Dexter axel brake up grade

Shadow Catcher wrote:
We have a large teardrop trailer,(I know kind of an oxymoron), and the TV is a Subaru Outback 3.6L H6. The tear has 7" brakes on a Dexter axle. Dexter says there is no way to upgrade to 10" brakes.
Plans for next summer will include perhaps a trip to Alaska just post retirement for my wife. and at the very least some serious travel out west and assorted mountain climbing.
Will I have to replace the axle to move up to 10" or is there a way?

If you could get the backing plates to work you would have to change the drums, if you change the drums you would have to change the rims and most likely the tires also.

7" brakes are typically on 2K-2.5K axles

10" brakes typically are 3K-3.5K axles

The components between those two axles are not compatible or interchangeable. Backing plates are different, drums are different axle stub and bearings are different.

Even if you bought 3.5K axles you WILL be buying new rims.. 7" drums are 4 bolt and 10" drums are 5 bolt..

Honestly with that small of a trailer I suspect that you are not doing something right in how you are towing..

When towing you should be taking advantage of engine braking.. In a nutshell you DOWNSHIFT to a lower gear when going down a hill. I assume you do not have Tow/Haul feature and so you MUST manually move the gear shift to the next lower gear.

Additionally you need to anticipate going down hills, watch for the road signs which often give info for how steep and long the downhill grade is.. These are posted in advance on steep grades or long grades to give heavy haulers a chance to get prepared. READ AND HEAD THESE SIGNS, treat it as if you are a heavy hauler and not a sports car!

Before you crest the hill or start down the hill you want to scrub off some speed, just simply lift your foot off the gas and allow the rig to start losing speed..

As you start down you want to downshift to a lower gear, this allows the engine to start holding back and you should continue to lose some speed at that point..

As you are going down the hill you simply can brake a bit if your speed starts rising and if you have to continue with the brakes to hold or slow down further then downshift again to the next lower gear..

You will not "hurt" the engine or transmission now days by downshifting, they are computer controlled and will not allow a downshift that could over rev the engine.

And YES, the engine IS going to scream..