Trailer brakes won't lock.

[Witch Doctor]

Originally Posted by 5LowesOR

I have a 2015 Wildwood x-lite, same issue where the brakes just don't feel like they are slowing me down. If I grab my brake controller to slow down just the trailer I feel nothing. I am tempted to try adjusting the brake shoes, if they are glazed how can I tell? We bought this trailer from an RV show and was the display so the brakes easily had 50 miles on them prior to us taking ownership.

Jack up the wheel and spin it and have someone apply the brakes and see if they will stop. Maybe you need to adjust them so they turn by hand only (wheel) 1 or 2 revolution. Also check to make sure you have 12v going to the magnet. If all this fails take the wheel and drum off and see if you have any grease on the drum. If your shoes got glazed the only thing that you can do is replace them. If you find grease then you blew the rear seal. Is this still in Warranty? If so take it in. They could have glazed the shoes on delivery. I really don't see how these drivers would take the time to brake them in correctly. After 100 miles or so they would probably need adjusting until you hear them as you spin the wheel. What brake controller are you using?

[OldCoot]

The glaze on shoes can be removed with sandpaper as grease can also be removed with something like CRC Brakleen in an aerosol can from auto parts store. I would suspect they just need adjusting the star wheel inside with a brake tool or a straight screwdriver. You will have to jack up the wheels to adjust.

[5LowesOR]

I will get to this and report back, thanks

[Witch Doctor]

Originally Posted by OldCoot

The glaze on shoes can be removed with sandpaper as grease can also be removed with something like CRC Brakleen in an aerosol can from auto parts store. I would suspect they just need adjusting the star wheel inside with a brake tool or a straight screwdriver. You will have to jack up the wheels to adjust.

IMO as cheap as brake shoes are if there glazed just replace them. The factory told me when they put in the new aggressive brake shoes on. That if I didn't brake them in correctly they would glaze and you could only replace them. Just repeating what the Mechanic told me. Being his unit is 2015 I would think he had the new brake shoe design. It's up to the OP but I would replace them they are not the same as the old time brake shoe. Maybe they were BSing me but why?....

[Cheeselog77]

I had the same problem with my trailer which was new in 2012. My trailer is a Surveyor SV 302 with Lippert torsion axles. The trailer brakes did not work well, so I read up on the lippert brakes and it stated to brake in the brakes as follows. Set your controller to the highest level and speed up to 25 mph . Then apply the brakes and slow down to 15 mph. Do this up to 50 times and don't do it all at once! The drums might get too hot. I did this about 30 times and readjusted the brakes. My brakes worked great after that break in. I am sure the brake shoes were not engaging the drum surface entirely and that brake in procedure burned the shoes to match the drums diameter. I didn't pull the drums to see if the grease seals were leaking. I hope this helps you fix your brakes.

[jevanb]

the problem with trailers not getting enough braking action is the size of the wire 14gauge and the crappy splices, for the length of the run and the voltage drop per FAA 43.13 tinned stranded copper wire that 12 gage is min and 10gage is recommend, at 3 amps per mag pushing thru 14 then into 18 gage at the magnet and the crappy splices their is no wonder everyone is having issues. Plus the glazing problems, and the sub standard grease seals. I ran aircraft MS wiring from the pin box to a terminal strip then to a 10 to 14 splice (soldered) then soldered to the mag wires, My brake are fantastic, before I could not even skid a tire on max gain and rolling at 5mph, now I can lock them all up if I wanted to at any speed

[OldCoot]

Originally Posted by gljurczyk

IMO as cheap as brake shoes are if there glazed just replace them. The factory told me when they put in the new aggressive brake shoes on. That if I didn't brake them in correctly they would glaze and you could only replace them. Just repeating what the Mechanic told me. Being his unit is 2015 I would think he had the new brake shoe design. It's up to the OP but I would replace them they are not the same as the old time brake shoe. Maybe they were BSing me but why?....

Sell more shoes, etc. Nothing more than knocking the shine off. The glazing does not penetrate the shoe material, it just like polishing your alum. poles.