Replace old brakes

[Jayco25E]

So I live in PA and my wife wants to take a long trip south in early March. So knowing that our travel trailer was due for new brakes I decided to do the smart thing and replace them this last fall while it was warm before I winterized it. That way I would not be freezing my fingers doing it in February. 🙂 Also took the time to add new wheels and tires.

Old rusty brakes.


New Brakes.


New wheels and tires

[BurbMan]

I waited too long on my 2008 before I finally did brakes last year. In addition to the magnets and shoes being worn, I had to get new drums also bcause they were badly scored. (Sidenote: nobody cuts brake drums anymore....had to buy new ones.)

eTrailer had a kit that included the self adjusting brake assembly, the drum, new grease seals, new bearings and new lug nuts. Didn't need new bearings but was cheaper to get the whole kit. Since I have the nevr-lube axles, they use the tang washer instead of the castle/cotter set up ,and I like to replace those as well just so the tang doesn't break off from being bent back and forth.

To the OP, also check and refresh all your ground connections by the tongue to be sure you are getting max voltage to the brakes.

[gkainz]

cheap insurance, yes, but priceless peace of mind. I have new brake assemblies waiting to go on mine, once I recover from the flu and get strong enough to hold more than a kleenex.

[Jayco25E]

Ozlander wrote:

Lynnmor wrote:
I can't see a darn thing wrong with the old brakes.

That's what I was thinking.

Just wasted some money.

No not a waste of money but cheap insurance. One of the brake hubs was sticking and as the trailer is going on 13 years old I decided to just replace them. Now if I was one of those guys that never tow their camper more than 20 miles down the road then you are correct. However we tend to travel with ours through mutable states at a time on busy highways. I have been in close calls because of idiots on the road. I once had a car cut me off and then blow up just in front of me. I managed to not hit them and get off the highway so I could help get them out of their burning car. I want my rig to stop when I need it to stop. Not I hope it stops as I have never replace the brakes in 13 years. Yes that old hub in the picture although rusty was still working. Other hubs on the camper were not working as they should. I do not want to have to fix a brake hub from an old brake shoe that broke off when I am 1000 miles from home.

[Lynnmor]

Now the brakes shoes need to conform to the drums and the magnets need to do the same. If I would have magnets that didn't start to chew grooves into the armature, there is no way that I would replace them. If the magnets didn't work right, I would test them as they usually fail like a light bulb either works or not.

[joebedford]

Lynnmor wrote:
I can't see a darn thing wrong with the old brakes.

^^X2

[Ozlander]

Lynnmor wrote:
I can't see a darn thing wrong with the old brakes.

That's what I was thinking.

Just wasted some money.

[theoldwizard1]

fj12ryder wrote:

Lynnmor wrote:
I can't see a darn thing wrong with the old brakes.

Well, some of the parts look a bit rusty, perhaps suffering from a little neglect. But the brake shoes, from what I can see of them, look fine, and the magnet looks okay too. Perhaps it is just the perspective.

The key components are the magnets and the inside of the brake drums. I would not be concerned about anything else.

Although, I think I would carry a couple of spare magnets !

[fj12ryder]

Jayco25E wrote:
Yes the shoes on the one in the picture where ok but I had a few of the magnets not working the way they should. Yes I could have cleaned them up and maybe got a few more seasons but for less than $200 I got all four new self adjusting assemblies. I did not want to take everything apart only to then have to order parts.

Thank you for expanding on that. I certainly can relate to that, pulling stuff apart twice instead of only once can be a real annoyance. The end result sure looks good.

[Jayco25E]

j-d wrote:
Great Job! RVing is supposed to be relaxing, and an unscheduled brake job in an unfriendly place is not relaxing. OP doesn't say where the new brakes came from, but I've used Eastern Marine for a lot of trailer and brake parts. From my experience, they actually stock a lot of what they sell, and also actually know something about what they sell. I've gotten mostly boat trailer parts from them, but I'm on a sale mailing list and see a lot of brake, tire, and wheel specials. In some cases, shipping gets really pricey, but not always. Could be worth a look.

Thanks. I got them from etrailer. I have bought from them in the past and have been very happy with them and their products.

Here is the link to the ones I bought.

[Dusty_R]

I did my flat bed trailer this fall for $75 an axel from e-trailer.com. The brakes had rusted so bad, from road salt, that they didn't work.

[j-d]

Great Job! RVing is supposed to be relaxing, and an unscheduled brake job in an unfriendly place is not relaxing. OP doesn't say where the new brakes came from, but I've used Eastern Marine for a lot of trailer and brake parts. From my experience, they actually stock a lot of what they sell, and also actually know something about what they sell. I've gotten mostly boat trailer parts from them, but I'm on a sale mailing list and see a lot of brake, tire, and wheel specials. In some cases, shipping gets really pricey, but not always. Could be worth a look.

[Jayco25E]

fj12ryder wrote:

Lynnmor wrote:
I can't see a darn thing wrong with the old brakes.

Well, some of the parts look a bit rusty, perhaps suffering from a little neglect. But the brake shoes, from what I can see of them, look fine, and the magnet looks okay too. Perhaps it is just the perspective.

Yes the shoes on the one in the picture where ok but I had a few of the magnets not working the way they should. Yes I could have cleaned them up and maybe got a few more seasons but for less than $200 I got all four new self adjusting assemblies. I did not want to take everything apart only to then have to order parts.

[Jim2007]

Nice work. Jim2007

[fj12ryder]

Lynnmor wrote:
I can't see a darn thing wrong with the old brakes.

Well, some of the parts look a bit rusty, perhaps suffering from a little neglect. But the brake shoes, from what I can see of them, look fine, and the magnet looks okay too. Perhaps it is just the perspective.