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Old 03-28-2021, 08:14 AM   #1
Lee
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Annual axle bearing maintenance

Hi,

While performing my annual axle bearing repacking, on the first drum I removed , I noticed that the conductor that supplies power to the brake magnet had been in contact with the back of the rotating brake drum. White arrow in attached picture. This resulted in the other cable insulation being worn through. Luckily, upon closer inspection the inner conductors were found not to be compromised. SCARY!!!!!!!!!!!

I moved the small metal cable retainer (black arrow in picture) from where you see it in the picture... to as far right along the yellow spring as it would go and then I gently compressed it with plyers so it would not work its way back along the yellow spring. This will keep the cable from contacting the drum.

Brake shoes and magnet still have a lot of life left in them.

Repacked the bearings, installed new seal and reassembled. Moving on to the next drum.
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Old 03-28-2021, 08:32 AM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lee View Post
Hi,

While performing my annual axle bearing repacking, on the first drum I removed , I noticed that the conductor that supplies power to the brake magnet had been in contact with the back of the rotating brake drum. White arrow in attached picture. This resulted in the other cable insulation being worn through. Luckily, upon closer inspection the inner conductors were found not to be compromised. SCARY!!!!!!!!!!!

I moved the small metal cable retainer (black arrow in picture) from where you see it in the picture... to as far right along the yellow spring as it would go and then I gently compressed it with plyers so it would not work its way back along the yellow spring. This will keep the cable from contacting the drum.

Brake shoes and magnet still have a lot of life left in them.

Repacked the bearings, installed new seal and reassembled. Moving on to the next drum.
As you learned, it's always a good idea to check the 12V leads going to the brakes on every wheel. I checked mine on my triple axle camper and found a couple to be in a position that they would have eventually begin to wear through the insulation and the wire make contact with ground. A few minutes of moving wires around and using some zip ties solved the issue for now. Zip ties will eventually get brittle and possibly break, so it's a good idea to check them at least a couple of times a year to make sure they are still intact. Good heads up....thanks for posting that.
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Old 03-28-2021, 08:42 AM   #3
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I've always seen these, You must have the new and improved (read cheaper) version.

https://www.etrailer.com/Accessories...ailer%20Brakes
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Old 03-28-2021, 04:02 PM   #4
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You said in the title that this is annual bearing maintenance, but as was discovered it is really annual brake inspection and in order to inspect the brakes, the bearings get repacked and new seals are installed when the drums are removed. Before upgrading to disc brakes on our rig, I performed my annual inspection and found one of the USA made Dexter assemblies had totally come apart and had parts completely ground up to dust. The decision to upgrade to discs was a lot easier after finding this. The adjuster screw assembly and spring, along with a couple other parts were what were ground up inside the drum, and there was no obvious indication that there was a problem with any of the brakes.
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Old 03-28-2021, 07:49 PM   #5
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Originally Posted by bobbecky View Post
You said in the title that this is annual bearing maintenance, but as was discovered it is really annual brake inspection and in order to inspect the brakes, the bearings get repacked and new seals are installed when the drums are removed. Before upgrading to disc brakes on our rig, I performed my annual inspection and found one of the USA made Dexter assemblies had totally come apart and had parts completely ground up to dust. The decision to upgrade to discs was a lot easier after finding this. The adjuster screw assembly and spring, along with a couple other parts were what were ground up inside the drum, and there was no obvious indication that there was a problem with any of the brakes.

this is the same thing I experienced 2 years in a row, getting the disc brakes installed on April 17th.
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Old 03-28-2021, 08:43 PM   #6
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You will love the discs. We had Performance Trailer Braking install ours a couple years ago and they work great. The photo is the end of the first half day of the install, and was completed the next day.
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Old 03-29-2021, 05:55 AM   #7
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While the disk brakes are nice if you have the money to burn...I don’t.. I’ve had zero issues wit( my OEM brakes and bearings in my 2014... main tend they are a pretty good setup ... not as nice as the disk setup but they will last
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Old 03-29-2021, 09:25 AM   #8
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While the disk brakes are nice if you have the money to burn...I don’t.. I’ve had zero issues wit( my OEM brakes and bearings in my 2014... main tend they are a pretty good setup ... not as nice as the disk setup but they will last
I agree with proper maintenance they will last!
But the disc brakes, although a bit pricey, are like towing a rv with a diesel truck compared to a gasser, once you've towed with diesel you'll never want another gas tow vehicle. Once you've had a rv with disc brakes you'll never want drums again. The difference is night & day in stopping/slowing performance.
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Old 03-29-2021, 09:31 AM   #9
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We upgraded, not because the discs are nice looking but because we full time and over the years have had enough issues with the drums that the last failure we had with the drums was really the last drum brake failure we were going to have. The disc brakes are totally a safety upgrade and according to testing that was done, the disc brakes on the trailer alone can stop the truck/trailer combination quicker than the truck/trailer drum brakes can stop. The combination with the trailer discs now works well together giving a very controlled stop.
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