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Old 04-15-2017, 06:39 PM   #1
stanleyz
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2005 36TK3 Brake Check and repair with pics

Just finished doing a check and repair on my brakes. We had a long post going on the subject and I thought I would close it out this way. My 12 year old trailer was giving me some hints that the brakes may not be working as well as they should so I thought I'd take a look

First step is to jack up and secure the trailer. Remove the wheels. You will need a 22 MM socket for the lugs. I did both axles on one side at a time. You can do 1 to 4 wheels at once depending on how many jacks and stands you have.

Next remove the hubs. You will need a 1 7/16 inch socket which most likely will be a 3/4 inch drive so you will also need either a 3/4 inch power bar, ratchet or a step up extension for a half inch drive power bar. Remove the dust caps, just pry them off with a screw driver, remove the little C ring, remove the hub bolt and then pull the hub off. If you are old and weak like me you may want to put something under the hub to break the fall. I like a shoe box for that but lots of stuff will work.

Now you are looking at the brakes and mechanical elements of the hub. A good time to use some brake cleaner spray on them. Brake shoes should have plenty of meat on them. Mine looked like new. (Problem with that is they have not been contacting the hub much). If they are worn badly time for new. Magnets should be flat on the side that contacts the hub. Mine were all worn a good bit so I replaced them all. Test the travel for the magnet arm it should move freely and as it moves the brake shoes should move toward the hub. That's what makes the trailer stop.

So here's the deal. If your shoes are worn and everything else looks good, replace the shoes. If the magnets are worn and everything else looks good replace the magnets. If you need more than one thing like shoes and magnets it will probably be best to remove the whole brake assembly deal. Its four bolts and two wires and you then have everything new. If you do that do both ends of the axle.

You can find lots of video on line on how to replace the shoes or the whole brake backer plate so I won't go into any more detail here. I did the magnets. Remove the two wires that come out the backer plate. Remove the little grommet the wire runs through into the backer plate. Pull the wire from the three clips on the magnet arm. I used a piece of string to help me get the wires through the spring and grommet hole. Tie it to the end of the magnet wires before you pull the wires through the backer plate. Then when you get the magnet wires out just tie the string to the wires on the new magnet and pull it back through. (save you some frustration). The new magnets will come with new clips and springs. The springs go behind the magnet small side against the arm. The clips go into the magnet and the little barbs go into the holes at the bottom of the arm. I've now taken off six hubs on these brakes and I have never found a clip. So, I assume the clip holds the magnet in place until the hub is reassembled and then during driving it falls out and gets destroyed. So when you remove a hub the magnet will fall off the arm and be hanging by the wire.

Reassembly is as they say the opposite of removal. You will need a torque wrench that can measure 150 foot pounds for the hub nut. Unless you have a 3/4 drive torque wrench you will need that step up extension (1/2 to 3/4) to use the half inch torque wrench with the 1 7/16 socket'

Now here's what I find worth thinking about. Every on line resource I could find talked about these "self adjusting" brakes. I tried to manually move the magnets both forward and backward, and both hard and easy. I do not see how they will ever really self adjust. The lever just does not seem capable of moving the adjuster. Each video or write up said that the brakes should be manually adjusted before putting them in service. I adjusted mine, a lot. There are regular adjustment holes on the backer plates so I ran them out until I could feel jsut a bit of drag, not much now.

These trailers also have the NEV R LUBE bearings. While you're in there take a good look at those. I had one that has leaked a lot of fluid so I did a good clean up and ordered a new bearing. When it gets here i'll install that and the job will be done. I have tested the hubs and brakes with the truck activator and all wheels are stopping good.

I'm going to add some pictures now. I took a bunch but I don't know how many I can down load. I'll try to put them in some proper order. Hope this helps someone.
Attached Images
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File Type: jpg IMG_3613.jpg (87.0 KB, 9 views)
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Old 04-16-2017, 08:36 AM   #2
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On my trailer, 2 of the magnets were scored and grooved, might have been where the clip got wedged between the magnet face and the drum? Replacing the magnet without refacing or turning the drum would not have allowed the maget a good contact to the drum. I took those two drums to Napa to hav them machined, I think $10 each was the cost. They machined both surfaces, the shoe surface and the magnet surface. I think those little magent clips are supposed to be there and not get "used up" as some were gone and some were there on my brakes.
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Old 04-16-2017, 10:56 AM   #3
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If you don't have any idea of the miles on the bearings I would order all four and have a new starting place. When they start leaking grease with drums there is no way to see it happening like you can with Disk brakes.
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Old 04-16-2017, 08:30 PM   #4
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Yeah, I'm gonna see how replacing this one works out and then decide which way to go. Right now my lean is toward getting a full replacement hub and sticking it in the basement in case of a failure on the road. I'm told the best way to monitor them is an IR thermometer to check the temps at stops. If one's going bad it will be consistently hotter than the others. If getting the bearings out and in is a real chore then I may just replace them all. I have time as summer trip don't start until July this year.
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Old 04-16-2017, 08:32 PM   #5
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Yeah, I'm sure you are right. They are designed to stay but are pretty whimpy looking. Ive opened 4 of mine and two of a friends and all 6 clips were gone, not just disconnected but gone.
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