Troubleshooting replacement brakes and bearings Oh My...

R

RichE

Newbie
Hoping for a little sanity check and troubleshooting help here!

Two weeks ago I spent the week de-wintering our 560 and getting ready for a weekend shakedown trip to Ponca SP in Nebraska before our big outting to Yellowstone, Glacier and Banff later this summer.

Well glad I did because it's been an adventure...just not to kind I was looking for.

Prior to the shakedown trip I hooked up the camper and set off on a quick loop around the neighborhood to check brakes and sloosh the chlorinated water around the tanks before refilling. About half way through the loop my the brake controller stopped recognizing the brake connection. A little troubleshooting (including testing voltages on brake posts and pulling the breakaway cable) determined at least one of the brake solenoids was out. Not ideal, but I actually had a full set of replacement brakes and hubs I had purchased last summer but hadn't gotten around to installing...I had done a complete bearing replacement last summer (2025) but brakes were more than I was prepared to tackle and everything seemed to be functioning fine. (Our trailer 555 is a 2012 and new to us in 2024 so I had no idea hold long it had been since bearings and brakes had been serviced...)

First, sanity check and reference for myself and others the replacement brake parts I purchased were:
K23-103-104-00-Dexter Electric Trailer Brakes - Parking Brake Ready - 7" - Left/Right Hand Assemblies - 2.2K https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Brakes/Dexter/K23-103-104-00.html
and
8-257-5UC3 - Dexter Trailer Hub and Drum Assembly for 2,000-lb Axles - 7" - 5 on 4-1/2 https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Brakes/etrailer/AKEBRK-35.html

Everything physically matches and bolts together to the best of my ability to check against what was coming off the trailer.

Back to the fun...
The right-hand (passenger) side was slow going as I figured everything out (first time replacing trailer brakes). But eventually I got everything mounted, wired, packed, pinned and adjusted). Pulled the breakaway pin and brakes work! Same for e-brake. So far so good. . .

Now the fun...My first concern as I started tearing down of the driver (left hand) side I noticed the outer bearing had started to machine itself into the Castle (retaining) hub nut. Including leaving a groove on the back of the nut and visible metal filings along the mating surface between the hub nut and outer bearing. My concern is I had seen this last year as well and hoped I had solved it by fully replacing bearings, and installing a fresh castle nut.
The Replacement nut 8 ordered was (e-trailer Trailer Spindle Nut 1"
Part Number: 165686 https://www.etrailer.com/Accessories-and-Parts/TruRyde/165686.html) I assembled following Dexters published procedure, but without a washer and secured with a cotter pin... Has anyone else seen wearing on back of the Castle nut or know how or why this might happen?

(Castle nut too tight? too loose? something I'm missing)


Second big head scratcher...Driver side went much quicker using the learnings from the first side. . .Then comes reassembly...As I start adjusting the brakes, seating the the new bearings and hub on the axle (again following the Dexter's published procedures), I notice the brake seems to be engaging when I try to spin the hub to tighten the Castle nut. Specifically, I can hear and see the magnet actuator arm (and e-brake arm) clicking against the pads and fulling locking the brakes on as I slowly rotate the drum. Less than 1/4 turn is all that is needed to fully lock the brakes and prevent the hub from turning. This occurs even with brake adjusters fully retracted (which I confirmed as the hub spins freely around pads up until magnet and magnet arm hit the inner surface of the new hub/drum assembly).

After lots of youtube videos and troubleshooting what appears to be happening is that the post that the brake magnet rides on appears to be contacting the front face of the hub. When the hub is rotated the pin drops into one of the holes housing the wheel lugs on the inner surface of the drum. This fully and strongly engages the brakes (obviously)....I confirmed this behavior by removing the magnet from the post, even with no magnet in place this behavior repeats (this happens with both the original and new hub/drum assembly).

In comparing the old and new brake assemblies the actuator arm on the new assembly is much stiffer and appears curved out and away from the baking plate. There is no obvious way to bend or loosen the actuator arm to prevent this from happening. The arm I'm looking at is (29 047-114-02 1 LH Lever Arm & Cam Assembly) on the diagram on page 17 of Dexter Axel parts diagram kindly posted by Tom S in another thread (link).

