ajriding wrote:
2016Forest River Heritage Glen is a dual axle trailer.
With two axles and 4 brakes, then you technically need half the brake rating on the drums since you have twice as many axles.
Are there 4 drums or just 2 (which would be the front axle)?
Yes, I could see them adding up the numbers of the rating of each drum to equal the required braking needed for the trailer.
It may seem like a no-brainer that bigger brakes are better, but if the brakes are too over rated for that weight of trailer then they can be quite finiky I have expierencd.
On my cargo trailer the brakes are really hard to dial in with an empty trailer. Brakes barely grab when set at the right setting for the weight, but barely grab is hard to control and quirky at best. No, I don't need brakes with a light empty trailer, but I still try to set it...
Maybe your trailer does not have 4 powerful brakes for this or a similar reason.
OP never stated why they need to replace, I am a bit curious to say the least. Just slapping parts on it may or may not fix weak brakes..
IF it is from weak or no braking action, OP most likely does not need to replace, just fix the issue with weak braking which comes in two categories..
One MECHANICAL.
Two, ELECTRICAL.
Mechanical often comes from wear of the brake lining which is a simple fix of adjusting the brake shoes a bit tighter.
Other mechanical is rusted/stuck linkages or shoes, easy fix to dissemble/clean and reassemble.
Electrical fix is broken/corroded/damaged splices, broken wires or just plain factory substandard wiring (IE to light of wire ga for the distance).
I would tend to vote ELECTRICAL issue whenever anyone has WEAK BRAKING ACTION. Factory tends to use the lightest wire ga they can get away with, this often causes a lot of voltage drop (high resistance) which severely reduces your braking.
Often replacing/bypassing factory wire with a heavier ga wire will resolve a lot of weak braking actions.
Factory often uses non moisture proof crimp wire splices at the brake connections, these splices since they are not outdoor or , moisture proof will allow water to migrate into the splice and the wire corrodes and causes high resistance at the least of the connection or at worst the splice fails and breaks off..
Now, if OP is replacing due to cracked/broken or worn brake shoes, one must wonder what happened since it is only a 4 yr old trailer and those brakes should last a lot longer than 4 yrs unless you are excessively braking down hills and not downshifting or driving 30K-40K per yr..
If grease laden then well perhaps needs to read up on how to service the bearings properly and if equipped with grease gun lubing system to stop pumping grease in and go old school tear apart and hand grease them..
