Troubleshooting Brake Actuating Arm Breaking on a Trailer Brake Assembly

Question

Question:

I have electric brakes on a triple axle trailer I dont have any problems to speak of with the brakes on the left side of the axles, but the right side brakes keep snapping the magnet off of the brake activator arm. We are on a trip and in two days have broken three magnets from the brake activator arm on the right side. One was on for a year, one for six months and one was put on just before we left on this trip. The power goes down one side of the trailer and feeds both sides of each axle and the ground is on the same side of the axle where the power is. Any ideas???

asked by: Dennis N

0

Expert Reply:

First thing I would do is pull off the hub and inspect the inside surface where the brake magnet rides. If it isn't completely smooth it could be grabbing the magnet and breaking it. Most likely you would have needed to replace the hub after the first time the magnet broke.

Are you sure you are using the correct orientated assembly? Brake assemblies are sold in right hand and left hand versions. The actuating arm of the assembly should be pointing towards the front of the trailer.

In order to pick out the correct hub assembly for a trailer you are going to need know a few key pieces of information. The first thing you will need to know is the bolt pattern of your hubs. This is so you get a hub that is compatible with your wheels. I attached an FAQ article on determining bolt pattern for you to check out.

Next thing you will need to know is what spindle you have on your trailer. In order to do that you can either get the inner and outer bearing numbers from a hub or use a dial caliper to get exact measurements of the spindle. The measurements needed are the parts of the spindle where the bearings ride.

If you get back to me with that information I will help you pick out the right hub assemblies. Or, you can follow the link I attached that will take you to the page that has all of our replacement hubs.

You would want to first select the bolt pattern that you have, next select the inner bearing you have, followed by selecting your outer bearing, and then all the correct hubs will be listed.

expert reply by: Jameson C

0

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Answer 1

We do actually have Dexter electric drum brakes in your required 10 x 1-1/2-inch size, parts #K23-473-00 and #K23-472-00, which are right- and left-hand, respectively. These are complete bolt-on (4-bolt) replacements that fit wheels diameters from…

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Answer 2

The recommended lug nut torque for your 7,000lb axle depends on a few factors like wheel size, stud size etc. Check out the attached photo which shows the torque specs for a variety of applications. I see you were looking at the Dexter Nev-R-Adjust…

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Answer 3

Since your 2017 Nissan Armada does not have trailer wiring currently what you'll need is a hardwire style 4-way kit tested as a fit for your vehicle like the part #C59496. This taps into the taillight circuits of your vehicle to give you the…

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Answer 4

There could be in internal short in the brake controller. Use a circuit tester like part #PTW2993 on the blue wire exiting the rear of the controller. There should be no voltage on that wire unless the brake pedal is pressed, or the manual brake…

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Answer 5

The issue you described is more than likely attributed to a wiring issue. The issue could be either a short in the brake output wire or the ground. The brake output wire at some point will break off from the main lead and branch off to each assembly.…

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Answer 6

On Dexter 12" Nev-R-Adjust Electric Brake Assembly #23-458 the shoe pad thickness is 3/16 of an inch. Dexter says that you should replace the shoes if the material gets down to 1/16 of an inch thick or less.

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Answer 7

It is possible to mount the springs on top of the axle which is called "flipping the axle". To accomplish this we normally recommend an over-under conversion however there is not one with square u-bolts available for your square axle.…

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Answer 8

In order to determine the torque rating for the lug nuts on your trailer you will need to know check out the chart I attached that shows all of the torque specs for all the trailer lugs available based on stud size, wheel material and wheel size.

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Answer 9

There may be a problem with the brake magnets such as being worn till the winding are visible. You will first want to do a visual inspection for any signs of damage or excessive wear. You can test the brakes by turning the brake controller to its…

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Answer 10

Thank you for the details on your testing of your new trailer brakes #AKEBRK-35. Your successful jump box test direct to the brake circuit on the trailer's 7-way plug tells us the trailer side of things is working (since the brakes will lock up…

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Answer 11

According to Dexter Axle, the attachment bolts for a 12 x 2 brake assembly should be torqued to 25-50 foot/lbs. If you don't have a torque wrench handy, if you tighten the bolts until the lock washers flatten out, you'll be pretty darn close…

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Answer 12

Most people prefer to completely replace the brake assembly instead of replacing just the brake shoe because the cost of the brake shoes is about 3/4 the cost of completely replacing the assembly and you'll typically have quite a hard time…

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Troubleshooting Brake Actuating Arm Breaking on a Trailer Brake Assembly

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