Gdetrailer wrote:
BenK wrote:
Why I check the trailer brakes (how warm/hot, how they sound rolling to a stop,
manually adjust the self adjusters, etc) at every stop
Even carry rebuild kits and have had to rebuild them out there
Now that is just plain silly...
Okay, if you say so, but that is for you, not me
I can not imagine that anyone is willing to tear apart or roll under the trailer and "adjust" the bakes manually.
I would suggest that you stop this practice, rest stops, parking lots and the such are a TERRIBLE place to attempt these kinds of preventative maintenance items. It is an extremely dangerous to do this even while on level land without adding public traffic.
Guess you never go to the places I do, so you are right for those
places you visit that is correct, but again, not for me
Your brakes even if you don't have auto adjusters WILL not require any adjustments to be done for 10,000-12,000 miles or one year. This IS the industry standard.
Agree for 'some' vehicles and for
the general folks out there and of which you must be...the fat part
of that herd
I am NOT part of that herd
Adjusting them needlessly using the "inspection" hole only will wear out the shoes at a faster rate at the least and at the worst OVER TIGHTEN the shoes causing extreme heat and possible loss of brakes.
Nope...not on the stuff I have or borrow...you must be buy cheap to
have that kind of wear and tear
Or your overly forcing, but you say you know HOW2...weird and goes
back to most likely buying cheap
The ONLY WAY to SAFELY "adjust" the brake shoes is to REMOVE the drum.
Maybe for you, but I've never lost a finger nor got hurt using the
shop manual's instructions to use that 'hole'
Simply put, you want only a SLIGHT amount of "resistance" felt when removing the drum. The brakes should not drag on the drums very much, only VERY SLIGHTLY. There is no way you can perform that while using the inspection cover and not jacking up the wheel.
I do jack that tire off pavement 'most' times. Can also adjust it
without jacking it up and am perfectly good for that and must be your
experience over tightening, but that is not needed by me
Or that some trailers I borrow has the drum groved and doesn't come
off that easily, but I don't manually adjust them by taking the drum
off, so don't encounter that
Or that putting back a drum that is groved, will have the only way
to get the shoes right is to manually adjust. Lucky for you that
you never have to work on a groved drum
I have many years experience with drum brakes, cut my driving teeth on 1970s vehicles with DRUMS on ALL FOUR WHEELS. You learn in a hurry to ensure the front brakes are set CORRECTLY dead on EVEN, otherwise you WILL be pulled left or right when you stomp on the brakes...
Ditto...decades of experience wrenching, but not for money but just
because love anything automotive. Though did for money working as
a mechanic paying for college...also a tire monkey at that tire
dealership. Ranged from mud hen econo to super cars to hot rods.
OBTW...cut my teeth on 50's era vehicles and designed industrial
brakes from multi floating discs on the same shaft, to drum (but the
shoes were not expanding but came in onto the drums external surface)
One disc was 48" dia with 8 calipers on it (all designed my
me...castings, calipers, the hydraulic system and the computer control system)
Do you have a super tune regime for shoe/drums? You understand why
some cut a slot in the friction material of shoes? While others have
tried drilling holes in the drum and failed ?
You know why parts wear a grove on the backing plate?
You know OEMs moved away from shoe/drum? Or that some OEMs managed
to have ABS tone rings on shoe/drums...while Detroit could not?
