Axle Brake Missing. Cause?

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by Larry-NC

Because drums are never perfectly round inside (except just after machining), it seems like there is always a little drag at the high spots while rotating. If you loosen brakes so much that there's no drag at all, you can't get full actuation via the servo action. Back when cars/trucks had four-wheel drum brakes, the pedal depression would be too deep (too close to the floor) for comfort if you adjusted the brakes for zero drag.

^^^This, plus:

When one jacks up wheels and checks for brake drag the drums are usually quite cool compared to when rolling down the road. Brake drums will expand when warm/hot and usually just enough to reduce any drag you felt when cool to none or barely perceptable.

I have never had to back off any self adjusting brake that was assembled properly. On the contrary I have found it necessary to manually adjust self-adjusting brakes that only adjust when applying brakes while moving in reverse. Trailer brakes adjust when moving forward.

[Aussieguy]

It use to happen to my CAR back in the 70's


I would replace the whole drum / backing plate shoes springs etc
I would also do BOTH brakes on the same axle with identical parts


you can start looking here...

https://www.trailerpart.com/c-30-ele...ssemblies.aspx

[snoopinaround]

I'm not a newbie but I sure learned a lot from this forum. I went to my dealer today (Saturday) and learned that they can look at the Vibe on Wednesday but with the upcoming Labor Day weekend all the repairs would not be done by my scheduled camping trip on 9/6. So.... I scheduled a repair date when I return. I cannot say enough good things about my dealer Bish's RV Davenport, IA location. They said it takes about 2 days for Forest River to approve warranty work. They buy all brake/axle parts locally but the wheel has to come from Forest River and they have been taking 2-3 weeks to come in. They ordered the wheel today.

My plan. Bish's told me where locally to buy a new axle bolt to replace the missing one. I bought a new wheel from E-Trailer for $150 and it will be delivered in 2 days. I don't trust the damaged one at all. I'm having someone inspect my other brakes and all axle bearings. Then we are taking the trip to Nebraska without the fourth brake. Yes, we are willingly going to explore Nebraska and not just pass through. Thanks again to all who contributed.

[dalford]

Enjoy your trip, drive safe, learn your stopping distance. You should be fine…

[phillyg]

Based on the rust I suspect it broke some time ago. Regardless, since that's a fairly heavy trailer, I suggest you replace just that one brake assembly before you depart.

[dalford]

From the looks of things you have been running on 3 brakes for quite some time. If your braking has been good and you did not notice a lack of braking I would go on 3 and just up the brake gain. Only you can be the judge of this.

[Oaklevel]

The good news is where you live is mostly flat and you are towing with a 3/4 ton truck. I llved in Knox County Il. years ago.

We towed a 22ft camper on the east coast years ago with no trailer brakes with a 76 F150 before I knew the difference.

[IamProStreet]

I’m assuming it got super hot and burnt the paint off. After that it won’t take long for it to rust up like that.

[Old Eeyore]

Dumb question: When was the last time you *knew* this was in good shape?



(Just wondering if it was like that at delivery. If it wasn't trailered to the dealer it could have happened during transport.)

[Forbes]

If you plain to keep the rig, forget repairing. Make the investment and go to Electric over hydraulic disk brakes. You can install them yourself very easy. Best investment I have made on our 5th CC. Just google them or go to some of the better supply houses, you will not be sorry

[snoopinaround]

Originally Posted by Forbes

If you plain to keep the rig, forget repairing. Make the investment and go to Electric over hydraulic disk brakes. You can install them yourself very easy. Best investment I have made on our 5th CC. Just google them or go to some of the better supply houses, you will not be sorry

I am assuming you meant hydraulic over electric. My rig is under warranty so everything should be repaired on FR's dime. Do you have drum or disc brakes? Hydraulic disc brakes are a lot more than hydraulic drum brakes. Going the cheaper route with drum, would it be worth it over electric drum in your opinion? Thanks for contributing.