Was just this arm faulty from the manufacturer or perhaps became bent in shipping? E-trailer has been no help since the parts were ordered last summer and I'm well part the 90 day return window (even though I'm just installing the parts new now....). I'm about to order a whole new brake assembly but just wanted to put this out there to see if anyone else has experienced something similar or has any ideas...

Anyone with troubles with brand new as received brake assembly from Dexter or experience troubleshooting electrical trailer brakes?

I'm also planning to call the nest on Monday morning, but of course I'm doing this on a weekend and am impatient.... it has also been a now week long ordeal and I just want the wheels back on the trailer and functional brakes/bearings!!!!

Thanks and enjoy the adventure!
Rich
 
just replaced bearings yesterday. It may be the bearings were not seated fully when installed. This I believe would allow additional space between bearing and race and wheel to wear on the castle nut. No expert by any means. Lots of videos to assist replacement.

Not sure on brake issue. Just adjusted mine when had camper wheel up.
 
Rich, I just DM'd you.

It sounds like you are using a brake controller on your truck, not an autowbrake controller correct?

Per Dexter, a single brake magnet should be 3.8-4 ohms per magnet. If you test them in parallel (on the trailer) the resistance will be half of that...approximately. (R = (3.9 × 3.9) / (3.9 + 3.9) = 15.21 / 7.8 = 1.95Ω)

Another reading is how much power they are drawing...the amperage is about 2.5 amps per magnet - so 5 in total. This is something your brake controller may tell you -- to test this you'd need to build a test rig with a 12 volt battery and an ohm meter...and whatever you do, don'ot leave them at full power for long it will smoke the magnet if you aren't careful, thats why you never pull the 'break away' cable and leave it...

I use the 1 1/2" socket just for control. I pre-tighten with it, back it off until its lose then its only finger tight - just intil it 'touches' then I back of off to the next flat or point. Then check for that "loseness" that little tiny almost imperceptible 'thump'

The 'tang' lock that came with the camper is not my favorite any longer, though there is some debate on the topic. I had a rather touch-and-go bearing job where I used a tang washer, and it cost me a few hours extra work and the need to purchase a die to reform the threads....I found a 'cage' lock that works very nicely to replace it, they work well and they are reusable.

I got mine from waymiredistribution.com out of Indianapolis -- they provide all of my axle parts - etrailer is also good but for me its faster to drive to my local distributor with a warehouse the size of a football fields with just trailer parts :D
 
RichE said:
Hoping for a little sanity check and troubleshooting help here!

Two weeks ago I spent the week de-wintering our 560 and getting ready for a weekend shakedown trip to Ponca SP in Nebraska before our big outting to Yellowstone, Glacier and Banff later this summer.

Well glad I did because it's been an adventure...just not to kind I was looking for.

Prior to the shakedown trip I hooked up the camper and set off on a quick loop around the neighborhood to check brakes and sloosh the chlorinated water around the tanks before refilling. About half way through the loop my the brake controller stopped recognizing the brake connection. A little troubleshooting (including testing voltages on brake posts and pulling the breakaway cable) determined at least one of the brake solenoids was out. Not ideal, but I actually had a full set of replacement brakes and hubs I had purchased last summer but hadn't gotten around to installing...I had done a complete bearing replacement last summer (2025) but brakes were more than I was prepared to tackle and everything seemed to be functioning fine. (Our trailer 555 is a 2012 and new to us in 2024 so I had no idea hold long it had been since bearings and brakes had been serviced...)

First, sanity check and reference for myself and others the replacement brake parts I purchased were:
K23-103-104-00-Dexter Electric Trailer Brakes - Parking Brake Ready - 7" - Left/Right Hand Assemblies - 2.2K https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Brakes/Dexter/K23-103-104-00.html
and
8-257-5UC3 - Dexter Trailer Hub and Drum Assembly for 2,000-lb Axles - 7" - 5 on 4-1/2 https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Brakes/etrailer/AKEBRK-35.html

Everything physically matches and bolts together to the best of my ability to check against what was coming off the trailer.

