redramnc

Wondered why my trailer brakes were acting funny - found the following when I pulled the hub to go through all of them.<br>The clips holding the wires to the leading shoe fell off and the wires fell down and got wedged between the shoe center support and the brake actuating arm. Result was a good slice and no brake. Thought my old Tekonsha Voyager controller had gone south because it was acting weird. I reckon the short to ground was the reason for the symptoms.<br><br>Figured I would just remind everybody that Dexter says repack once a year and it also allows you to find this kind of problem before it becomes a real bad problem.<br><br><br><br>

GrandpasRam

Red, glad you didn't have any mishaps. The regular maintenance such as brake inspections, wiring inspections, bearing repacks, etc. are something I do every year - and thanks for posting the reminder for everyone - lots of folks (sometimes including me) get busy and forget to do it until it is almost past due. It is a good habit to get into, but seems difficult to form as a habit. I have managed to make it a high priority by thinking of the responsibility I have taken on when hooking up to a heavy load for public road use. Thanks again for the reminder. 8)

TXRAM2

GrandpasRam, you da man ;D I totally agree, not a fun job, but regular maintenance keeps everything purrrin along. It's a lot easier to fix problems in the shop, rather than on the roadside at 1:00am, 300 miles from civilization :'(

GrandpasRam

[quote author=TXRAM2 link=board=11;threadid=15473;start=0#145342 date=1054673020]<br>GrandpasRam, you da man ;D I totally agree, not a fun job, but regular maintenance keeps everything purrrin along. It's a lot easier to fix problems in the shop, rather than on the roadside at 1:00am, 300 miles from civilization :'(<br>[/quote]<br><br>Yessir, I agree completely! It only took one real breakdown at 1 A.M. in an usavory part of town to get the idea, and quite fortunately, since I do these tasks on time I have had no road break-downs in over 25 years since. Not a fun job in teh Texas heat, but much better than in the middle of nowhere.

FiverBob

One of the neat features of the Jordan controller is that it monitors the &quot;current&quot; being drawn by the brake circuit. Monitoring the voltage does not reveal what the brakes are actually doing, only what the controller is asking them to do. If a magnet opens or a wire gets cut, the amps will drop. This is an obvious sign something is wrong in your brakes. Pretty neat feature.

bulabula

Good reminder. The only thing I could add is to change the title to &quot;Check your trailer brakes yearly&quot;. Dunking them in water wreaks havoc on surge brakes too.<br><br>I did all 6 this spring for the first time. Had water intrusion on the middle axle; it was rusted and nearly frozen solid.<br><br>Seems like Murphy's Law is always in effect when it comes to breakdowns. And it seems that we take the braking system and its maintenance way to casually too often.

pwabbott

redramnc,<br><br>Looks like yo pups been chewin on dem wires. I would certainly set up a record of maintenance on trailer axles. Pull wheels for inspection every 10K-12K of towing. If you keep a record of tow mileage to me it is better than using the calendar. Some years I tow 5K miles other years I tow 12K or more.

redramnc

SierraPhil,<br>I like the idea of tracking tow miles - I only tow occasionally and then it is usually only 20-30 miles at a time. All of the brakes looked like they just need to be used more frequently and the grease had not even flowed out of the cavities. <br><br>Heck, at the rate I am going the tires will dry rot or UV deteriorate before they wear out from use. Also, keeping it out in the weather instead of under a shed seems to let a little more water in the hubs and the drums show it. Not bad yet, but this summer I plan on having to haul a good bit so I hope the drums clean up from use and don't begin grabbing or eat the shoes. Reckon I will start logging tow miles and pull 'em apart if they start acting funny again.

spots

One thing I got in the habit of doing when I hook to my trailer (not an RV) is to always do a walk around, check the lights, and when I drive away crank the controller to the max and tap the brakes. I watch in the mirrors for the trailer brakes to lock up for a split second. I know they are working properly then. Put the controller back down and away I go. HTH. ( I have an older controller)

FiverBob

Spots,<br>I do a similar routine. I do all my checks, make sure I am ready to roll except for landing gear. Then, I pull the gear up about 1&quot;, get in the truck, push the controller manual all the way in, monitor the amperage, then, while still holding it in, try to pull away. Hopefully the trailer will hold me. This checks my hookup and my trailer brakes at the same time. If I do not have a good hookup, the trailer will only drop an inch or two, not down onto my bed. I then depress the brake and check my controller setting and make sure I have set my wire for the controller (Jordan). I then raise gear all the way and hit the road.