Brake shoes cracked! Replace?

[Deb Mac]

Originally Posted by ShrimpBurrito

This is why I don't even think so much about what parts to replace with the brakes. I just replace all of them (the cost of new brake kits with braking pads is really not much more than any of the parts), and be done with it. It's probably the most important part of the trailer, and costs comparatively little to assure a safe ride. So if I see that either the shoes OR magnets need replacing, I get new kits (with backing plates) and new drums for both wheels. Done.

I also knock out the Chinese-made Dexter bearings that come with the drums, throw them out, and replace them with USA-made Timken bearings (at least they were USA-made when I last bought them).

The magnet surface of the drum can get quite worn, and years ago I was not able to find anywhere able to machine them.

Dave

I have the same feeling about the brakes themselves - I have new brake assemblies coming. And the question was whether I needed to replace the drums as well. Decided that since the things seem to be up in air a bit about surface condition on the existing hubs, I have ordered new ones, assembled, and will start fresh.

Things are a bit pricier up here in Canada - we are paying your price in USD, plus the exchange rate, plus the costs to import them. Almost doubles the cost. Dexter's are out of range of my wallet if I do a whole refit of the brakes. Maybe next time. If I can track down the appropriate Timken bearing set, I'll look into replacing what's coming in the Lippert hubs.

[Bill]

Several years ago I had bearing disintegrate. Not fun, since the spindle was damaged - but it gave me a lot of time to get acquainted with trailer axle assemblies. I came to use the part names shown in the diagram below, from a Lippert service manual.

The spindle is the end of the axle - the part the pokes into and through the hub. The hub is the cylindrical part that accepts the spindle. For the Lippert products we are talking about, the hub assembly (as opposed to the hub itself) include the hub, the wheel mounting studs, the brake drum, and magnet track. The hub assembly slides onto the spindle and then over the brake assembly. The brake assembly includes the shoes, the magnets, the actuators, and assorted other parts, all mounted on a backing plate (shown but not labeled). By removing four bolts - you can see the heads of two of them in the picture - you can remove the entire brake assembly. At that point, you can mess around with new shoes and new magnets and all the assembly work and adjustments that go with them. Or you can simply buy a new backing plate with everything already mounted and adjusted, and bolt it in place with the same 4 bolts. Even better, in the case of TM brake assembly, you can ditch the original manual-adjust brakes and buy a brake assembly with self-adjusting brakes.

Bottom line - for these pre-assembled units from Lippert, the term "hub" is pretty much interchangeable with "hub assembly.

Bill