TRAILER BRAKE,BEARING MAINTANANCE SCHEDULE

[escavader]

HI,
At what point should one be inspecting his brake shoes,or even checking the bearings for play or repacking.My Big TEX car Hauler has about 1000 miles now,and im planning another summer vacation 300 miles away hauling multiple atvs.I dont want to think about break downs,and want to be prepared.The terrian in which i have trailered has been mostly hilly.Am i being too premature or should i pull off the drums and take a peak?THANKS IN ADVANCE
ALAN

 

[Farmwithjunk]

HI,
At what point should one be inspecting his brake shoes,or even checking the bearings for play or repacking.My Big TEX car Hauler has about 1000 miles now,and im planning another summer vacation 300 miles away hauling multiple atvs.I dont want to think about break downs,and want to be prepared.The terrian in which i have trailered has been mostly hilly.Am i being too premature or should i pull off the drums and take a peak?THANKS IN ADVANCE
ALAN

It never hurts to take a look, but you shouldn't see much, if any wear at all. If the brake controller is working right, the trailer isn't overloaded, you aren't Joey Chitwood (remember him?), I'd suspect it'll be closer to 5000 miles before you can even detect wear. A great deal depends on traffic you drive in too. Stop and go city driving wears on electric brakes .

 

[Bird]

I'll second what Farmwithjunk said.

 

[john_bud]

I check bearings at the start of the season, adjust brakes there too. Then check the brakes at the 1/2 way point of the season. Trailer brakes are manually adjusted, so you have to keep on top of them for best performance.

If you are not used to electric brakes, you can wear them out FAST. If you just barely apply the brakes, the trailer will be stopping the whole load. With electric brakes you need to be more "agressive" with the brake peddle. Make the truck to the work and stop. Slowing down is best done by coasting and not by lightly dragging the brakes. As with many things, the operator makes the difference.

jb

 

[Bird]

If you are not used to electric brakes, you can wear them out FAST. If you just barely apply the brakes, the trailer will be stopping the whole load. With electric brakes you need to be more "agressive" with the brake peddle.

John, if you have the same kind of brake controller as my first one in 1972, that's right. But if you have one of the decent modern controllers and it's properly adjusted, you no longer have that problem. Then you do not need to be more aggressive with the brake pedal.

 

[john_bud]

John, if you have the same kind of brake controller as my first one in 1972, that's right. But if you have one of the decent modern controllers and it's properly adjusted, you no longer have that problem. Then you do not need to be more aggressive with the brake pedal.

Really? I guess it may be time to come out of the stone age!

Any models of controller that stand out?

jb

 

[MrJimi]

I know Bird will reply with Prodigy controller and after lots of reading, I want one also and thanks for info Bird you really know your stuff
Jim

 

[Bird]

Any models of controller that stand out?

Actually, there are several good ones, but like Mr. Jimi said, if you'll do a search for brake controllers on TBN, you'll probably find the Tekonsha Prodigy is about the most popular.

 

[MrJimi]

I don't own one yet but The Prodigy will let you use one controller with two vehicles
in other words, if you have 2 tow vehicles, you only need one controller

 

[George2615]

I check my brakes and bearings each spring. You never know when a repair may be needed or if something happened during one of your trips. I'll be doing mine soon since our snow is about gone. I use mine in the winter hauling the tractor on salt covered roads so the undercarriage will get a bath and a repaint / undercoat as needed.
I use a reasonably priced Tekonsha Voyager brake controller that has given me many years of service. It has adjustable gain control settings that work great for me.