So, You think you have brakes ? Are you sure ?

BluegrassMan

Well-known member
Guy's n' Gal's:

Thought I'd pass this along as a FYI. 2 weeks ago I did a long weekend at a bluegrass festival, coming home on Sunday. I felt that I could use a little more brake, so I rolled the knob up a touch. I'm not a hard user of brakes, I slow down a good bit first. I told you that to tell you this.

On Monday I took my truck and trailer in for PA inspection. My mechanic pulled the breakaway cable and told me to pull forward. Well, the trailer rolled along with me. I told him "go ahead and adjust the brakes up, as I have never did that yet". (I probably only have 2000 mi or so towed on it since new). He starts to adjust,and adjust,and adjust.......

He said somethings goofy, they should be tight by now. I said let's pull the wheel and drum and take a look see. He did and we BOTH were shocked !!! there was NO lining on the shoes !!! Just the shoes wearing against the drum !!! There was no pieces of lining inside the drum rolling around, no amount of dust than normal. The lining was gone. My mechanic said " I HAVE NEVER SEEN THAT"! :eek:

He then told me he was taking off the rest of the wheels for an inspection, 2 of the 3 left were the SAME WAY. I actually had ONE wheel with brakes !!! Seeing that the trailer could NOT be taken to the dealer to be fixed under warranty or not, it had to be fixed right there.

We called around to get parts, GUESS WHAT, Heartland uses AL-KO, all the phone calls to RV dealers,RVparts places,etc. said about everyone used Dexter, JUST MY LUCK....
A large trailer parts supplier warehouse told a local dealer that the axles are 5 bolt that holds on the backing plates, Dexters will be a direct fit. So as of now I have their brakes on my 5ver, I can get parts locally at about 5 different places,I bought complete assemblies, already assembled ready to bolt on the axles. I figured I'd save labor there.

So long story short, I bought 4 complete brakes, 3 new drums, repacked the bearings, and adjusted everything and out the door. It came to almost $700(w/10% discount on parts) in parts and $701.39 in labor. I sent the parts back to AL-KO for inspection @ $85 via FedEx Ground. The lining looked real flaky (somethings wrong).

Now, I trust AL-KO will reimburse me. Just imagine if I was at interstate speeds and needed brakes. It could have been real bad for me. It wouldn't hurt to pull a drum and look, if your brakes don't feel just right.
 

FLSTS03

Member
Bluegrassman,
Thanks for the info. We've yet to buy that 1st RV/5er so I'm digesting all I can untill that day. Cut my teeth on Bluegrass early 70's and still have a '54 Gibson A style Mando.Now I play mostly blues/harmonica.

Steve
 

Pulltab

Well-known member
Interesting, I will pull a couple of mine to see what they look like. I have about 4000 miles on our bighorn. Thanks for the warning.
 

Bob&Patty

Founders of SoCal Chapter
Pulltab, last saturday when bring the new coach home I thought the trailer brakes where working. I could feel some drag when using the manual knob. But when I needed to lock the brakes to move the slider back, the trailer just came with the TV. Is there a problem with new units,and do I have to adjust the brakes after 10 miles of use?? Oh yea I already had turned both knobs on the controller to the panic position, you know bright red. Also has anyone put mud flaps on any of the BHs? I would like to, maybe it would prevent rock and road debris from doing any damage to the coach.
 

ChopperBill

Well-known member
Holy cow! Now I got something else to worry about! I just adjusted mine up a couple of weeks ago and saw an improvement in braking. Hope I got lining!
 

jacduck

Member
Maybe I have a related issue. On the way down to TX this past Nov I found my brakes were not working. No connection indicated on the dash of the F-350. I checked with another trailer and the connection was made. Changed a ??worn pigtail today and still no connection. I will try to trace wiring but meanwhile does anyone have some grand suggestions for a winter Texan soon to head back to MI. Big Horn 3385 RL 2010 model.
 

Ray LeTourneau

Senior Member - Past Moderator
Maybe I have a related issue. On the way down to TX this past Nov I found my brakes were not working. No connection indicated on the dash of the F-350. I checked with another trailer and the connection was made. Changed a ??worn pigtail today and still no connection. I will try to trace wiring but meanwhile does anyone have some grand suggestions for a winter Texan soon to head back to MI. Big Horn 3385 RL 2010 model.

jacduck, you've found a very old thread for your question but you should still get some responses. The first place to check is the metal junction box mounted to the rear of the pin box. Once you determine all is good in there, you should have a helper in the truck and get under the rig with a meter and check for voltage at the wires going into the brake drums.
Since your rig is about 2 years old, have you ever had the bearings cleaned and repacked, brakes cleaned and adjusted? I realize you have a connection issue but regular maintenance really helps reduce potential problems. I hope you get er all straightened out.
 

jmgratz

Original Owners Club Member
should you need to go to a repair shop for service you might check out Ron Hoover in LaMarque Tx. He has an RV Park (Oasis RV Park) right at the repair shop where you can stay in your RV while it is being worked on. LaMarque is south of Houston on Interstate 45 and his exit is exit 13 (I think). Close to Galveston.
 

cookie

Administrator
Staff member
Maybe I have a related issue. On the way down to TX this past Nov I found my brakes were not working. No connection indicated on the dash of the F-350. I checked with another trailer and the connection was made. Changed a ??worn pigtail today and still no connection. I will try to trace wiring but meanwhile does anyone have some grand suggestions for a winter Texan soon to head back to MI. Big Horn 3385 RL 2010 model.
A little late with a response here, but at one time I had a 'Not Connected' fault on my controller. Turns out I had a shorted magnet and that was the cause of the error code.

Peace
Dave
 

MTPockets

Well-known member
Interesting, I will pull a couple of mine to see what they look like. I have about 4000 miles on our bighorn. Thanks for the warning.

4000 miles - seems like you should have brakes like new; but, just wondering--- how many miles would be considered 'rule of thumb' .... I realize it depends on how many stops, etc.... but do trailer brakes need replaceing after 10,000?.... 30,000?... 40,000?... miles? .... We now have close to 2000 miles on our new unit in 4 months....
 
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