Back to the fun...
The right-hand (passenger) side was slow going as I figured everything out (first time replacing trailer brakes). But eventually I got everything mounted, wired, packed, pinned and adjusted). Pulled the breakaway pin and brakes work! Same for e-brake. So far so good. . .

Now the fun...My first concern as I started tearing down of the driver (left hand) side I noticed the outer bearing had started to machine itself into the Castle (retaining) hub nut. Including leaving a groove on the back of the nut and visible metal filings along the mating surface between the hub nut and outer bearing. My concern is I had seen this last year as well and hoped I had solved it by fully replacing bearings, and installing a fresh castle nut.
The Replacement nut 8 ordered was (e-trailer Trailer Spindle Nut 1"
Part Number: 165686 https://www.etrailer.com/Accessories-and-Parts/TruRyde/165686.html) I assembled following Dexters published procedure, but without a washer and secured with a cotter pin... Has anyone else seen wearing on back of the Castle nut or know how or why this might happen?

(Castle nut too tight? too loose? something I'm missing)


Second big head scratcher...Driver side went much quicker using the learnings from the first side. . .Then comes reassembly...As I start adjusting the brakes, seating the the new bearings and hub on the axle (again following the Dexter's published procedures), I notice the brake seems to be engaging when I try to spin the hub to tighten the Castle nut. Specifically, I can hear and see the magnet actuator arm (and e-brake arm) clicking against the pads and fulling locking the brakes on as I slowly rotate the drum. Less than 1/4 turn is all that is needed to fully lock the brakes and prevent the hub from turning. This occurs even with brake adjusters fully retracted (which I confirmed as the hub spins freely around pads up until magnet and magnet arm hit the inner surface of the new hub/drum assembly).

After lots of youtube videos and troubleshooting what appears to be happening is that the post that the brake magnet rides on appears to be contacting the front face of the hub. When the hub is rotated the pin drops into one of the holes housing the wheel lugs on the inner surface of the drum. This fully and strongly engages the brakes (obviously)....I confirmed this behavior by removing the magnet from the post, even with no magnet in place this behavior repeats (this happens with both the original and new hub/drum assembly).

In comparing the old and new brake assemblies the actuator arm on the new assembly is much stiffer and appears curved out and away from the baking plate. There is no obvious way to bend or loosen the actuator arm to prevent this from happening. The arm I'm looking at is (29 047-114-02 1 LH Lever Arm & Cam Assembly) on the diagram on page 17 of Dexter Axel parts diagram kindly posted by Tom S in another thread (link).

Was just this arm faulty from the manufacturer or perhaps became bent in shipping? E-trailer has been no help since the parts were ordered last summer and I'm well part the 90 day return window (even though I'm just installing the parts new now....). I'm about to order a whole new brake assembly but just wanted to put this out there to see if anyone else has experienced something similar or has any ideas...

Anyone with troubles with brand new as received brake assembly from Dexter or experience troubleshooting electrical trailer brakes?

I'm also planning to call the nest on Monday morning, but of course I'm doing this on a weekend and am impatient.... it has also been a now week long ordeal and I just want the wheels back on the trailer and functional brakes/bearings!!!!

Thanks and enjoy the adventure!
Rich
Click to expand...

I admit that yesterday, I did not give this email a thorough reading....something jumped out at me, and I've seen this before.

This is NOT a Camp-Inn specific process, nor are the observations I made. The system used here is extremely common and not written specifically about CI — rather general observations. I've done many wheel bearing jobs, and consider myself to be proficient in the process.

Many of the axles I have done are much bigger than the cute little things on our beloved campers. Where I see tang washers are very commonly used is on boat and small cargo trailers. Ours just share them.

I'm going to walk through the disassembly here...follow me for a minute...in order of removal:

1] Dust Cap
2] Castle Nut held in place by tang washer
3] Tang Washer - small screwdriver helpful to bend 'tangs' from between the castle nut teeth
4] Washer - heavier duty, perhaps 1/8" thick
5] Outer Bearing
6] The hub itself
7] The inner bearing
8] Grease seal - The grease seal will retain the inner bearing in the hub.

