Brakes. What In The World Happened?

[Kampfirekid]

I noticed the brakes on my 2011 Jayco 32BHDS seemed to be lacking on our second to last trip. Then, on our last run, they seemed really light regardless how hard I braked, and even with the brake controller at 10, fully engaged.
Today, I pulled one rear hub to find the seal must have failed, and there was grease on everything... drum, magnet, shoes.etc. Figured while I was at it, it was time to repack the bearings, and replace the seals. Took me two hours on one hub. Mostly because it was a bear to clean all of the grease, and also because the last repack I did was over 30 years ago.

Wrapped up the one rear hub,and moved to the one ahead of it. No grease, but tons of black brake dust, and the armature surface and magnet are scoured. Repacked that hub assembly, put the tires on, and tried the brakes. Squat. Readjusted them manually to tight, backed the adjutment off, and no better. If I squeeze the controller all the way, they lock up, but spinning the wheel by hand and applying the truck brakes to the floor and I can still spin the wheels by hand.

After getting frustrated, I went to the otger side. Found both were not full of grease inside the drums, but the same scoured condition with the armature faces and magnets existed. Also, the springs on the tab that hold the manual adjuster wheel from turning were broken and the cables were flopping around.

Now, I can only assume that the hubs were overgreased by the previous owner, and maybe the longer trips this year heated the hubs up and the grease expanded and blew the seal(s). I expect that the overload on the other brakes caused the scouring of the armature surfaces and magnets.

I am in a tizzy about what to do. Shoes and magnets cost as much as the complete brake assembly, and i cant find the replacement springs for the adjuster wheel tab. Two sets of shoes have grease on them, and the other are glazed. No brainer. New shoes all the way around. I guess I can see if the local NAPA can turn the drums, or if the scours are too deep.

Wow! What happened? This simple deal has turned into a $400 project in minutes. I assume the wheels that I repacked are not braking with the vehicle brakes due to the scoured armature and magnet surfaces and the grease on the shoues (although I cleaned them with brake cleaner), but wouldnt they be hard to turn by hand with someone standing on the truck brakes? The full brake controller applied locks them solid.

Replies are appreciated.

[popupcamping]

BillB800si wrote:
Jayco has a two year warranty. Contact Jayco with the VIN number and explain it to them. Judy (customer service) down there may be able to help you out or direct to someone.

You have electric brakes and applying current via the brake controller should tighten up the brakes.
Good luck,

Jayco has a two year warranty ONLY to the original purchaser. OP said there was a previous owner. Plus it is likely over 3 years old anyway

[BillB800si]

Jayco has a two year warranty. Contact Jayco with the VIN number and explain it to them. Judy (customer service) down there may be able to help you out or direct to someone.

You have electric brakes and applying current via the brake controller should tighten up the brakes.
Good luck,

[Gdetrailer]

Kampfirekid wrote:
I noticed the brakes on my 2011 Jayco 32BHDS seemed to be lacking on our second to last trip. Then, on our last run, they seemed really light regardless how hard I braked, and even with the brake controller at 10, fully engaged.
Today, I pulled one rear hub to find the seal must have failed, and there was grease on everything... drum, magnet, shoes.etc. Figured while I was at it, it was time to repack the bearings, and replace the seals. Took me two hours on one hub. Mostly because it was a bear to clean all of the grease, and also because the last repack I did was over 30 years ago.

Wrapped up the one rear hub,and moved to the one ahead of it. No grease, but tons of black brake dust, and the armature surface and magnet are scoured. Repacked that hub assembly, put the tires on, and tried the brakes. Squat. Readjusted them manually to tight, backed the adjutment off, and no better. If I squeeze the controller all the way, they lock up, but spinning the wheel by hand and applying the truck brakes to the floor and I can still spin the wheels by hand.

After getting frustrated, I went to the otger side. Found both were not full of grease inside the drums, but the same scoured condition with the armature faces and magnets existed. Also, the springs on the tab that hold the manual adjuster wheel from turning were broken and the cables were flopping around.

Now, I can only assume that the hubs were overgreased by the previous owner, and maybe the longer trips this year heated the hubs up and the grease expanded and blew the seal(s). I expect that the overload on the other brakes caused the scouring of the armature surfaces and magnets.

I am in a tizzy about what to do. Shoes and magnets cost as much as the complete brake assembly, and i cant find the replacement springs for the adjuster wheel tab. Two sets of shoes have grease on them, and the other are glazed. No brainer. New shoes all the way around. I guess I can see if the local NAPA can turn the drums, or if the scours are too deep.

Wow! What happened? This simple deal has turned into a $400 project in minutes. I assume the wheels that I repacked are not braking with the vehicle brakes due to the scoured armature and magnet surfaces and the grease on the shoues (although I cleaned them with brake cleaner), but wouldnt they be hard to turn by hand with someone standing on the truck brakes? The full brake controller applied locks them solid.

Replies are appreciated.

Depending on your brake controller you WILL have to be MOVING in order to get your controller to apply an output to the brakes. with MANY controllers sitting still the controller will not sense deceleration therefore will not apply any brakes.

How I test my brakes when adjusting the brakes is by pulling the brake away switch pin and checking to make sure the brakes lock the wheels. If the brake away locks the wheels you are good to go on the trailer end.

To find out if your controller end is working you will need to take the trailer out and set it to lock up the wheels while moving at least 10 MPH. Once you can lock the wheels you simply back off the controller until it no longer locks.

If you can not lock the wheels then you may need to rework all the wiring splices, often the weather will corrode the connections. This is because the manufacturers do not use waterproof connections.

If you find corroded connections it may also be a good time to replace the original wire. Manufacturers tend to cheap out and use the minimum wire size (typically 14 ga).

Upgrading the wire size reduces the resistance of the wire which allows for more voltage to get to the brake magnets. When more voltage gets to the magnets they draw more current and this makes for a much stronger magnetic attraction to the drums and in turn stronger brakes. This allows you to turn down the output on the brake controller.

I typically use 10ga and what a difference in my brakes.

[Kampfirekid]

EldIr wrote:
truck needs to be moving for it's brakes to apply the trailer brakes. works off inertia

I had no idea. That would explain the inability to lock them with truck brakes. I am still trying to figure out how the inertia applies. That must be through the controller?

[EldIr]

truck needs to be moving for it's brakes to apply the trailer brakes. works off inertia