What kind of brakes?

[Undercover Poe]

I have this 2005 23’-9” Flagstaff forest river and the last time I used it, I had and issue with my Tow vehicle brakes. Theses brakes on my camper saved my a**. So I need to know what kind of brakes do I replace these with?

[Bama Rambler]

Those are going to be 10" brake shoes, but why do you think they need replacing? Have you pulled the hubs off and inspected the brake parts?

[Oaklevel]

X 2

but my other question is do you have any idea what happened to your tow vehicles brakes Too hot or something else ?

[Undercover Poe]

The tow vehicle lost a fluid from a failed caliper and I was forced to rely just the camper brakes to arrive at my destination. I just assume check them and replace them if needed. All has since been repaired on the truck. I’m just want to make sure the camper is good now. Can someone advise on a supplier for the camper brakes and advise if I have skills to change car brakes, can I do it on the camper? Anything special I need for Tools or to know?

[Undercover Poe]

You tell me. How do these brakes look?

[doc73]

Boy, you were brave and I am somewhat frightened that your brakes failed and you just drove on relying on the quality TT brakes! Sorry, not trying to be rude or unwelcoming but..

[doc73]

You can go onto Etrailer or similar and just buy the whole new assembly.

[Chuck_S]

Contact Forest River with your VIN and order the brakes you need or get the part numbers. Probably Dexter (brand) brakes. Probably just need new brake shoes but an inspection will show what's worn. Complete brake shoe assembly runs about $70/axle at places like eTrailer.

These are 1930's technology drum brakes and take nothing more than hand tools.

-- Chuck

[babock]

Originally Posted by Undercover Poe

You tell me. How do these brakes look?

They look fine, at least as far as thickness goes. Are they glazed?

[Undercover Poe]

Originally Posted by doc73

Boy, you were brave and I am somewhat frightened that your brakes failed and you just drove on relying on the quality TT brakes! Sorry, not trying to be rude or unwelcoming but..

Luckily I was less than 5 mi from home when they failed and boy was it scary when pressed down and felt nothing but the trailer brake kick in. I turned the brake control up to max and proceeded at an extremely slow pace. Now that I have them apart and they look fine I feel much better. I greased the bearing and reassembled. I’m going to order a new set of 10” shoes now and change them when it get warmer. Thanks

[doc73]

Originally Posted by Undercover Poe

Luckily I was less than 5 mi from home when they failed and boy was it scary when pressed down and felt nothing but the trailer brake kick in. I turned the brake control up to max and proceeded at an extremely slow pace. Now that I have them apart and they look fine I feel much better. I greased the bearing and reassembled. I’m going to order a new set of 10” shoes now and change them when it get warmer. Thanks

I had a brake line fail in my jeep one time.. And I agree, scary when that pedal goes to the floor!

[locogk]

i got my complete brake assys from e trailer 4 nuts and two wires so much faster

[Dirt Sifter]

My thought when it comes to brakes - if you have to ask if you can do it, you should NOT. You tube is great, but a good friend who knows what he or she is doing should guide you through your first installation, and maybe your second. Not something to play with as too many effected should they not work properly.

[jimmoore13]

A different tact on this response:

You are committed and well on the way to replacing the brake shoes. Good for you. My thoughts.

