What To Do When One Brake Assembly Locks Up But The Rest Don't

Question:

Have a 7.5 x 16 Enclosed trailer. Dual axle. When braking lightly and regardless of gain setting, all is well. When braking harder, the left front tire locks up only while other 3 continue to roll. Any thoughts?

asked by: Kenyon

Expert Reply:

If only one brake assembly is locking up then you likely have the assembly adjusted too tight. When adjusting brake assemblies with the wheel still on I'll spin it and listen for the brake shoes to drag against the drum, which will be pretty quiet be loud enough to hear a metal on metal scraping sound. This will typically the stop the wheel in 1-2 rotations. If the drag is much louder and stopping the wheel before a rotation then we know for sure that your brakes have been adjusted too tightly.

On the back of the brake assembly there's too small holes to adjust the tensioner sprocket tighter or looser. You can use a brake spoon # W80630 to play around with the adjustment until the drag is more consistent with the other drag on the other assemblies. I've attached a help article below that goes over this process and has pictures and a video as well.

expert reply by: Kevin C