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Old 03-11-2015, 06:28 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gbaglo View Post
Wouldn't pulling the trailer break away pin lock the wheels?
Only until your battery dies... It depends on your battery to power the brakes.
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Old 03-11-2015, 06:56 PM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ron in BC View Post
Actually I've had the thought of designing an add-on mechanical brake. My original thought was that it could be part of a storage security set-up. Locked wheels that don't have any obvious way of being released would make a unit very hard to steal.
I agree.

Quote:
Originally Posted by dfandrews View Post
Could it be as simple as a cable attached to the actuating arm down near the electromagnet, then through the backing plate to a latch or toggle lever that is locked in either 'on' or 'released' positions?
Yes, but even easier... Dexter sells their brake assemblies (the backing plate with shoes, magnet, and mechanism) with a parking brake lever just like the rear of a car or light truck (with drum brakes). Normally this is run by cables and a hand lever - again, just like a car. The lever could be locked on. The lever would need to be decently long (again, like in a car) to apply enough force by hand.
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Old 03-11-2015, 06:58 PM   #23
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gbaglo View Post
Wouldn't pulling the trailer break away pin lock the wheels?
Yes, but...
Quote:
Originally Posted by dbailey View Post
Only until your battery dies... It depends on your battery to power the brakes.
Yes, and the brake magnets take about 6 amps per axle (when a full 12 volts is applied, which is what the breakaway switch does), so the battery dies pretty quickly.
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Old 03-11-2015, 07:51 PM   #24
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It doesn't roll as easy if you let all the air out of the tires.......just sayin'.

My driveway is quite steep, I put a 2 1/4" of wood under the front tire, and clamp in my BAL X-chocks. Has worked great for years now.
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Old 03-11-2015, 08:18 PM   #25
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian B-P View Post

Yes, but even easier... Dexter sells their brake assemblies (the backing plate with shoes, magnet, and mechanism) with a parking brake lever just like the rear of a car or light truck (with drum brakes). Normally this is run by cables and a hand lever - again, just like a car. The lever could be locked on. The lever would need to be decently long (again, like in a car) to apply enough force by hand.
Peachy Keeno!
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Old 03-12-2015, 12:44 PM   #26
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Originally Posted by ice-breaker View Post
Brian, are you aware of a camper trailer that comes with a parking brake?
Not currently in North America, although the components are available from Dexter.

In Europe recreational trailers typically use a mechanical brake system (rather than the electric and hydraulic systems used here) which lends itself naturally to a parking brake, and they all have the parking brake - it is also used as part of the breakaway system. When the T@b sold here was still based on European AL-KO components it had the parking brake, because it is an integral feature of the "overrun" braking system; the T@b trailer design has since been taken over by a different manufacturer and is now on a more conventional (for North America) chassis.
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Old 03-16-2015, 01:52 PM   #27
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian B-P View Post
...Yes, but even easier... Dexter sells their brake assemblies (the backing plate with shoes, magnet, and mechanism) with a parking brake lever just like the rear of a car or light truck (with drum brakes). Normally this is run by cables and a hand lever - again, just like a car. The lever could be locked on. The lever would need to be decently long (again, like in a car) to apply enough force by hand.
This idea has stuck in my brain, so I've been looking for info.
Dexter's brake assemblies with parking option are
K23-086-00 (Left) and K23-087-00 (Right). (I believe these are the correct ones; I don't have my Escape trailer yet, so I can't check).
For an actuating cable and latching lever installation, I found this (look about 1/2 way down, where the responder (Kevin) posted a good set of photos showing how he did it.
I need a parking brake system! | IH8MUD Forum

The latching lever can be mounted to the front frame cross-member, horizontally, where it is easily assessed. The bell crank can translate the motion to the forward-backward motion needed for the cable to the brakes.
Note that this does not involve the electric portion of the Dexter brakes; it's all mechanical.
I'll probably switch to this when it's time to replace the brakes; the Dexter assemblies come with the shoes.
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Old 03-16-2015, 02:38 PM   #28
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dfandrews View Post
Dexter's brake assemblies with parking option are
K23-086-00 (Left) and K23-087-00 (Right). (I believe these are the correct ones; I don't have my Escape trailer yet, so I can't check).
Yes, those look like the right parts - at the very least, they are the right capacity (3500 lb) and drum size (10"x2.25").

Unfortunately, when I looked at the available Dexter 10" brake assemblies, I realized that the parking feature is not available with self-adjusting (Dexter Nev-R-Adjust®) mechanisms, which I think Escape is now providing. I don't know why not - cars and light trucks with rear drums have all had both self-adjusting and parking features for decades.
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Old 03-16-2015, 03:13 PM   #29
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Originally Posted by Brian B-P View Post
...with self-adjusting (Dexter Nev-R-Adjust®) mechanisms, which I think Escape is now providing. ....
Interesting: a forward-operating self-adjuster!
Can anyone confirm that Escape trailers now get Nev-R-Adjust?
(I've probably used up my allotment of e-mails with ETI for the month, or I'd check right now )
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Old 03-16-2015, 04:26 PM   #30
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I'm aware that Airstreams use them but not that ETI does. AFAIK...
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Old 03-16-2015, 04:58 PM   #31
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dfandrews View Post
Can anyone confirm that Escape trailers now get Nev-R-Adjust?
I was going from memory, which is always dangerous
Nev-R-Adjust has come up in discussion here before, but
  • the one reference that I found in a quick forum search (in a for-sale listing) appears to be a retrofit when brake assemblies were replaced, and
  • a year and a half ago Escapes were apparently not being equipped this way:
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Kountrykamper View Post
    In my discussion with Escape they use the standard manually adjusted brakes. We ordered the EZ lube axle with manual adjusters and they had to special order our axles.
On the other hand, even if self-adjusting is not standard, it's unfortunate that when buying replacement assemblies that one would need to pass up self-adjusting to get parking brakes.

Specifications change - for instance, EZ-Lube is now standard - so the question remains... what is the current spec?
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Old 03-16-2015, 05:12 PM   #32
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Well if they are self adjusting then I've been wasting my time fine tuning mine

I like the idea of a parking brake for the obvious reason and also for security. If I added that feature to my trailer I'd make the handle as inconspicuous as possible and lock it. Let the potential thief find out the hard way that's just because he hacked the lock and hooked up the trailer's not going anywhere very easily

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Old 03-20-2015, 06:55 PM   #33
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dfandrews View Post
...Can anyone confirm that Escape trailers now get Nev-R-Adjust?
(I've probably used up my allotment of e-mails with ETI for the month, or I'd check right now )
3-20-15: I just got a response back from ETI regarding brakes.
They install the manual-adjustment brakes.
They do not offer options.
So, I guess I may add the parking brake option when it's time to re-do the brakes with new shoes. The assemblies are about $70 additional, per side, over and above the std. assemblies.
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