help on brakes--service advise questionable

[aatauses]

Hi everyone,
I need some help. Currently in AZ and was time to get wheel bearing repacked. Trailer Sales was recommended so made an appointment. Here is what happened---one of my seals was blown out so grease into the brake on the rear--so in additional to the bearings they replaced both rear brakes (front was ok). When I went to leave tested brakes--nothing---took it back and then said since the shoes are new and the drum has some regular grooves in it will take about 100 miles of travel to get the new shoes to have full impact with the drums?????---I then ask for them to be readjusted which they did and then had minimal stopping regardless of brake setting. We tried the emergency pull and it did stop the rv. So I drove it back to the rv site (10 mi)---got minimal improvement, but the rear drum was hotter than the front drum --could hold your hand on it but it was hot.---so need some advise--the service mgr is going to call again this morning and would like some direction from this group.
thanks
al

 

[Lou_and_Bette]

Dexter recommends you "burnish-in" new brake pads by "decreasing speed 20mph, i.e. 40mph to 20mph, 20-30 times, allowing brakes to cool between applications." You do this using the manual brake control and not your TV's brakes.

 

[danemayer]

Hi Al,

The replacement shoes probably need to be broken in so they conform to the drum surface.

We experienced something similar on our 2011 Landmark. There was a problem with the drums being out of round and not adjusting properly. Dexter (you may have Lippert) sent 4 new brake assemblies. Following installation we had zero braking. With brakes fully applied and working, they would not even prevent movement with the engine just at low idle.

Dexter explained that we needed to do a break-in. Find a road with very little traffic. Accelerate to 40 mph. Then while coasting, gently apply the brake controller manually (not the brake pedal) to gradually reduce speed to 20 mph. Do that once every mile, 50 times.

I was not thrilled about this answer, but they were correct. At the end of the 50 miles the brakes worked incredibly well.

 

[wdk450]

Short of the disk brake upgrade, I would think about maybe spending the money for new backing plates (new magnets, new hardware, new shoes) plus having the drums cleaned out with brake parts cleaner. Even better is new drums, but this starts to get pretty pricey. The entire backing plate has been reported to be available for only about $55 each.

I would wonder if the magnets on the cooler brake assemblies are working correctly.

 

[GOTTOYS]

Hi Al,

The replacement shoes probably need to be broken in so they conform to the drum surface.

We experienced something similar on our 2011 Landmark. There was a problem with the drums being out of round and not adjusting properly. Dexter (you may have Lippert) sent 4 new brake assemblies. Following installation we had zero braking. With brakes fully applied and working, they would not even prevent movement with the engine just at low idle.

Dexter explained that we needed to do a break-in. Find a road with very little traffic. Accelerate to 40 mph. Then while coasting, gently apply the brake controller manually (not the brake pedal) to gradually reduce speed to 20 mph. Do that once every mile, 50 times.

I was not thrilled about this answer, but they were correct. At the end of the 50 miles the brakes worked incredibly well.

I did the same. Great results!..Don

 

[danemayer]

From the Dexter manual:

 

[dbbls59]

I had all 4 brakes replaced three years ago. They did not work very well at all. I made a sharp turn and pulled the emergency cable but did not know it. about a mile later I noticed a smell like hot brakes. Then I noticed the cable. Rehooked it and had good brakes from then on. I doubt you could do this with the fronts still working. You would probably be dragging them.

 

[aatauses]

thanks everyone---I feel considerably better now knowing that perhaps I did have some correct information. I now also know the process to help these new shoes conform to the drums. I did get the complete backing plates when they were replaced.
Thanks again--really appreciate the quick response
al

 

[MCTalley]

When we picked up our current trailer from the dealer and did a pull test in their lot, the brakes, with the controller set to 10, would barely stop the trailer enough in either direction to do a proper pull test. After a couple hundred miles of travel, with several stops (heavy traffic when we left the dealer didn't hurt), our brakes were working good enough to gradually start cutting back the truck's brake controller to its current setting of around 6.5.

 

[wdk450]

It sounds like most every new trailer produced is a dangerous vehicle. I wonder if the towable RV manufacturers could pay a bonus to the cross-country transporter tow guys to exercise the brakes as they tow them cross country. The other solution is a break-in braking treadmill device before the axles are installed.

I worked for a medical manufacturer once who had a braking car wheel and tire set-up to test treadmill designs.