New Brakes Requires

[stevemorris]

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

[MFL]

Were the other trailers that locked the brakes being towed by this same truck with oem controller? Reason I ask, Ram has had some issues with their oem controllers. You might want to tow a friends trailer, that has known great braking, with your truck, and see how that goes, before spending money/time changing your trailer brakes.

Jerry

[stevemorris]

ive had trailer brakes on other trailers that could lock up all 4 wheels, on this trailer it's not even close(same axles/brakes but on a much lighter trailer), so performance should be better just with the drum brakes.

when we first bought the trailer(privately), i pulled the drums and the shoes were like new, some minor rust on the drums but otherwise they were like new as well.

after our first long trip, there was very little wear and the drums were clean and shiny, some wear on the magnets. still mediocre braking

i do need to check the wiring carefully, need a bigger ampmeter for that i guess. i'll check the amp draw by pulling the disconnect switch for a second or two.

tow vehicle is a 2017 ram 1500 with factory controller and its turned all the way up

[Lantley]

I agree with the above if you really want to improve your braking performance upgrade to disc brakes. There is a day vs. night difference in performance between disc and magnetic drums

[Lynnmor]

I don't know why you are replacing the brakes, were they worn beyond use? Did you inspect them or just take the word of a dealer?

I bought Chinese brakes once in an effort to prevent a particular problem with Dexter brakes, only to have the brittle magnet wires break on the first trip. I went back to Dexter and fixed the problem with some modification. If you really want to improve braking, install disc brakes.

Are you buying drums as well? No trailer drums are balanced from the factory, but I found Dexter to have better castings resulting in somewhat better balance. I find it humorous when folks claim they balance the tires and have no clue what is really happening.

If replacing wheel bearings, use Timken brand, the Chinese junk sold by eTrailer and most other places are junk.

The tongue jack can be used to partially lift the truck for easier connection of the weight distribution, so buy the heavier model.

[colliehauler]

I would say e trailer brakes are probably made by the same manufacturer, you can ask them. As far as tongue jacks you can catch them on sale and 3k jack or above should aid in putting on the equalizer bars. I see new tongue jacks for 100 bucks on ebay all the time.

[drsteve]

stevemorris wrote:
i have adjusted them, in the spring and half way through the 8000km trips
i will also check the current flow to give an indication of the wiring condition. unfortunately my meter only reads up to 15 amps, four 10 inch brakes should draw around 20

If they are correctly adjusted and still performing poorly, look at the wiring before replacing them. As for a tongue jack, I'd go with a 3500.

[stevemorris]

i have adjusted them, in the spring and half way through the 8000km trips
i will also check the current flow to give an indication of the wiring condition. unfortunately my meter only reads up to 15 amps, four 10 inch brakes should draw around 20

[BarabooBob]

I would get the Dexter brakes. It is only an extra $100 and you can get parts for them. As far as the tongue jack, the price difference will probably less than $50 for a heavy lift jack. A heavy lift does not have to work hard to lift your TT and will last longer.
I had to adjust my brakes during our trip this summer. We only had about 1000 miles on the TT when we left. I adjusted just before leaving but decided to check them about 3000 miles into the trip. I had to do a substantial adjustment. I know that the brakes would be considered new when we left but the adjustment made a huge difference. The guy in the next campsite could not believe that I adjusted the brakes in under 15 minutes parked on my site.

[eHoefler]

Did you try adjusting your brakes first? Most trailer brakes are not self adjusting.

Buy the cheaper set, they are most likely the same components and manufacturers.

[dodge_guy]

When I replaced my brakes, I went with the Dexter brakes with automatic adjustment. Well worth he money.
As far as the tongue jack, I went with the Atwood 4K lb power jack.

[MFL]

I would contact E-trailer, ask them the difference. I'm sure they don't manufacture their brand assemblies, and should tell you who does. It could be Dexter/Lippert. The pads themselves may be different, and if that is the case, I'd get the better ones. A 3K jack sounds like a good fit, may as well have the extra lift capability, with added durability.

Jerry