Trailer brake keeps sticking

Lynnmor wrote:
Which shoe pushes out is just a matter of one being somewhat easier to move than the other. When the drum is installed and the brakes adjusted correctly the shoes don't travel very far. See if the shoes are catching on the back plate. See if the spreader piece between the shoes is free to move. A small amount of high temperature grease should be applied where the shoes meet the backplate. When you are adjusting the brakes, turn the adjuster till the drum cannot be rotated to center the shoes, then back off till there is just the slightest drag.

x2 on the Brake and Caliper grease. Pick it up at any auto parts store. I was having this same issue when I got the trailer out from winter storage. A small amount of the grease where ever the shoes touch the backplate should fix it. In my case I used a wire brush on the back plate where all the contact points where to remove any crud that was built up first, then applied the grease and re-adjusted the brakes as Lynnmor describes. Have put about 3000 miles on since doing that and everything is good.