New Brakes Requires

stevemorris wrote:
Our 12 yr old KZ Spree has never had new brakes, when we bought used 2 yrs ago, it still had the original tires as it had very rarely been towed anywhere!
We have since towed it well over 20,000 km mostly on the east coast which i would describe as hilly but not mountainous.
Braking performance is fair even with the brake controller on full.

So we decided to replace the braking system with 4 new brake assemblies at our dealers suggest.

Etrailer has 2 brands, there own private lable and dexter originals. etrailer brakes are $100/ pair and dexters are $25 more per pair. canadian dealer prices are double that!

my tendency is toward the dexter originals, but anybody know the difference?

we also want to install a powered aframe jack. suggestions as to weight capacity? right now we have the original handcrank 2000# capacity and its time for a new something, effort required is getting higher and higher(or im just getting old!). tongue weight is around 1000 lbs plus we lift the truck to install our weight bars. so im considering a 3000 lb jack

GET A SECOND OPINION!

Better yet, look at them yourself, you can measure the lining and make sure it is more than minimum specs.

20,000 KM is only 12,428 miles!! That is NOTHING, for trailer brake lining wear.. You would have to be smoking off the brakes (literally smoke rolling out at each stop)to wear them out that fast.

Unless the brake shoes are at the minimum lining and or cracked, there is zero need to replace them.

Age DOES NOT AFFECT THEM, I just recently replaced the brakes on my 35+ yr old Komfort, as far as I am aware they were the ORIGINAL brake shoes. While I am not the original owner, I do know that it was built and sold in California and eventually made it's way to PA over it's life (have receipts) which is where I bought it.

The ONLY reason I replaced them was only ONE of the brake shoes had several cracks in the lining (which will fail the annual PA state inspection).. Otherwise the shoes had more than enough lining to pass the minimum requirements.

Dealer may have been "phising" for more profit and hoping that you would take the bait lining their pockets with some bonus money.

On edit..

WEAK braking is more related to the wiring quality.

More likely every single wire connection on your trailer is a cheap non weather proof crimp or wire nut.. This type of connection WILL corrode over time, corrosion creates resistance and resistance means less voltage gets to the magnets which means less grab which means less braking effectiveness.

Add in that manufacturers tend to be very stingy on the wiring used which make the problem even worse.

What I am recommending is to REPLACE the wiring BEFORE replacing the brake assys..

EVEN MORE IMPORTANT, UPGRADE THE WIRE GA, 12G or even 10 GA will vastly improve the brakes! In the process you will get rid of any corroded connections and allow more current to flow in the circuit effectively improving braking power.