Sticky brake

[rwnash]

I have avery minor problem with my "new" 1986 25 foot center bath. (I acquired this unit as the older one has a frame problem which I did not have time to fix for this summers travels.) Based on advice from this community, I replaced the backing plate assemblies - 10 x 2.25 inche brakes. Everything worked fine on the shakedown so I headed east to Maine. Going through Toronto in stop and go traffic I noticed that it took much more "pedal" to get my truck and trailer going from a dead stop. Transmission temperature was OK so I proceeded. Upon entering the campground that night I noticed that one roadside brake was hanging up on a downhill slope. I backed up about a foot and it released.

Does anyone have any insight? As I indicated the brakes are new and I adjusted them all the same - just shy of dragging. All the wheels and bearings barely get warm after an hour at 55 mph - so the brakes are not "on" when going down the road. One seems to stick after application and then releases shortly after I state rolling.

Thanks for your help,


Whit Nash

[Excella CM]

You would need to pull the offending wheel and check for freedom of movement on the magnet arm andd shoes. Something's obviously hanging up.

[rwnash]

Thanks,

I guess your right - I'll have to take it apart and see what is going on. Sort of hoped that all new parts would give me an advantage on the brake job, but I guess that is not the case. I'll report later what I find later - right now I'm fixing the worn out slide on the table. Always something with vintage - and near vintage - units!

Whit Nash

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by rwnash

Thanks,

I guess your right - I'll have to take it apart and see what is going on. Sort of hoped that all new parts would give me an advantage on the brake job, but I guess that is not the case. I'll report later what I find later - right now I'm fixing the worn out slide on the table. Always something with vintage - and near vintage - units!

Whit Nash

There are left and right hand backing plates.

If one is on the wrong side, it can cause the hangup problem.

The magnet arms should always face the front of the trailer.

Also a 75 25 foot trailer had 12 inch brakes, therefore the shoes should be 12 x 2, unless someone changed out the axles and installed 10 inch brakes.

Andy

[rwnash]

Andy,

Thanks for the information. I am sure that I got the new barake assemblies on the correct sides so that should not be the problem. And you are correct, the 1975 has 12 inch brakes. However, the "new" trailer is a 1986 model which has 10 inch brakes - I had to return the incorrect seals I ordered from you after I assumed they were the same size brakes. The 1986 trailer is about 1200 lbs (or so)heavier than the 1975 - even though they are about the same size. It surprizes me that it uses SMALLER brakes.

My wife likes the 1986 trailer and its center bath layout so I guess we will be keeping it. I also like its configuration but not the extra weight. I think that Airstream has strayed from the original idea of 75 years ago. Sharon and I looked at new units a few years back - dry weight on a 25 foot was about 6,000 lbs!

Anway, thanks for the information.

Whit Nash