Importance of Electric Self Adjusting Trailer Brake Initial Adjustment

Question:

I installed all new self adjusting brake and hub assemblies. One of them got hot last night coming home. I jacked up the trailer and the wheel would not spin. Bearings look fine. Brakes were way too tight.

asked by: Martin A

Expert Reply:

The Electric Trailer Brake Kit # AKEBRK-35-SA while they will self adjust when you drive they do require an initial adjustment when they are first installed. If the brakes were not properly adjusted from the beginning this could have caused some of the brakes to contact before all the other assemblies. The brake doing all the work to stop the trailer can easily become overheated.

With the brake assembly being overheated this can damage the adjustment mechanism and the magnet causing the brakes to become to tight. I recommend disassembling the brake and hub assembly that became hot to see if any of the components show signs of damage caused from excessive heat.

I have attached an article linked below that will walk you through the adjustment process for the brake assemblies. Once they are all set properly this should prevent a single brake from trying to do more braking than it should.

expert reply by: Bud M