New Brakes

[mbd4kids]

We recently had new brakes installed (re-used drums, but new magnets and backing plates), and had bearings repacked. When I went to pick the trailer up, the mechanic wanted to "adjust" them with the trailer still up on jacks. He hooked the tow vehicle to the brake/light wire (?) but when I stepped on the brake, no stopping a spinning wheel. My emergency slide on my protegy did work however. He called the protegy people and was told the vehicles had to be rolling, so down came the trailer, and as I pulled away and tried the brakes, we could hear a squeek, but wasn't sure if I felt a catch. The next day we were taking a trip, and I still didn't feel catching with the brakes adjusted at max, and the emergency slide wasn't stopping us either. Started the drive, but being uncomfortable, went to a RV place with a mechanic and he couldn't get the brakes to work either. He pulled a wheel and said everything looked good, and then tightened the brakes. He then drove it at higher speeds, and could feel them catching and the emergency slide worked, but not at slow speeds. We were told we would be OK (tow a 3023 with a Suburban) and that the new brakes probably just needed to adjust and seat themselves. Coming home 2 days later, I had to adjust the protegy to 8.5 to feel a catch, but as we drove more, could feel the brakes really catching and had to keep backing it down. Is this normal? I used to set the protegy at about 6 to feel the catch at slow speeds, and never felt increased catch with increased driving. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

I had brakes installed on my previous camper, an Aliner, in May. I was quite dissatisfied with them as I felt they didn't work well. Both the mechanic and the brake manufacturer said they would improve. Like you, I left on a 6000 mile journy the next day and, lo and behold, the brakes did improve considerably during the trip. I guess it's normal for them to have to seat or conform to the drums.

Larry P.
2002 2720SL
2005 Toyota 4Runner (4WD)

Teh reason you must be rolling is because the Prodigy is measuring the rate that the TV is slowing down. Since it was not moving, there was no reason to send power to the trailer brakes. The Prodigy knew you were parked.

[Bill]

The Prodigy is a good controller, and it sounds like it is doing what it should.

Regarding not working up on a lift, I'm not surprised that it doesn't - that's not the way it works. Suppose you are driving along, and you hit the brake pedal. You can feel your body move forward into the seat belt, right? This is called inertia, and it is what the Prodigy senses to tell it to apply the brakes. Now imagine that you are sitting still in your driveway and you apply the brakes. This time your body does not move forward into the seat belt, right? And likewise, the Prodigy does not sense any motion / inertia, and so it does not apply the brakes. I'm surprised your mechanic didn't know this, but perhaps he is not familiar with trailer towing.

The Prodigy's emergency button bypasses that inertia-sensing function, and says "Apply the brakes right now regardless of anything else."

The mechanic should have done the final brake adjustment in the time-honored way. Spin the wheel, adjust the brakes (without applying them) until they just begin to drag, then back off just a bit.

I think the Prodigy has a Boost function, doesn't it? The purpose, if I understand it, is to control the amount of braking when the brake pedal is just barely depressed. In other words, if you are braking very lightly, you might want a bit of "early braking" from the trailer. Perhaps your Boost needs to be cranked up a bit to get the brakes to catch earlier.

As for the brakes wearing in or "seating", yes, it happens just as you and Larry described. It may require another minor brake adjustment - or it may not, depending on how far they have to "seat".

Bill

[Edit - overlapped Wayne ...]

Did you turn your drums?? If not, it takes awhile before your brakes seat properly on the groves and valleys of the unturned drum. This will also happen with unturned rotors.
If you did turn them, then ignore this post.

[mbd4kids]

No idea about the turned drums- he used an extra set that the previous owner gave us. Thanks all for your replies. I think the first mechanic just missed on the tightening part, but I feel better hearing that it's "normal"!! (BTW- I'm the wife, but my hubby wouldn't know either!!)