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Old 07-02-2019, 01:04 PM   #21
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are you talking about the pigtails connection itself? I didn't follow back any further then that.
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Old 07-02-2019, 02:05 PM   #22
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I hear a buzz, as opposed to a click.
Any noise from the magnet confirms that there is an electrical connection, but it's DC power so a buzz makes me wonder if it's a poor connection. I'm an ideal world you would have a clamp-on DC ammeter (which almost no one has) and you would check and compare the current to each magnet - they should all be the same, and I think about 3 amps each at full power.
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Old 07-02-2019, 02:11 PM   #23
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Yes the pigtail connection itself was bad on one set. They were the “cheap”. “Calvan” type connectors on the original hookup. The ones I bought were “Silver” metal inside of a Smokey grey shrink connector. They were a larger inside diameter than the originals so the twisted wire ends could about slide past each other and once double crimped I had a very solid hookup. I could not believe how “sharp” the new brakes were compared to the old ones. Even with both adjusted the same. And like reported, the magnet “snapped” rather than whined and drug to a stop like the originals did.
I think I read of other customers with weak crimps in a similar thread a couple years ago. Our 2013 21 has not had the hesitant braking the 19 developed before I changed the brakes.
I thought I still easily had this year left on the 21 shoes when I checked them this spring. I’ll probably look at them in late October again or very early spring. Between AZ Jack ( the original owner) and me thers there’s 30-40 K on this trailer. I don’t keep a close eye on mileage, just inspection of condition and that goes for tires, bearings etc. When it needs it, it gets it. Production #006 of the original 21s. Sept 2013
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Old 07-03-2019, 09:57 AM   #24
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Originally Posted by tdf-texas View Post
If you decide to replace the brakes, I would consider changing them to the self adjusting ones. From literature:
Our 2015 Lance had self-adjusting brakes. We had poor braking. Two wheels self-adjusted, while the other two needed adjustment. Dexter's self adjusters aren't exactly quality. One axle was brand new and the other only a year old.

My axle guy has seen this many times before, and many times the customer didn't even know one or more weren't adjusting. He removes the self adjusters and installs manual adjusters.

We repack the bearings every 10,000 miles and adjust the brakes. I've never had a problem with manual brakes, since they are properly adjusted every 10,000 miles.

EDIT: any brake system if not inspected frequently (10,000 miles or yearly, whichever comes first) and adjusted properly will eventually fail without notice.

Enjoy,

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Old 07-06-2019, 12:49 AM   #25
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Today I decided to go forward with the self-adjusting brakes conversion. I had a local trailer service center inspect my drums and we decided to replace those as well because of the heavy scoring attributed to magnet wear...so this will include new self-adjusting brake assemblies, new drums, bearings, seals, nuts and cotter pins. Everything will be new except for the axles, washers and castle nuts. The brake shoes themselves were not too bad but that is probably because I haven't adjusted them on schedule as required since 2012. The bearings and seals all looked good but new drums come with bearing races installed and new bearings and seals.

I have all the mechanical parts installed on the right side of the axles and decided to finish the other side tomorrow. I was surprised when I lifted the trailer at the axle attachments of how center balanced it was. I temporarily added some weight to the front for stability while I'm working on it. I ordered some insulated heat shrink butt connectors for the wiring on Amazon for installation tomorrow. I'm surprised how easy this conversion is going!
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Old 07-06-2019, 01:56 AM   #26
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my experience is, worn out magnet == no braking force.
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Old 07-06-2019, 08:30 AM   #27
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Originally Posted by hotfishtacos View Post
Today I decided to go forward with the self-adjusting brakes conversion. I had a local trailer service center inspect my drums and we decided to replace those as well because of the heavy scoring attributed to magnet wear...so this will include new self-adjusting brake assemblies, new drums, bearings, seals, nuts and cotter pins. Everything will be new except for the axles, washers and castle nuts. The brake shoes themselves were not too bad but that is probably because I haven't adjusted them on schedule as required since 2012. The bearings and seals all looked good but new drums come with bearing races installed and new bearings and seals.

I have all the mechanical parts installed on the right side of the axles and decided to finish the other side tomorrow. I was surprised when I lifted the trailer at the axle attachments of how center balanced it was. I temporarily added some weight to the front for stability while I'm working on it. I ordered some insulated heat shrink butt connectors for the wiring on Amazon for installation tomorrow. I'm surprised how easy this conversion is going!
Just a hint. I painted my drums with POR-15 Caliper Paint and it does a great job of keeping the rust stains off my wheels. $15 a can and one can did all four drums.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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Old 07-06-2019, 09:11 AM   #28
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I had checked the brakes on my 5.0TA shortly after purchase and they required minimum adjustment. After that I was bad as I usually adjust brakes every year especially if I put on a lot of kilometres. Well, I went near 2 years and went to adjust mine when at Quartzsite before taking off to the Baja. 3 brakes required about 12 notches adjustment to get them to binding, and one took about 3. I had waited too long with the first three but at least they still worked fine. The fourth one I found was not working at all until I redid the splice on the lead off the brake. They now all work good.

I would recommend the first adjustment, other than checking things out right away to be not too far into the future, but after you do get some road time in. They always seem to need more tightening shortly after new until they get broken in, and as proven in my case confirming they are all working is a good thing.

