Parts Needed to Add Electric Drum Brakes to Trailers with 2,000 lb Axles with 5 on 4-1/2 Wheels

Question:

Hope you are well , am looking at putting electric brakes on our trailers 20+ if it is not too difficult. Trailers dont have brake mounting flanges, they have 5 on 4-1/2 bolt pattern and 2000 pound axles.

asked by: Marc

Helpful Expert Reply:

To add electric drum brakes to your trailers the first thing you will need are brake mounting flanges. There are different ones for different diameter axles. Given the lower capacity of the trailers I am guessing the diameter of the axles is 1-3/4 inches at most. That is the smallest brake flange there is, # 4-34, for 2K axles. Anything smaller or that isn't common will require a flange to be fabricated.

A note on welding them on: generally it takes a special jig and someone with experience welding them on to perform the job. This is because the flanges have to be straight and concentric. So keep that in mind.

Next, the idler hubs will have to be replaced with hub and drum assemblies. Most of the 2,000 pound axle assemblies use L44649 inner and outer bearings but there are other possibilities. The only way to know for sure is to pull a hub and look at the numbers stamped into the sides of the bearings. Hopefully all of your trailers are the same and you won't have to pull a hub off of each one.

For a standard hub/drum with 5 on 4-1/2 bolt pattern that uses L44649 inner and outer bearings you can use # AKHD-545-2-2K. If you have different bearings you can look at the other options in the link I have provided.

For the actual brake assemblies the drums for 2K axles are all going to take 7 inch brakes. So for the drum listed above I recommend # AKEBRK-2R for the right and # AKEBRK-2L for the left.

The trailers will need to be equipped with connectors that have a brake output wire. We generally recommend the RV style 7-Way connector. The trailers would also have to have 7-Way trailer-side connectors such as # H20044.

The tow vehicles will have to have brake controllers as well to activate the trailer brakes. The one I recommend the most is the P2 # 90885 because it is easy to set up and use and it is reliable.

Most states require trailers with brakes to have a breakaway kit. It will apply the trailer brakes if the trailer brakes loose from the tow vehicle. If required you can pretty much use any of them such as # HM20001 which is the most basic.

I have linked all of the products mentioned above as well as a helpful link covering the addition of electric brakes to a trailer.