Adjust TM brakes?

Originally Posted by PopBeavers

That is what I do because that is what my dad taught me to do in 1970, when he owned a service station, when a service station provided service instead of diet sodas.

Well it does feel pretty retro to be adjusting the brakes. Think I'll get the self-adjusting ones when these liners need to be replaced. I'd also like to have the Nev-R-Lube axle bearings but that would require a complete axle switch.

Originally Posted by brulaz

Well it does feel pretty retro to be adjusting the brakes. Think I'll get the self-adjusting ones when these liners need to be replaced. I'd also like to have the Nev-R-Lube axle bearings but that would require a complete axle switch.

On a car, for all of the self adjusting brakes that I have seen, they depend on using the brakes when backing up.

When driving a stick, I frequently do not use the brakes while backing up. In this situation these brakes do not self adjust.

When towing the TM, I do not back up much and even then backing up is pretty slow. This may not be adequate for keeping the TM brakes properly adjusted. Perhaps the TM brakes do not require using reverse to adjust the brakes.

Disc brakes do not have this problem.

For the older drum brakes, I wonder if anyone has designed self adjusting brakes for the situation where reverse is never used.

I am not sure when disc brakes became common. My 1965 Chevy Impala had drum brakes front and rear.

According to the Dexter manual, their self-adjusting brakes "adjust on both forward and reverse stops." So no worries there.

Unfortunately my manual adjustment didn't fix a problem I was having. I had noticed that after stopping, one of the brakes was substantially warmer than the other. I haven't measured the individual currents to the brakes, but since the total is 7 amps or so at full activation (the manual says 3 amps/brake), I suspect the problem is mechanical.

And I was hoping that the brake adjustment would fix it. But it didn't. Looks like I'll have to open them up to find out what the problem is. Maybe one has some grease on the pads or or one of the magnets is getting worn.

Probably I'll just order the self-adjusting kits & seals and do a full replacement.

[MudDog]

From my experience over the last year+, the self adjusting brakes are adjusting perfectly. The brakes feel the same today as they did the day I installed them.

With the standard brakes, I could feel the difference over time until they were manually adjusted, or in my case, replaced.

For the price, I'm real happy with the upgrade.

--jim

[ShrimpBurrito]

I think I'm going to do the upgrade the next time I have to replace the magnets or shoes.

Dave

Originally Posted by brulaz

...
Unfortunately my manual adjustment didn't fix a problem I was having. I had noticed that after stopping, one of the brakes was substantially warmer than the other. I haven't measured the individual currents to the brakes, but since the total is 7 amps or so at full activation (the manual says 3 amps/brake), I suspect the problem is mechanical.

And I was hoping that the brake adjustment would fix it. But it didn't. Looks like I'll have to open them up to find out what the problem is. Maybe one has some grease on the pads or or one of the magnets is getting worn.

Probably I'll just order the self-adjusting kits & seals and do a full replacement.

So I installed the self-adjusting brakes yesterday and discovered that the brake drum that didn't get very warm had a leaky grease seal. The magnet and hub were covered in grease. The drum's metal surfaces didn't look too bad, as I guess they were being continually wiped by the pads and magnet. AFAIK, these drums have never been pulled before. Luckily I had ordered some seals along with the new brake assemblies.

Used the claw of a carpenters hammer to pull the seal and cleaned both bearings while I was at it. Looked ok for China bearings but was surprised that none of the new grease that I had pumped in a few weeks before had gotten into the bearing case and around the rollers. But it hasn't been on the road yet, so maybe that's what it takes to mix it in.

The other side of the trailer was fine and the seal looked good so I didn't replace it or pull the bearings. Next time ...

Brakes nothing but trouble. And our TV's tow ratings assume the trailer will be able to stop itself.

First, a broken wire and no brake on one side. Now a leaky seal and a weak brake on one side.

But in both cases a simple walk-around drum temperature check after stopping revealed the problem. Both drums should be equally warm-hot to your fingers. Guess I'll keep on doing this routinely.

Bruce...I am installing the never-adjust brakes Thursday. Anything weird you ran into that I should know about? I did not get new bearings or seals, figure I can run out and get them if I need to. Did you find any good instruction info on the web which helped you? Thanks.

Originally Posted by Scott O

Bruce...I am installing the never-adjust brakes Thursday. Anything weird you ran into that I should know about? I did not get new bearings or seals, figure I can run out and get them if I need to. Did you find any good instruction info on the web which helped you? Thanks.

No major problems other than the seal. Some issues:
- Check the inside of drum for wear and grease (bad seal). My drums were fine, no excessive wear.
- IIRC needed an 11/16" open wrench for the nuts on the brake backing plate. A socket would not fit.
- Be careful bending the wires where they enter the brake backing plate. I and others have had them break there.
- Be sure you know how to set the hub nut so the bearings are not too tight. I just followed Dexter's instructions.
- Have your grease gun ready to top off the grease in the hub. I used a couple of shots of grease on the hub where the seal and bearings were NOT pulled. A lot more where they were.

I haven't put it on the road yet. And I'm not sure if I will fiddle with the initial brake adjustment before I do. One brake set installed fairly tight, the other fairly loose. I may just hitch it up and go back and forth a few times to get the auto adjust action to kick in and do it for me.

Be prepared to get dirty!

Will post again if I think of anything else.

Thanks Bruce...
-How did you splice the wires from the wheels to the TM?
-Did you just run the wires through the backing place or somehow secure them?
-Did you use any sort or wire loom to protect the wires?
-I should be OK on the rest...I'm having a mechanic buddy (named Bruce!) help with the project!

Thanks again.

Originally Posted by Scott O

-How did you splice the wires from the wheels to the TM?
-Did you just run the wires through the backing place or somehow secure them?
-Did you use any sort or wire loom to protect the wires?

Clean the wires and solder. Paint with liquid wire tape, put on a shrinkwrap tube, shrink one end, fill with more liquid wire tape, shrink the rest of the tube. Tape everything together with real tape and fold it up so it doesn't dangle and tie up with a plastic tie. (Thanks HarveyRV)

The new brakes come with the wires poking out through a plastic strain relief. Just be careful, don't bend or pull them too much, cause in the past, the wires have broken in the strain relief. Maybe they are using too small a strain relief for the wire size?

I use the plastic wire loom tubing stuff everywhere on the brake wiring around the axles except for the last 6 inches or so to the brakes.