Brake maintenance

[BirchyBoy]

I spent a couple hours over the last two nights taking the brake drums apart and inspecting the pads, drums and magnet. Everything looked great. Even wear, no delamination, etc. Buttoned it all back up and had a friend help me adjust them. Then we gave the bearings a fresh shot of grease, took it on a 5 mile ride to warm things up and test the brakes, and then gave the bearings another shot of grease. The only thing I need to replace is the dust caps. A couple are in bad shape.

I'll have to replace the pads in the Spring. They are down to just over 1/8" of material. Not doing to bad for having 10k miles on them so far. The tires are even wearing great. Nice and even, no cupping or anything bad.

[chuckster57]

Preventative maintenance is always a good thing. Only thing is, pads are for disc brakes. Shoes are for drum brakes.

You might be surprised how thin the shoe material is on a brand new set of brakes, it may be that you've only worn the shoes about 50%.

[PerryB]

When it comes to brake maintenance, don't spend too much money on individual components because you can buy completely loaded assemblies surprisingly cheap. I just replaced all 4 of mine (Dexter 6000 lb) for about $300. Its nice to have all new parts instead of having to reuse old springs, clips,slack adjusters etc. Something to consider anyway.

[BirchyBoy]

Originally Posted by chuckster57

Preventative maintenance is always a good thing. Only thing is, pads are for disc brakes. Shoes are for drum brakes.

You might be surprised how thin the shoe material is on a brand new set of brakes, it may be that you've only worn the shoes about 50%.

True about the nomenclature. I always forget that.

[BirchyBoy]

Originally Posted by PerryB

When it comes to brake maintenance, don't spend too much money on individual components because you can buy completely loaded assemblies surprisingly cheap. I just replaced all 4 of mine (Dexter 6000 lb) for about $300. Its nice to have all new parts instead of having to reuse old springs, clips,slack adjusters etc. Something to consider anyway.

That's good to know. If I still have the trailer when it's time, I'll see about swapping the same whole kit and kaboodle.