Brakes adjustment after bearing repack

[Miltp920]

So, first off, I am fairly new to electric brakes and towing a 15,500 lb 5er. I had a shop repack my bearings a month ago. They inspected my brakes and said everything looked really good, just a little dust which they cleaned up. Before I took it to the shop, and since I got it new, when I hit the brakes, if my electric brake controller was set on 4-5 or higher, the stop was very jerky because the electric brakes seem to really grab. I usually ran with a setting of 6.5, I never would have thought I needed a setting of 10. I thought this was normal. I got to where I would turn the brake controller down to 2 or 2.5 at every stoplight just to stop the jerky stop. Now, since the axle-bearing work, the camper does not seem to have the same stopping power. I am keeping the brake controller set on 10, all the time and the stops are smooth. I am wondering if what I have now is what it should have been all along, or should I be experiencing the same stopping power I had before this maintenance. I feel like I or the shop I went to should adjust the brakes a couple of clicks to get to where it feels like the electric brakes are doing more of the stopping. I do not want to rely on my TV brakes to stop the entire rig. I think I remember reading that if you are rolling at about 10-15 mph, and you engage just the electric brakes with the slide button and NOT the TV pedal, and the 5er actually stops the entire rig in short order. Is that is how you judge if the brakes are set right? Does anyone else deal with jerky stops at every stop light? I learned to "feather" the pedal pressure, but it was rarely smooth like it is now.

 

[branson4020]

I turn mine up until the trailer brakes alone will lock-up the wheels at 20 mph, then back it down a few tenths of a volt.

 

[bighorn3370]

What type of brake controller are you using? I very seldom have to adjust mine when I am towing. When I first started towing my BH, I had a mid-grade controller. The controller work great with TT or a lighter 5th wheel. About four years ago, I upgraded to a Prodigy brake controller. What a big difference it has made!

The shop may not have adjusted your brakes after they cleaned them and repacked the bearings.

 

[Miltp920]

DrawTite Activator 2. How much is a Prodigy?

What type of brake controller are you using? I very seldom have to adjust mine when I am towing. When I first started towing my BH, I had a mid-grade controller. The controller work great with TT or a lighter 5th wheel. About four years ago, I upgraded to a Prodigy brake controller. What a big difference it has made!

The shop may not have adjusted your brakes after they cleaned them and repacked the bearings.

 

[Miltp920]

That sounds like a good test Branson4020.

 

[Snow]

DrawTite Activator 2. How much is a Prodigy?

I have a 3 year old prodigy 2 just used it one summer if interested pm me tomorrow I promise it will be 1/2 the price of a new one and shipping shouldn't be that much thanks ⛄️⛄️⛄️⛄️⛄️⛄️⛄️⛄️⛄️

 

[Miltp920]

NEW development, I should have known this, but...I have NEV-R-ADJUST brakes. So, why does it seem soooooo different now compared to before I got my bearings repacked. According to the sticker on the side of my 5er, these things are supposed to "self-adjust" with every mile I pull it down the road. Anyone have any experience with these NEV-R-ADJUST brakes...? I will assume that all is OK, and I will pull it an hour to the dealer on Monday, and ask them about the brakes too.

 

[danemayer]

You should have the brakes checked. It's possible something didn't get seated properly when the hubs were put back together. Also, if the hubs were swapped, the shoes may need to be reburnished so they fit well against the drums.

The self-adjusting mechanism should keep the brakes adjusted as they gradually wear. If they worked much better before the repack, I don't see how this would be about the self-adjusting feature.

 

[Miltp920]

So, I pulled the 5er about 140 miles today to the dealer. I noticed that it started to act more like it did before my bearing repack more and more as I drove it more. I had to start and stop numerous times at traffic lights today, and I believe the brakes have self adjusted back to what I had before. My first pull after repack was 70 miles and not enough stop and go to get it done. The dealer did check out my controller, and verified that the lock up feature on the controller worked. He said it all looked good to him. IF I wanted them to look at the brakes themselves, they said they would also have to repack the bearings again because they took the hub apart. I said no to that. On the way home I got to experience many more stops and starts, and I am convinced that the NEV-R-ADJUST brakes have automatically adjusted. It just takes over 100 miles to get it done.

 

[bighorn3370]

Glad it all worked out.

 

[oscar]

Not sure about the Never adjust, but it used to be that self adjusting brakes did their thing when you hit the brakes backing up......

 

[JanAndBill]

When I pack the bearings, I adjust the brakes up close manually, the self adjusters are pain to adjust, but it can be done. Then with it still jacked up and hooked to the truck, I rotate the wheels, and have the DW lock the brakes down a few times both forward and backward. When I hear the slightest drag with the brake off it's good to go. Surprised the dealer failed to adjust your brakes before they let you leave. One other thing that might have happened is there might have been some grease on the inside of the drum, that finally burned off.

 

[Miltp920]

brakes working great this weekend. I saw on Utube, these brakes self adjust when pulling forward and braking. I just needd to pull about 100-150 milkes to get them adjusted up better. good thing I did not have an NEED for brakes in those first miles.