In the hub, you will have races -- these races are matched to the bearing at installation, and when they are pulled down the road, they are permanently married to the respective bearing. When you replace the bearing, replace the race. If you replace the race, replace the bearing. Never put the wrong bearing (switch the inner/outer) during reassembly.

I've seen a mistake made where the washer (Part #4) is missing, and the tang washer is between the castle nut and the outer bearing. The tang washer is very thin, and not designed to handle the rotational forces of the bearing. Granted, those should be light as these are 'finger tight' and the bearing should spin freely. The tang washer is only designed to hold the castle nut in place so it does not tighten or loosen while traveling. The larger washer (which also has the 'D' cutout in it) is designed to handle that.

If the tang washer is directly up against the wheel bearing, this can cause problems. I've seen cases where the tang would spin slightly. Not a lot — maybe a 16th of a turn? Enough that the tangs will get sucked into the threads between the castle nut and the spindle. When you try to remove it, you may experience the unpleasantness of using a breaker bar to spin the castle nut off. This is frightening since it takes a lot of force to remove the castle nut, which can damage those threads. You will then need to chase the threads with a die to clean them out. If the washer (Part #4) is present, I've never seen this happen. Bottom line: make sure you have a washer AND the locking tang washer between the outer bearing and the castle nut...you'll have no problems.

Brake adjustment is not hard...The TrailerSmith has a great video on the topic...better than anything I can say here.
 
Finally getting around to posting a follow up (actually had drafted a follow up but must have not hit post)....

Thanks so much for all the support and details from Sweeney and others....

I think I've finally got things figured out, with a big assistant from Craig at the Nest! Before getting into details I just couldn't be any more impressed with Camp-inn and their support of these amazing little campers! We're at least the third owners of #555 and Craig took time to explain everything and support me like I was picking up a brand new camper...

My hope here is too document and share some of my learnings for anyone else finding themselves doing a brake replacement or bearings particularly on older trailer numbers #555 is a 2012. . .

1st Issue: New replacement Dexter bakes siezing on installation.
Briefly I had determined that at least one of the solenoid magnets had failed and rather than just replacing the magnet I chose to replace the entire brake assembly. This should be a fairly straightforward "bolt-in" replacement. However, after mounting the replacement brake assembly, when I went to install and seat the new hub/drum assembly on the spindle the brakes would fully apply and lock up the preventing the wheel from spinning in both the forward and reverse directions.....less than 1/4 turn was all that could be achieved even without the Castle nut in place

In talking to Craig this is a known issue to Camp-Inn with the Dexter brake design and has been addressed on newer trailers or when servicing brakes at camp-inn.... although this has occurred in the field on several older trailers.

Briefly what I had described above is indeed what occurs....

"the post that the brake magnet rides on appears to be contacting the front face of the hub. When the hub is rotated the pin drops into one of the holes housing the wheel lugs on the inner surface of the drum. This fully and strongly engages the brakes ....

The arm I'm looking at is (29 047-114-02 1 LH Lever Arm & Cam Assembly) on the diagram on page 17 of Dexter Axel parts diagram kindly posted by Tom S in another thread (link)."

Specifically, there is a stepped down portion on the end of this rod which secures the solenoid retainer clip, which holds the magnet in place while installing the hub/drum assembly. The stepped down portion (even without the clip in place) can contact the back surface of the hub and cause full mechanical application of the brakes. . .

The solution Camp-inn have devised (which according to my understanding is performed at the factory on new trailers during initial assembly) is to grind or cut off this stepped down portion entirely (just the part where the clip would attach). Once the hub is in place the remaining portion of the arm is sufficient to keep to magnet in place and there is no possible way the solenoid could fall off..

So following thid advice I used my Dremel to cut off the stepped down portion and round off the edges followed by a good spay down with some brake cleaner to remove and residual metal flakes.... This worked perfectly and the hub went on without issue. I then went back a did the other side (as advised by Craig) even though that side hadn't showed the same issue.....

So 1st Issue solved....feel free to reply with questions or reach out to the nest for additional background details if attempting a brake repair or replacement....

Will address issue with spindle/Castle nut in a subsequent post....
 
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