What Kind Of Brakes Do I Need For A 1999 Dutchman Classic 27'?

Question:

Good morning. I am messaging you for assistance in figuring out which brakes are on my camper. I have a 99 Dutchman classic, 27 footer with tandem axels and hub drums. The current brakes are OEM, but theres no legible plates, stamps or stickers to get any real info on the camper. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance

asked by: Josh

Expert Reply:

I can definitely help and point you in the right direction. Now, I do not have a way to look up those specs based on a year, make and model. There are a few things I would want to confirm before I make a recommendation.

Looking at the online user guides it looks like the 1999 Dutchman Classic 27' has a gross weight of around 6,400 lbs. This would lead me to believe that you likely have a pair of 3,500 lb axles underneath. If so, you would be looking for the standard 10" x 2-1/4" brakes like part # AKEBRK-35-SA.

If should be easy for you to confirm if this is the correct size. If you can pull a hub off and measure the inner diameter of the drum, it should measure a hair over 10". Also, all of the backing plates in this size will use a 4 bolt pattern for the brake flange. If you can confirm that brake flange bolt pattern, that will be a big piece of the puzzle.

The other common size for brakes are the 12" x 2". These use 5 bolts for the backing plate usually, and are only found on larger axles with higher weight capacities (5.2K-7K). A good example would be part # AKEBRK-7-SA.

If you find that a different size is needed, feel free to reach out to me directly with your findings and I can see what I have for you.