Brakes Broken On The Road

[1L243]

I have a 2017 Coleman 300tq Toy Hauler with 4400# Lipert axles.

When I pulled into our campground last Tuesday I felt a serious tug on the trailer brake. I checked all the wheels with a temp gun and the right rear was 30 degrees hotter than the other 3.

Waiting until today (tell me about it) a day before we are due to check out I thought I better give that wheel a look.

With the wheel off the ground I could tell there was a problem when I spin the tire. Pulled the tire and drum I could see that things were bent out of place. The brake pad arms seemed out of position and the backing plate was bent out.

Don't know how it happened but it's Sunday anybody that is open today including camping world does not have the 10 inch backing plate with brake components for 4400# axle instock.

They had 3500# component which looked the same but when I checked to see what the difference was I found that the backing plate 4 bolt mounting holes are slightly different that the 3500#. The too is the same but the bottom a little wider.

When I look at the mounting holes I see no noticeable difference but when I tape measure I come up with 2 13/16 center to center. But my imperfect measuring tape may differ by 1/16"

Monday when a local trailer parts store opens I am going to try and get a total backing plate and brake component replacement for 4400# axles. I will be taking my old one with me.


Now. if I can't get the replacement part I need I am thinking of straightening out the backing plate and putting it back on without the brake components until I get somewhere that has the part I need 200/300 miles. and just running on the 3 good tires that still have brakes or Should I cut the power to the rear axle all together and just run brakes on the front axle.

Any thoughts.

Wish I would have got started on this sooner.

[valhalla360]

Gdetrailer wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:

Gdetrailer wrote:
No accidents, no world ending crash, no one killed or maimed, no ambulance chasing lawyers chasing me down.

Getting away with something and it being a good idea are different things.

Do you go 1 MPH over the speed limit?

That is also not a good idea and I suspect that you and pretty much everyone else reading this forum (including myself)has been guilty of at least one time doing that in your, theirs and my lifetime.

Ironically, studies show the safest speed is going about 5mph above the average but since everyone can't go faster than the average...without changing the average, keeping pace with traffic if your best bet.

But in reality having a faulty brake and going a couple mph above the speed limit are very different things.

As mentioned in my first post, depends greatly on when and where you are driving.

[PButler96]

Gdetrailer wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:

Gdetrailer wrote:
No accidents, no world ending crash, no one killed or maimed, no ambulance chasing lawyers chasing me down.

Getting away with something and it being a good idea are different things.

Do you go 1 MPH over the speed limit?

That is also not a good idea and I suspect that you and pretty much everyone else reading this forum (including myself)has been guilty of at least one time doing that in your, theirs and my lifetime.

Every day you are able to wake up ABOVE the ground, you are "cheating" death or "getting one over death" each time.

There was also a time where vehicles had no seat belts, no air bags, no ABS, no blackbox nanny to tattle tell on you if you went 1 MPH over the speed limit.. heck as a kid, I rode on my parents lap in vehicles which had all steel dashes and yes, lived to tell the tale of it.

One trailer brake down out of four does not constitute an emergency, it does mean one needs to adjust/adapt their driving style to the situation and drive more cautious. The vehicles brakes unless you are severely way overloaded to start with are sufficient to handle the vehicle weight plus some of the weight of the trailer.. You simply will not be able to stop as fast and it will take longer distance to stop.. Keeping the towing speed LOW (IE under the speed limit) reduces the stopping distance even with partially impaired trailer brakes.

There ARE times where making repairs to full brakes is not safe or possible. OP has a real oddball and would need to find a trailer dealer that deals with Lippert 4,400 lb axles.. Most trailer shops deal with Dexter or the more popular Lippert 3,500 or Lippert 5,000 lb axles and will have those parts in stock.. That 4,400 lb axle is a pretty specific need and OP most likely will need to order and wait on the parts.

My case, it wasn't safe to pull off on the side of a highway on the berm with vehicles zooming past at 70MPH-80MPH till I figured out if it was wiring or failed part inside the drum.. People routinely get KILLED changing tires on the side of the road daily..

No brakes at all on the trailer would be entirely different conversation and is not the case of the OPs situation.

Oh the humanity.......

[1L243]

Everyone will be happy to know that I found a replacement backing plate will all the braking components at a RV Parts Warehouse on Monday morning. Got it installed and all is good.

The interesting thing is that between the four guys that worked there not one had seen or heard of this happening before.

Here are some pics

[ford_truck_guy]

Grit dog wrote:
Not speaking about the OP in this thread. Legit question and concern

agree.. and considering the first response was telling him to remove or change his post for liability reasons....????:S

[Gdetrailer]

valhalla360 wrote:

Gdetrailer wrote:
No accidents, no world ending crash, no one killed or maimed, no ambulance chasing lawyers chasing me down.

Getting away with something and it being a good idea are different things.

Do you go 1 MPH over the speed limit?

That is also not a good idea and I suspect that you and pretty much everyone else reading this forum (including myself)has been guilty of at least one time doing that in your, theirs and my lifetime.

