A short time ago I purchased an 8.5' x 20' Haulmark Race trailer, to haul my Jeep in and become my roadtrip / show trailer.
The first project upon getting it home was to inspect the brakes and bearings.
I dismantled the brakes on the driver's side last week. On Sunday I started looking at the brakes with a flashlight. The magnet on one wheel had a little grease along the top of it. The shoes looked like they may have had grease on them - it was hard to tell. At this point, I only had two wheels/drums off.
The only way grease gets in the brake assembly is if a seal goes bad, or if while putting in more grease, the grease takes the path of least resistance and goes past the seal instead of making it's way forward, through the outer bearing. The latter scenario would only happen if the hub is already packed totally full of grease, which is what happened on my trailer.
What I can tell is that the magnet is the first place grease will land when it gets past the seal and gets flung around.
Before I wasted any more brake cleaner, which I bought plenty of today....
... I decided to pull another brake drum off (on the passenger side of the trailer) and look at it.
Here's what I found: :Wow1::Wow1:
Here you can see that only 1/2 of the brake shoe was actually doing any braking action. The other half is goobered up with grease.
So, the reason I hate EZ-Lube hubs is because people tend to treat them like "bearing buddies" on a boat trailer, and put more grease in them every so often. It seems that at some point in time, it's possible that grease will start oozing past the seal at the back side of the drum.
Now I know why I had to crank the brake controller up to 7.5 to get much braking action on my trip home.
When I picked up the trailer, I asked when the last time the bearings were repacked. The owner said he hadn't repacked them, but every year he'd shoot more grease in the hubs. The fact they hadn't been inspected/serviced is exactly why I took them apart.
Each hub had a LOT of grease in it.
I'm not wasting any more time messing with the existing brakes on the other three wheels - I'm replacing all 4 entire brake assemblies.
Since the magnets appear to have gotten grease on them too, they've caused uneven wear on the "armature surface" of the brake drum. I'm replacing all 4 drums too.
The armature surface is the flat surface on the back side (inside the drum) of where the wheel studs are. The magnet attracts itself to this surface when power is applied (from braking action)
The first project upon getting it home was to inspect the brakes and bearings.
I dismantled the brakes on the driver's side last week. On Sunday I started looking at the brakes with a flashlight. The magnet on one wheel had a little grease along the top of it. The shoes looked like they may have had grease on them - it was hard to tell. At this point, I only had two wheels/drums off.
The only way grease gets in the brake assembly is if a seal goes bad, or if while putting in more grease, the grease takes the path of least resistance and goes past the seal instead of making it's way forward, through the outer bearing. The latter scenario would only happen if the hub is already packed totally full of grease, which is what happened on my trailer.
What I can tell is that the magnet is the first place grease will land when it gets past the seal and gets flung around.
Before I wasted any more brake cleaner, which I bought plenty of today....
... I decided to pull another brake drum off (on the passenger side of the trailer) and look at it.
Here's what I found: :Wow1::Wow1:
Here you can see that only 1/2 of the brake shoe was actually doing any braking action. The other half is goobered up with grease.
So, the reason I hate EZ-Lube hubs is because people tend to treat them like "bearing buddies" on a boat trailer, and put more grease in them every so often. It seems that at some point in time, it's possible that grease will start oozing past the seal at the back side of the drum.
Now I know why I had to crank the brake controller up to 7.5 to get much braking action on my trip home.
When I picked up the trailer, I asked when the last time the bearings were repacked. The owner said he hadn't repacked them, but every year he'd shoot more grease in the hubs. The fact they hadn't been inspected/serviced is exactly why I took them apart.
Each hub had a LOT of grease in it.
I'm not wasting any more time messing with the existing brakes on the other three wheels - I'm replacing all 4 entire brake assemblies.
Since the magnets appear to have gotten grease on them too, they've caused uneven wear on the "armature surface" of the brake drum. I'm replacing all 4 drums too.
The armature surface is the flat surface on the back side (inside the drum) of where the wheel studs are. The magnet attracts itself to this surface when power is applied (from braking action)
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