I have self adjusting screws on my most used trailer, a cargo trailer for my tools, and hate to say it, but they never seem to be right/ I would just go with the self adjusting. It takes 30 minutes max to adjust them, and less if you are regreasing bearings anyway. This is also a good way to check the tightness of the king nut on the bearings for tightness, a few times I have tweaked it one flat tighter.
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Old 07-06-2019, 10:38 AM   #29
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These are the waterproof connectors I ordered from Amazon and will receive today...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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Old 07-06-2019, 11:51 AM   #30
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I was surprised when I lifted the trailer at the axle attachments of how center balanced it was. I temporarily added some weight to the front for stability while I'm working on it.
The axle bracket is centred ahead of the actual axle (wheel centre) location, and if you lift on the forward axle bracket you're way ahead of the effective centre of the axle pair, and thus quite close to the balance point of the trailer. I would definitely lift on the rearward axle bracket, not the forward one.
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Old 07-06-2019, 11:02 PM   #31
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The axle bracket is centred ahead of the actual axle (wheel centre) location, and if you lift on the forward axle bracket you're way ahead of the effective centre of the axle pair, and thus quite close to the balance point of the trailer. I would definitely lift on the rearward axle bracket, not the forward one.
Brian, you are right. The reason I did it this way is because I always use jack stands while working on lifted vehicles, not on the jack. I lifted with the screw jack on the rear axle support but then rested the front axle support on the jack stand...moving the balance point forward....interesting result..
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Old 07-06-2019, 11:07 PM   #32
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Just a hint. I painted my drums with POR-15 Caliper Paint and it does a great job of keeping the rust stains off my wheels. $15 a can and one can did all four drums.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
My drums came heavily painted shiny black. I don't think they will rust. BTW, my brake conversion job is finished and I will test everything tomorrow. I was much easier than I thought it would be.
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Old 07-06-2019, 11:22 PM   #33
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Originally Posted by hotfishtacos View Post
Brian, you are right. The reason I did it this way is because I always use jack stands while working on lifted vehicles, not on the jack. I lifted with the screw jack on the rear axle support but then rested the front axle support on the jack stand...moving the balance point forward....interesting result..
I absolutely agree with the jack stands! Next time, you could jack by the forward brackets then test the rearward axle brackets on the stands, for a more stable result while working. Just a suggestion...
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Old 07-07-2019, 12:14 AM   #34
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I like to jack my trailers while they are hitched to the tug. and yeah, jack from the forward point, put the stands under the rear point. if I can, I'll leave them hitched for the duration of the service as it provides an immovable anchor.
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Old 07-10-2019, 04:03 PM   #35
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Trailer-Aid ramp

With a tandem axial, I use a Trailer-Aid ramp for any work on my wheels, tires or bearing/brake assembly. With the trailer hooked up, just pull forward or back one wheel on the ramp and the other is off the ground.
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Old 07-10-2019, 06:31 PM   #36
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Have leaf springs instead of torsion bar suspension, the Trailer-Aid does not lift the trailer high enough for the tire to get off the ground. I've tried it.
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Old 07-11-2019, 11:39 AM   #37
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Have leaf springs instead of torsion bar suspension, the Trailer-Aid does not lift the trailer high enough for the tire to get off the ground. I've tried it.

We bought the taller Trailer-Aid and I use it all the time on my 21.
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Old 07-11-2019, 12:03 PM   #38
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The point Bob was making is that some suspension set ups can not use Trailer-Aid, which seems to only work with torsion axles, not conventional axles.
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Old 07-11-2019, 12:10 PM   #39
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The point Bob was making is that some suspension set ups can not use Trailer-Aid, which seems to only work with torsion axles, not conventional axles.

Thanks Jim. I misunderstood Bob's post.
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Old 07-23-2019, 02:41 PM   #40
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Finally got a cool enough day to install the new self adjusting brake assemblies. This was not as easy as I had envisioned. Had 4 of the pressed in mounting bolts break free from the backing plate, not fun to remove after that. Took about 6 hours to complete.


I did find the cause of the front brakes not working. There are butt splices in the wire loom where they spliced on short lengths of white wire, these are the wires that run up into the trailer as opposed to the ones that run to the opposite side. One of these was broken. Replaced all the butt connectors with the heat shrink self sealing variety.



I have a couple questions if anyone knows any of the answers.


Do I need to do an initial adjustment on these or just drive around a while? From what I read they adjust when going in the forward direction.



After replacing them I had Deb step on the brakes, while I checked to make sure they engaged, it took 6 seconds before I heard the magnets kick in, is this normal? I'm guessing it's a function of the F150 integrated controller. It's 6 seconds every time.


Something else, I noticed the side to side wires (inside the axle), had black conductors when I stripped it back, went back as far as I could, maybe 6-8 inches, with no change. Cleaned them up as well as I could with contact cleaner.


FYI... Experimented with the butt connectors that have solder in them, supposed to melt when you heat it up. It looks like it melts but you can yank the wires right out of the connectors so it's pretty useless. My heat gun says it goes to 1500 degrees. I used the crimp on ones instead.
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