• Consider carefully before having the drums "turned." If they aren't badly scored or out of round from overheating, I'd MAYBE bring them to a shop to get high ridges taken down on either side of the brake swept area...but only if the ridges are about 1/16 inch or worse. Remember, you're shoes will settle into the proper spot, and any ridge will very quickly shape the brake lining to match. Why? Because any metal cut away on a lathe will be that much less metal available to dissipate heat. I'm old and I have lots of experience with drums on cars. It's better to replace a warped drum than turn it, and a slightly scored drum will shape the brake lining to match. Losing that metal in the drum OFTEN leads to warping the drums.
• While you're at it, replace the electric brake actuators. Clean slate.
• Get a kit that includes new springs, etc. Same as above.
• Check and repack your wheel bearings while you're at it.
• When you adjust the brakes the first time, the way I learned is that you turn each wheel, gradually tightening the brake adjuster until you can't turn the wheel anymore. Lock it up. Then back off and listen for the shoes dragging on the drum until it's ALMOST free running...just a slight bit of drag now and again during a rotation. That slight "high spot" will wear off quickly when you "break in the brakes."
• Then do the all-important break-in routine. This often involves a series of hard stops from modest speeds...say about 30 to 35 MPH. You needn't come to a full stop, but you apply the brakes hard...perhaps manually using the controller...several times to heat up the brakes, seat them properly, and bed them in. BUT ABOVE ALL, FOLLOW THE BREAK-IN INSTRUCTIONS THAT COME WITH THE KIT. Also BE CAREFUL TO NOT OVERHEAT THE DRUMS. Allow them to cool between applications.
• Finally, and this is the part that requires discipline, adjust them as described above after a few trips to make sure all brakes are equally adjusted. Once broken in, however, tighten to lockup, then back off until the wheels just barely spin freely with no dragging noises.

Once done, your brakes should be ready for another decade of trouble-free service. Depending on your annual mileage, you may need to repack the wheel bearings annually or every couple years, but the brakes won't wear out for a long time.

By the way, that was a good piece of luck to have your trailer brakes to save your bacon...nicely done getting home.

If you're ever in the market for new stoppers for your TV, I put some "Power Stops" on the front of my Ram 1500, and they are absolutely amazing! I replaced the rear pads with ceramic pads, but replaced the rotors and pads on the front, and they are smooth and super powerful. That won't help with damaged brake lines or hoses or calipers, but if you need calipers, I'd recommend the Power Stop Kit.
I tow in the Rocky Mountains, and between good brakes and proper transmission use, both are essential to safe descents from 12,500 foot mountain passes!

Lastly, change your brake fluid somewhat regularly. Brake fluid absorbs water...nothing you can do to prevent it. Water in brake fluid not only boils and makes brakes spongy, but it also rusts out brake lines. The frequency will be in your owner's manual, but every 3 to 5 years is a good rule of thumb in lieu of owner's manual recommendations. I've lost a brake line more than once with all the old junkers I've owned over the years (going back to a '49 Ford pickup). Scary business.

Good luck.

[Chuck_S]

i got my complete brake assys from e trailer 4 nuts and two wires so much faster

What I was going to write albeit with capitalization and punctuation.

-- Chuck

[pdqparalegal1]

Originally Posted by Undercover Poe

The tow vehicle lost a fluid from a failed caliper and I was forced to rely just the camper brakes to arrive at my destination. I just assume check them and replace them if needed. All has since been repaired on the truck. I’m just want to make sure the camper is good now. Can someone advise on a supplier for the camper brakes and advise if I have skills to change car brakes, can I do it on the camper? Anything special I need for Tools or to know?

Modern vehicles have a sealed, split system. You still had brakes at one end of the vehicle unless you had two hoses burst. You still had rear truck brakes, they just don’t feel like they do much without the frint working at same time.
Any trailer repair can put you in touch with what you need to replacr trailer brakes. I just replaced mine useing the complete assembly including dacking plate Four bolts off and on. Reconnect wires and go. Good time to check/repack bearings

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by Chuck_S

Contact Forest River with your VIN and order the brakes you need or get the part numbers. Probably Dexter (brand) brakes. Probably just need new brake shoes but an inspection will show what's worn. Complete brake shoe assembly runs about $70/axle at places like eTrailer.

These are 1930's technology drum brakes and take nothing more than hand tools.

-- Chuck

I like to use a brake spring pliers. The round tool at the end of one handle pops the springs off the anchor pin easily. The funny shape at the end of the other handle is for putting the springs back on--you put the spring hook over the handle and put the handle over the anchor, then lift the handle so the hook slides down to the anchor. For unusual situations (parking brake, self-adjusters) you can use the "jaws" at the other end.

Some people use this brake hold-down spring tool but you can simply use a pair of slip joint pliers.

Also see this set.

If you have never done this before, PLEASE get someone with experience to work with you. Brakes are nothing to experiment with.