[dalford]

Originally Posted by snoopinaround

I am assuming you meant hydraulic over electric. My rig is under warranty so everything should be repaired on FR's dime. Do you have drum or disc brakes? Hydraulic disc brakes are a lot more than hydraulic drum brakes. Going the cheaper route with drum, would it be worth it over electric drum in your opinion? Thanks for contributing.

No, he stated it right… not drum brakes… example..

https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Bra...oaAiMDEALw_wcB

[n1acguy]

Originally Posted by Forbes

If you plain to keep the rig, forget repairing. Make the investment and go to Electric over hydraulic disk brakes. You can install them yourself very easy. Best investment I have made on our 5th CC. Just google them or go to some of the better supply houses, you will not be sorry

I like that avitar. I'm the same age

[n1acguy]

I don't have a lot of experience with trailers, but I've never seen an automotive brake drum shatter. I take it trailer drums are a lot lighter duty for that to happen.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by n1acguy

I don't have a lot of experience with trailers, but I've never seen an automotive brake drum shatter. I take it trailer drums are a lot lighter duty for that to happen.

I've looked at automotive brake drums during my entire 40+ year career. Todays trailer brake drums are no lighter duty than those on cars and pickups with like sized drums.

A failure like this is usually due to a manufacturing flaw, possibly cutting too deep into the drum's depth in the final machining process --OR-- a casting flaw.

Definitely had to make a lot of noise when it failed as it not only had to separate from the drum's mounting plate, but had to break into pieces to be released from the shoes.

Wonder how many tire failures were caused by following vehicles running over the pieces??

[Forbes]

Originally Posted by snoopinaround

I am assuming you meant hydraulic over electric. My rig is under warranty so everything should be repaired on FR's dime. Do you have drum or disc brakes? Hydraulic disc brakes are a lot more than hydraulic drum brakes. Going the cheaper route with drum, would it be worth it over electric drum in your opinion? Thanks for contributing.

No I meant Electric over hydraulic and disk rakes. If you check Proforance RV Braking or just google Elect over hydraulic disk brakes for RV. You will have to take your drums off and replace with rotors that come with the it. It will cut your stopping distance by 35 to 50 %. I got mine for 8k axles for around $1800.00 several years ago don’t know what the are now. They even have a crew that will come and install them for what I would call a good price. Call Mike at 405-626-7009 and just tell him what you have, he will tell you what you need and you can look around for the best deal. They have always been very straight and fair with me.

[snoopinaround]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

I've looked at automotive brake drums during my entire 40+ year career. Todays trailer brake drums are no lighter duty than those on cars and pickups with like sized drums.

A failure like this is usually due to a manufacturing flaw, possibly cutting too deep into the drum's depth in the final machining process --OR-- a casting flaw.

Definitely had to make a lot of noise when it failed as it not only had to separate from the drum's mounting plate, but had to break into pieces to be released from the shoes.

Wonder how many tire failures were caused by following vehicles running over the pieces??

I thanked God that no one was injured or worse by these chunks of metal bouncing down the highway. Bottom line is this just an inconvenience to me. The contributors to this forum made me understand how much worse it could have been for me and fellow travelers. I appreciate your post.

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

I've looked at automotive brake drums during my entire 40+ year career. Todays trailer brake drums are no lighter duty than those on cars and pickups with like sized drums.

A failure like this is usually due to a manufacturing flaw, possibly cutting too deep into the drum's depth in the final machining process --OR-- a casting flaw.

I'm thinking that the mounting bolt came loose, fell inside the drum, got caught on the trailing edge of one of the shoes and eventually cut through the drum.

[hughd033]

Also if you believe there is evidence of high heat that would transferred to the bearings
I would have someone do a quick check on them as well. Had a similar thing happen and it cooked off the bearings as well.

[snoopinaround]

Originally Posted by Larry-NC

I'm thinking that the mounting bolt came loose, fell inside the drum, got caught on the trailing edge of one of the shoes and eventually cut through the drum.

Today I learned that 2 of the three remaining bolts on the axle were almost finger loose and definitely not torqued to spec. Also, one bolt from the forward axle, also on drivers side, was also loose. All bolts on the passenger side were good. Someone, at whatever factory, was having a bad day. Thanks for your post.