Every day you are able to wake up ABOVE the ground, you are "cheating" death or "getting one over death" each time.

There was also a time where vehicles had no seat belts, no air bags, no ABS, no blackbox nanny to tattle tell on you if you went 1 MPH over the speed limit.. heck as a kid, I rode on my parents lap in vehicles which had all steel dashes and yes, lived to tell the tale of it.

One trailer brake down out of four does not constitute an emergency, it does mean one needs to adjust/adapt their driving style to the situation and drive more cautious. The vehicles brakes unless you are severely way overloaded to start with are sufficient to handle the vehicle weight plus some of the weight of the trailer.. You simply will not be able to stop as fast and it will take longer distance to stop.. Keeping the towing speed LOW (IE under the speed limit) reduces the stopping distance even with partially impaired trailer brakes.

There ARE times where making repairs to full brakes is not safe or possible. OP has a real oddball and would need to find a trailer dealer that deals with Lippert 4,400 lb axles.. Most trailer shops deal with Dexter or the more popular Lippert 3,500 or Lippert 5,000 lb axles and will have those parts in stock.. That 4,400 lb axle is a pretty specific need and OP most likely will need to order and wait on the parts.

My case, it wasn't safe to pull off on the side of a highway on the berm with vehicles zooming past at 70MPH-80MPH till I figured out if it was wiring or failed part inside the drum.. People routinely get KILLED changing tires on the side of the road daily..

No brakes at all on the trailer would be entirely different conversation and is not the case of the OPs situation.

[valhalla360]

Gdetrailer wrote:
No accidents, no world ending crash, no one killed or maimed, no ambulance chasing lawyers chasing me down.

Getting away with something and it being a good idea are different things.

[Gdetrailer]

Looks like you have a real oddball.

From what I have been reading 4400 lb Lippert axle parts do not and will not interchange with 3,500 lb axle parts and parts for Dexter will not work either.

Found some Lippert backing plates HERE at Amazon. Sadly that is a complete kit with drums making it a very expensive repair.

You can check with Southwest Wheel (the vendor in the Amazon link) to see if they have just the backing plates.

Another source is Etrailer, but all I could find was self adjusting backing plates for $400..

No matter where you buy them, it is very good practice to replace both sides of the same axle. This keeps your braking much more even.

As far as running without parts on the bad backing plate goes, it is your choice and your business. Way too many over the toppers here.. I have had several times a wire to a magnet break during a trip and was not able to pull off the road and troubleshoot.. Felt the trailer tug to the side which still had two brakes working. No accidents, no world ending crash, no one killed or maimed, no ambulance chasing lawyers chasing me down.

If you proceed, you most likely will feel the trailer pull or tug to the side which has two brakes working if you have your brakes setup well. So basically be prepared for that odd feel on the steering wheel and try not to over compensate which could create a bob and weave situation each time the brakes are applied and released..

The biggest hazard with only three brakes in operation is if you must make emergency maneuvers which may require stomping on the brakes at high speed then releasing them fast can pull you off the road or across the road into oncoming traffic.

For the above reason, it can make sense to disable the brake on the opposite side on the same axle.

Since you would only have half the braking power you will need to take your time, drive a bit slower, anticipate that you will need to stop at every stop light and stop sign well ahead of your normal stopping distance. Leave much more room for the impatient drivers as those are the ones that will ultimately pull a bone head stunt that you might not be able to prevent.

[Grit_dog]

Not speaking about the OP in this thread. Legit question and concern

[Grit_dog]

PButler96 wrote:

cptqueeg wrote:

ford truck guy wrote:
^^^^ WHAT ????? :h. :h

Liability in case he wrecks.

Oh brother.....

ROFLMAO.

Apparently a couple of the folks here got abducted by aliens yesterday, as evidenced by the dumb responses or questions that make no sense…lol.
It happens.

[valhalla360]

Where will you be towing and when?

Rural flatland, I would be more tempted to just go slow and leave lots of space in front of you.

Twisty turny mountain roads or rush hour major city driving...get the brakes fixed.

[PButler96]

cptqueeg wrote:

ford truck guy wrote:
^^^^ WHAT ????? :h. :h

Liability in case he wrecks.

Oh brother.....

ROFLMAO.

[time2roll]

I would slow down a bit and continue. Your call.

[1L243]

ford truck guy wrote:
^^^^ WHAT ????? :h. :h

Wow your truck is 21 years newer than mine!

[1L243]

stickdog wrote:
Well first you shouldn't have posted your problem. Got to be smarter in situations like this.
Truth is I drove 20,000 thousand miles with only three functional brakes on the fifth wheel.
Did get them all replaced before a trade in.
Whatever you do is your business I suggest you keep it that way.
You can always edit your post and none will be any the wiser.

Ha Ha funny. Its just a brake backing plate component failure.. I was curious how it actually happened and thought maybe someone would have an Idea so I can fix whatever it was before it happens again.

Hopefully I can get the part I need but if I don't I think I will cut all the brake power to that axle. I don't think braking on one side and not the other is a good Idea.