Larry

[Steveboe]

I appreciate your concern about your brakes but 5 miles of hard drive we is no reason to replace your shoes. Trailer shoes are not thick to begin with so I would measure yours and a new one to compare.
AND
Beware that some replacement, setups that include backing plate, will NOT have an automatic adjuster.

[Bama Rambler]

There have been a lot of good posts, so I'll just say I'm with Jim.

By the way, that was a good piece of luck to have your trailer brakes to save your bacon...nicely done getting home.

It was good luck that you had the RV connected and the brakes worked well. Without the RV it could have actually been a lot more hairy for you.

Those brake shoes and magnets look good. You didn't post a picture of the inside of the drum, but I suspect it looks good as well.

Your brakes are 10" x 2¼" non-self adjusting units.
They're also not EZ-Lube.

Given that; you need a good maintenance schedule for checking the brake adjustment periodically.

[Springerdad]

Originally Posted by jimmoore13

A different tact on this response:

You are committed and well on the way to replacing the brake shoes. Good for you. My thoughts.

• Consider carefully before having the drums "turned." If they aren't badly scored or out of round from overheating, I'd MAYBE bring them to a shop to get high ridges taken down on either side of the brake swept area...but only if the ridges are about 1/16 inch or worse. Remember, you're shoes will settle into the proper spot, and any ridge will very quickly shape the brake lining to match. Why? Because any metal cut away on a lathe will be that much less metal available to dissipate heat. I'm old and I have lots of experience with drums on cars. It's better to replace a warped drum than turn it, and a slightly scored drum will shape the brake lining to match. Losing that metal in the drum OFTEN leads to warping the drums.
• While you're at it, replace the electric brake actuators. Clean slate.
• Get a kit that includes new springs, etc. Same as above.
• Check and repack your wheel bearings while you're at it.
• When you adjust the brakes the first time, the way I learned is that you turn each wheel, gradually tightening the brake adjuster until you can't turn the wheel anymore. Lock it up. Then back off and listen for the shoes dragging on the drum until it's ALMOST free running...just a slight bit of drag now and again during a rotation. That slight "high spot" will wear off quickly when you "break in the brakes."
• Then do the all-important break-in routine. This often involves a series of hard stops from modest speeds...say about 30 to 35 MPH. You needn't come to a full stop, but you apply the brakes hard...perhaps manually using the controller...several times to heat up the brakes, seat them properly, and bed them in. BUT ABOVE ALL, FOLLOW THE BREAK-IN INSTRUCTIONS THAT COME WITH THE KIT. Also BE CAREFUL TO NOT OVERHEAT THE DRUMS. Allow them to cool between applications.
• Finally, and this is the part that requires discipline, adjust them as described above after a few trips to make sure all brakes are equally adjusted. Once broken in, however, tighten to lockup, then back off until the wheels just barely spin freely with no dragging noises.

Once done, your brakes should be ready for another decade of trouble-free service. Depending on your annual mileage, you may need to repack the wheel bearings annually or every couple years, but the brakes won't wear out for a long time.

By the way, that was a good piece of luck to have your trailer brakes to save your bacon...nicely done getting home.

If you're ever in the market for new stoppers for your TV, I put some "Power Stops" on the front of my Ram 1500, and they are absolutely amazing! I replaced the rear pads with ceramic pads, but replaced the rotors and pads on the front, and they are smooth and super powerful. That won't help with damaged brake lines or hoses or calipers, but if you need calipers, I'd recommend the Power Stop Kit.
I tow in the Rocky Mountains, and between good brakes and proper transmission use, both are essential to safe descents from 12,500 foot mountain passes!

Lastly, change your brake fluid somewhat regularly. Brake fluid absorbs water...nothing you can do to prevent it. Water in brake fluid not only boils and makes brakes spongy, but it also rusts out brake lines. The frequency will be in your owner's manual, but every 3 to 5 years is a good rule of thumb in lieu of owner's manual recommendations. I've lost a brake line more than once with all the old junkers I've owned over the years (going back to a '49 Ford pickup). Scary business.

Good luck.

X2. What he said.