Electric brakes on trailer questions???

[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

[cobra427mnsi]

Just replaced bearings on my boat trailer and the dealer that I bought them from told me to be careful with the buddy bearings because it is very easy to blow out he seals by pumping in too much grease. He recommended not using them even on the boat trailer , but to just check and/or repack bearings at the end of the season.

Paul

[DAVID GAGNARD]

Paul;

Never had that problem,my buddy bearings on my boat trailer have a very tiny hole in the body or housing,when you pump grease in,you know it's full when it starts coming out of the little hole and then you stop putting grease in.... It's kinda like a check valve against the internal spring,the spring then holds a small amount of pressure on the grease against the bearings....

Stopped by a camper trailer place today to ask about it,most of their trailers do not come with buddy bearings,but they said they do install them on a lot of trailers for people who are not inclined to maintain their bearing,kind of a safety measure I guess....

They only had one set of buddy bearings to fit my hubs,so I bought them and will put them on the axle with the brakes for now and see how it does,later may add another set to the other axle... Also bought a new electronic brake box... Mine was the old type with the mercury inertia switch which they told me are not that good. The new boxes are all electronic and they have had no problems with them.... Will install new box and re-adjust brakes shoes and see what happens....

David

[Steve Jones]

David,

I agree with what Paul said. Some guys think that with Bearing Buddy's you just keep pumping till the grease gun's empty. If you watch the back of the piston push out against the coil spring, and stop injecting grease well before the spring is tolally collapsed you should be allright. Once the spring is totally compressed, you turn the thing into a hydraulic seal removal system! Of course, some idiots will keep adding lube until the entire brakedrum is filled with grease and the wonder why the brakes don't work!
If you suspect the brakes on your trailer are dragging (and overheating), you might try getting the rig up to speed, then putting the tow vehicle into neutral and checking the coast down rate. An empty trailer with no brake drag should not decrease the coast time (you should not be able to tell it's there). If the trailer brakes are dragging even a little, I think you should be able to tell. Just a suggestion.

Steve

[DAVID GAGNARD]

Steve;


I'll try out the "drag" thing you suggested. Seems my brakes are adjusted just about right the other day,did not notice much if any drag,but today going to install new brake switch box in the truck.... What worry's me was the heat in the drums the other day.. I was testing things and used the brakes a lot,but the drums where hottttt,you could only hold your hand on them for a few seconds.....

My old brake box was only abut two years old at most,but as I found out today it was the type with the mercury inertia switch in it,the new ones and the one I bought today do away with this switch and I'm told they are much better and give more accurate and consistant braking,hope that is true....

The buddy bearings I have have the little hole drilled into the housing,the grease comes out of it when the spring is compressed no more than halfway,so it kinda acts as a safety measure not to put too much pressure on the rear seal.... They make them without the hole but I have never used those. I like the little hole types better cause I have seen people just pump and pump grease in and blow out the rear seal and keep pumping more grease,all they are doing is making a nice greasy spot on their driveway...

My primary concern using buddy bearings is to keep plenty of grease in and around the bearings on the braking axle for the heat factor when using a lot of brakes... Just my theory,but when using a lot of brakes the grease would heat up and perhaps thin out and possibly run out of the bearings to the center of the spindle between the bearings giving less lubrication to the bearings.... the non braking axle only gets warm even after 50 miles of towing...

I only use this red grease,JT or JP something or other,very good and almost water proof.... It will not really wash off your hands without some sort of hand cleaner,plain water just smears it worse...

When I repacked my bearing the other day,the original grease was real thin and very dark almost black,and the company that makes the axles and packs the bearings on assembly must not have a big budget for grease cause they packed the bearings with as little as possible amount of grease... My old buddy mechanic always told me to use plenty of grease and oil depending on the application. His exact words are "grease is cheap,parts are high"....

Going to be towing to Nashville the forth of July weekend,approximately 675 miles one way with a 3100 lb. car on the trailer,95% will be on the interstate,do not want any surprises with the trailer on this trip... Besides, going I'll be alone with no one around to help out in case I have a problem,coming back we will be three trucks and trailers together for 95% of the trip...

David