Trailer Brakes: Electric Drum - Buy Whole Kit, or Individual

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SMITTY
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Post by SMITTY » Fri. Oct. 16, 2015 11:52 am

You guys that do a lot of towing can answer this ...

It seems too good to be true that the ENTIRE backing plate and complete drum brake assemblies are available now for LESS than buying the individual parts. My question is ... WHAT'S THE CATCH?

Are those assemblies cheap pieces of crap that need replacement every 2-3 years? Do you get better quality components buying the magnets, springs, shoes, etc.. separately?

Just a note - even if I buy the complete assembly, I am still going to disassemble everything, lube the required spots, and reassemble. If I don't do that, brake problems every 3 months are guaranteed. As of right now, I've gone 4 straight years without doing a thing to my brakes - not even ADJUSTING them. Probably 10k miles to 15k miles of towing in that time. They were completely disassembled, cleaned, and lubed back in '11. Just now they're starting to give me trouble. I've got one I suspect had the linings delaminated from the shoes. The other 3 are fine. I'm tempted to just run it until the rest self destruct, but I've got to haul it back to FL and back soon ... and driving through NY and NJ requires GOOD BRAKES! :lol:

 
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Post by cabinover » Fri. Oct. 16, 2015 12:49 pm

I haven't seen any reason to use individual parts over complete units, especially given the cost. It's like small tires for trailers, usually cheaper to buy the wheel and tire than to buy the tire and labor to swap it around.

 
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SMITTY
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Post by SMITTY » Fri. Oct. 16, 2015 1:04 pm

Just makes me wonder how they can sell them so cheap, completely assembled and everything. I would imagine the backing plates are much thinner than what I have on there now ...

I'd rather pay a little more and get better quality components, if at all possible. Can't seem to find any info anywhere on the reliability of one over the other.


 
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Post by KLook » Fri. Oct. 16, 2015 2:39 pm

Funny you mention it Smitty, I was just starting to research it myself. After at least 30,000 miles, the original breaks are starting to act up on my enclosed cargo trailer. I can hear metal squealing like I am dragging a hollow piece of steel. I looked at the original replacement unit at Tractor Supply, they stock the same brand as my trailer, and it was $174 per wheel!!!! :shock: You mean I can't just get new shoes?

Kevin

 
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Post by Ky Speedracer » Fri. Oct. 16, 2015 3:46 pm

I have three 32' gooseneck trailers that have 10,000 pound axles, two 18' trailers with 7000 pound axles and a 16' car trailer with 10,000 axles on it. They all have electric brakes. And, they have all had the brakes replaced at least once on them. All we have ever used are the complete assemblies that are pre-mounted to the backing plates. We usually get about 20,000 to 25,000 miles or so out of them before we replace them. The mileage has as much to do with the driver as anything. Some like more brake and some less.
We've never had any issues with those. It sure makes them easy to swap out...

 
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Post by KLook » Fri. Oct. 16, 2015 4:29 pm

Just found etrailer.com and the prices is much nicer. I have Dexter axles and it is $45 with free shipping per axle. No brainer as the components will cost that much.....

Kevin


 
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Post by SMITTY » Fri. Oct. 16, 2015 8:20 pm

Good info KY - that's what I was looking for. I just didn't want to buy them, then find out they were total chinese junk as they delaminate in 6 months. Thanks for the info. :cheers:

Yeah, Kevin - I was just gonna send you over to that site. That's where I buy most of my trailer stuff. Before you go there, go to retailmenot.com and grab a coupon code! Save 5%! 8-)

 
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Post by KLook » Fri. Oct. 16, 2015 9:29 pm

Thanks Smitty, nice savings on 4 purchases.

Kevin

 
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Post by Short Bus » Fri. Oct. 30, 2015 11:48 am

I work for the state and we buy the complete backing plate, auto adjust, left and right, just keep them straight left and right.

The lining is so thin it's hard to tell if they are worn out when they are new, but it seams to be a very hard lining the will last a few years.

I've seen guys buy new only to find out the lining is almost as thick as new.

 
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Post by SMITTY » Fri. Oct. 30, 2015 10:24 pm

I thought about going with the auto-adjust, but in my experience with our perpetually salted roads, it would just end up one more thing to fail and jam up the works, and cause me to have to fix things when I could be driving and making money.

A similar system is used on Ford Ranger pickups, and a few other FoMoCo products, using a cable that is supposed to pull a plate, which engages the teeth of the adjuster and advances it. I've worked on quite a few that snapped the cable due to frozen adjusters or rust, and embedded the cable, mounting washer, and adjuster plate firmly into the lining, and scored the drum to hell. That would be a given on my trailer. I don't have a lot of time to be fixing my own stuff, so my maintenance intervals get somewhat ... extended. :funny:

I forgot to update this thread ... which reminds me I also forgot to write this repair down in my maintenance log. :o Gotta go do that in a bit .... anyway .... I finished the entire job after 3 solid days on the 24th. Ended up ordering genuine Dexter 7k lb. backing plates, and 30' of 10/2 wire to replace the entire brake wiring harness. In the middle of the job, I decided to replace the bearings and races too. That ended up being a total clusterf**k, since I had to buy everything locally - always an adventure. One place had 3 pieces, and other place had one, and yet another had another 3 ... and so on ... :mad: In between all this, I cleaned the pound of grease out of each drum, and brought them to a local guy to be turned.

So, I've got 10AWG wire to replace the 16AWG wire the factory cheaped out on and installed, 100% all new brakes with freshly turned rotors, and 100% new bearings, seals and Amsoil grease. Took it for a ride around the 'hood, and WOW what a friggin difference! The trailer actually will slow the truck down itself! Impressive. I'm ready for trip #2 to FL with my buddy's other car.

This time of year, I may not want to come back ... :)

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