Bearing and Brake Service

[JanAndBill]

Just completed cleaning, inspecting and repacking the bearings on the BH. Pretty straight forward for the most part. I was a little shocked initially when I found the seals were made in China. Even more so when I found the bearings were as well. I guess they are fine as there was no apparent abnormal wear on them, but would think the money they saved would come back to bite them in the end.

The only problem in the service was the self adjusting brake feature. Once the drum is back on, there isn't a good way to adjust the shoes. The hole in the backing plate is offset to one side to much. On three wheels the brakes looked good, but one didn't appear to have been providing much braking. Managed to slide the drum on part way then rotated the star wheel to expand the shoes, once I had it close, I slid the drum the rest of the way on. With the wheel still jacked up, I rotated it forward and backward while DW hit the brakes, to do the final adjustment. Would be nice if Dexter moved the hole in the backing plate over just a little.

 

[rxbristol]

It appears my hub is a little different...I had two adjustment holes. One provided access to the star wheel. It was convenient to have the other because I could shine a light in there to see what I was doing.

 

[MTPockets]

How many trailer miles since last service?

 

[porthole]

Would be nice if Dexter moved the hole in the backing plate over just a little.

Are you using a "brake spoon" to adjust the brakes?
Some are cut out or "scalloped" near the flat to allow the spoon to reach the star.

If you are not using a brake adjusting spoon, getting one should make life easier

It appears my hub is a little different...I had two adjustment holes. One provided access to the star wheel.

Many times backing plates are only punched for the side needed for the application.
Replacement backing plates usually have left or right side adjuster holes

 

[rxbristol]

Are you using a "brake spoon" to adjust the brakes?
Some are cut out or "scalloped" near the flat to allow the spoon to reach the star.

If you are not using a brake adjusting spoon, getting one should make life easier




Many times backing plates are only punched for the side needed for the application.
Replacement backing plates usually have left or right side adjuster holes

When I replaced my bearings and races, I had one brake that was very tight. You're right, I adjusted it with an adjustment tool...much easier than a screwdriver.

 

[JanAndBill]

Mine are the new style self adjusters, according to Dexter they can adjust with both forward and backward movement. Didn't take the time to really figure out exactly how they work. I've got a whole drawer full of adjusting spoons, none of which would work. The star wheel is just off the edge of the rear hole in the backing plate. Compounding the problem is the adjuster arm is in the way also. According to Dexter there is no way to adjust it, other than to apply the brakes multiple times either forward or backward. A feat I was able to accomplish by leaving the wheel up on the jack, spinning it and having the DW hit the brake multiple times.

This is the first service on the bearings. We've got a little over 12000 miles, and the bearings all looked great. They are EZ lube hubs, and I probably wouldn't have pulled them yet if I had been able to force grease out the outer bearing with the grease gun as the directions stated. Once I pulled them down, it appeared that they didn't pack the inner space between the bearings with much grease. Would have probably taken a tube or more/wheel to get enough to actually reach the outer bearing.