Dexter Brake Issue

[Frank G]

A little Background,
Laredo 325RL, New March 2017, about 4,000 miles on it, Preformed the EZ lube lubrication per instructions last Sept before heading to Florida.

Everything has been working OK including the brakes, so it appeared.

Today I started my tear down lubrication and inspection of the Axles, bearings and Brake Mechanism. Plenty of grease in the bearings and reserve cavity, bearings and races all good. Seal was in place but some grease was getting by it, very little and not an issue.


Look closely at the enclosed pictures, the magnet arm is supposed to be attached to a steel bushing that pivots on the pin, providing the braking action. The arm has broke loose from the bushing and dropped down. I think it was still working but a lot of slop.


I have filled out a warrantee clime with Dexter and submitted pictures, hope they respond soon. I am only capable of doing one assembly at a time so I am at a standstill.

I hope this helps all the do-it-yourselfer's out there.

The first photo is how it is supposed to be.

[bobbecky]

Good luck on getting things working again. When our rig was new and had maybe 6,000 miles on it, I too did the bearing lube using the zerk fittings. At about 12,000 miles, I did the brake inspection and found three of the four coated in grease. I did the work, and with new brake assemblies, getting the drums turned, and other supplies, it was close to $500 to make things right. I no longer use the brake greasing system, and once a year pull the drums, inspect the brakes, repack the bearings and install new seals. Cost annually is about $40, and I never worry about brakes or bearings. The EZ Lube system, in my opinion, is a waste of time on these rigs, considering the risk of not knowing what is behind the drum. You may have better luck dealing with Dexter directly, as they are really good making the customer happy when these things happen.

[alien_scones]

Visually inspecting the brakes is a good idea. This is what I found when inspecting mine.

That's a shirted wire rubbed by the drum.

[fjr vfr]

I agree completely with bobbecky about the EZ lub system. You never know where the grease is going. When we bought our last trailer I found all 4 brakes coated with embedded grease from the previous owner using the EZ lub grease zerts.
I ordered all new brake assemblies and drums from Etrailer and replaced everything.
I personally would never use that system and I inspect my brakes and hand pack my bearings as needed.
Good luck with your warranty claim. I doubt that brake was working? Anyway the parts aren't too expensive. If you don't want to wait for the claim you might fix it now and ask to get reimbursed for the cost.

[Frank G]

Update; I found the other brake assemblies had similar issues, so talking with the Warrantee department at Dexter this morning I was told they were sending out 4 replacement brake assemblies. Looking forward to the UPS person next week, hope they do not let me down. I started with the conversation with " Is this a safety issue?"