my axle serial number so the can if the axles are wrong or just the brakes.

 

[bgassie]

Just got off the phone with Dexter. My axle serial number shows that they are 7000 lb axle tubes that have been de-rated to 6000 lb capacity. They then looked at the build specifications and determined that the de-rated capacity was because they were built with 6000 lb brakes. Dexter did not know why the axles were ordered this way, but they are sending me four 7000 lb brakes. This has been a big pain, but I got to say that Dexter customer service has been great to deal with.

 

[dougw]

So are they also sending someone to install the new brakes as well?

 

[bgassie]

So are they also sending someone to install the new brakes as well?

No, i will be doing it myself. I actually perfer to do it, beacause i know it will be done correctly.

 

[hogan]

Keep us posted.

 

[bgassie]

I installed the new 7000 lb brakes that Dexter sent me this past weekend. I made a test run after installation and they appeared to perform a little better. I am hoping after the new brakes break in they will perform even better.
I think the biggest issue with the Road Warrior and Cyclone brakes is the voltage drop. The voltage at my truck plug was 12 volts and the voltage at the magnets was only 8.9 to 8.5 volts.
If you look at Dexter’s installation instructions, they recommend running a #10 wire from the camper plug to the brake magnets. However, it looks like Heartland used a #14 wire to feed the brake magnets and is causing the voltage drop.

 

[CrazyCooter]

I just today spoke with Dexter about my almost worthless brakes and my 7K axles have 6K brakes as well. The 7K brake are easily identified by the black magnet wires. 6K's have white wires. I have had two right side brake backing plates fall apart to date....... Dexter has been great to deal with, but it would be better if I didn't need to....

Why would Heartland spec a 16K GVWR trailer with 12K worth of brakes? I'll be asking them tomorrow morning......

 

[bgassie]

I never spoke to Heatland about the issue, I only called Dexter. Let us all known what Heartland says and if you could mention the wire size to them.

 

[CrazyCooter]

They are both aware of the small wiring issue.....I have given my opinion on they already.

 

[Urban350]

On my way home to take a better look at my brakes. when I parked my trailer last night I noticed brake parts hanging out of my drums.

 

[Urban350]

I also have the 6k brakes

 

[bgassie]

Looks like a common issue. I would like to know the reason for having 7000 lb axles with 6000 lb brakes. I wonder who I can send the bill to for all my time and labor to change the brakes myself!!!!

 

[CrazyCooter]

On my way home to take a better look at my brakes. when I parked my trailer last night I noticed brake parts hanging out of my drums.

Is it the right side brakes?

I don't have any answers as the guy in claims that has been handling my rig never returned my phone call.

 

[Urban350]

How did you guess it is both right side brakes. Heartland has not returned my call either.

 

[CrazyCooter]

Denise @ Dexter told me they were having the most problems with the earlier right side brakes.

I found a self adjusting cable on the ground in front of my house, so I called Dexter and got approval to tear down the brakes to find the issue. Since I had just done the right rear weeks before, it was suspect as was the right front...which it ended up being.

Luckily I own a drivetrain shop, so I got paid to fix it.... and I know it's done the best it can be with the parts supplied.

All this work and we could have had the 7K brake plates on there to start with......

If I knew this turd was going to last for a while, I'd pop for the hydraulic disk brakes, but I'm not putting another dime into this rig till it proves itself.

 

[dougw]

So who's going to be the first to try to run new wires from front to the brakes. I started to look into how they might be ran up to the hitch but couldn't see how they made it up and over.

Probably just easier to put on disks.

 

[CrazyCooter]

So who's going to be the first to try to run new wires from front to the brakes. I started to look into how they might be ran up to the hitch but couldn't see how they made it up and over.

Probably just easier to put on disks.

Already run 10 gauge back there last year. Separate 10 gauge ground at the axle as well...

It was worth doing, but the braking is still inadequate.

 

[jnbhobe]

So who's going to be the first to try to run new wires from front to the brakes. I started to look into how they might be ran up to the hitch but couldn't see how they made it up and over.

Probably just easier to put on disks.

There is nothing you can do to electric brakes to compare to disc brakes. Its one of the best upgrades I have done.