[DAVID GAGNARD]

Guys;

Here's the scoup;

16' tantem axle car hauler trailer,electric brakes on rear axle only. Trailer is about a 96 or so model and I have been having it since 98 or 99,total miles on it probably less than 5,000....

Recently took it "apart",had it sand blasted and I painted it and also painted my boards for the floor,installed new lights and one fender and four new tires,looks like new now....Trailer brakes DO NOT work.... Checked all wiring twice,rewired truck and trailer once,took hubs and drums off to repack all wheel bearing and put new seals,took apart brakes to clean and lightly grease all moving metal parts.... After two weekends of fighting this I tried a borrowed electric brake box for the truck and changed out mine just to check it,mine was bad,now trailer brakes work!!!!!!!!!!! but not that great.....

But when they were NOT working,I took my car to have the front end aligned after doing a bunch of changes to the front suspension,about 40 miles one way... When I got there first thing I did was check hubs for heat,all about the same temp., nice and warm but not hot at all... Well at least I know how to repack wheel bearing,thank God....

Now that I got the electric brakes working again,I went about a mile down the road and back with the trailer empty setting the brake switch. Made 8 to 10 stops along the way,a couple realllll hard stops to see how it would do, got back home,front hubs warm--o-k----rear hubs HOT,you can hold your hand on them but not for very long,I know I made some hard stops in a mile or two,but I have three questions???????

1. How hot should the brakes drums get with say normal driving a few miles with normal stops (a few)?????

2. How "tight" or "loose" should the brakes shoes be set at with the little adjusting wheel??????

3. Is anybody using "buddy bearings" on their trailer????? Talked to a couple of camper dealers about this and they say it is neccassary only on boat trailers to keep hubs full of grease and water out,I knew that, I have a boat trailer with buddy bearings on it and love them,they recommended repacking trailer bearings from once a year to once every three years depending on miles put on it,but a friend just recently bought a 24' enclosed trailer and it came with "buddy bearing" on all four wheels from the manufacter...Seems to me it can not hurt,what's your opinion on buddy bearing on a utility trailer????
I will be putting about 2 to 3 thousand miles a year on the trailer now that I will be going to more open track events and I always tow my car when doing this,just in case I brake something...

Thanks guys;

David