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offgrid
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Jul 2018
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Posts: 5290
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Topic: Repack or EZ Lube? Posted: 14 May 2020 at 5:18pm |
If your engine or trans quits or a bearing overheats you might get stuck on the side of the road. If your brakes or tires fail you can die, so for me brakes and tires come first. I've experienced a couple of brake failures and a really bad brake imbalance before so I guess I'm probably a bit paranoid about it.
If you've never pulled the trailer wheels and inspected the brakes its a great learning experience, something I think everyone should do at least once. Let's face it, electric drum trailer brakes are 1950s technology, its good to know firsthand how crude they really are compared to modern computer controlled hydraulic disks.
Once you get your brakes set up and working as they should and your brake controller is set up the way you want it, here's a nice easy procedure you can do when you head out on a trip to verify things.
Get an IR thermometer with a laser sight. Check the temp of the drums. They should be at ambient temp. Get up to about 30-40 mph on a flat empty stretch of road. Using only the manual slide on the brake controller, bring your rig down to a few mph. Do this 3-4 times, waiting a minute or two in between, then pull off the road. Check the drums again. They should both be pretty warm but not smoking hot and be roughly the same temp. If one is cold or one is much hotter than the other then start troubleshooting.
If you do this first with known good brakes and have a baseline and things haven't changed then you can probably get by with just EZ lube for awhile. You can also use the ir thermometer on the hubs and tires to see if your bearings or tires are getting hot. And you can use it for your TV brakes and tires too. I keep mine in my center console and do this at every gas stop, doesn't take but a few seconds.
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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podrunner
Senior Member
Joined: 30 May 2013
Location: Draper, UT
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Posts: 106
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Posted: 14 May 2020 at 10:54am |
All this discussion about brakes and connections has inspired me to repack, but more importantly check the brakes and wiring connections. Thank you all for your input
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2010 R Pod 151
2017 4runner
2006 Honda Metropolitan
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GlueGuy
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Joined: 15 May 2017
Location: N. California
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Posted: 14 May 2020 at 8:42am |
Originally posted by offgrid
Originally posted by GlueGuy
Ours has crimped connectors all around underneath. Maybe the displacement connectors is an eastern thing? |
Could be, or maybe FR at some point decided to switch to using real connectors? |
That's a possibility. Ours is a 2017 (late 2016 manufacture), so we have at least a year newer version.
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bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River
2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost
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offgrid
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Jul 2018
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Posts: 5290
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Posted: 14 May 2020 at 6:28am |
Originally posted by GlueGuy
Ours has crimped connectors all around underneath. Maybe the displacement connectors is an eastern thing? |
Could be, or maybe FR at some point decided to switch to using real connectors?
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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Kup-Pod
Senior Member
Joined: 08 Jun 2017
Location: Guelph, Ontario
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Posts: 153
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Posted: 13 May 2020 at 8:07pm |
My unfortunate experience with the crappy electrical connectors is that they made the connection and then left the wires and connectors hanging for any stray branch to grab and rip the wires apart. It took a bit to figure out why my brakes were grabbing to one side only to find out that the wire got pulled out, and then sprung back to be "close" to the same location. A wee bit frustrating to see how they just left it hanging there unprotected and unsecured.
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2017 RP-178
2021 F150 5.0l
"Lead me on a level path"
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GlueGuy
Senior Member
Joined: 15 May 2017
Location: N. California
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Posts: 2629
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Posted: 13 May 2020 at 7:36pm |
Originally posted by offgrid
The crappy insulation displacement connectors are one likely suspect, that would be a good time to change them out for butt connectors and self sealing heat shrink tubing. |
Ours has crimped connectors all around underneath. Maybe the displacement connectors is an eastern thing?
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bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River
2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost
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offgrid
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Jul 2018
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Posts: 5290
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Posted: 13 May 2020 at 4:25pm |
Originally posted by furpod
the brakes should be fine unless they are out of adjustment, and in fact if they got ate up in that short of time, you should have noticed them running hot.
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I think its more likely with electric trailer brakes that they aren't working properly and are not getting hot, or are working well on one side and not the other. Pulling the drums provides the opportunity to check that. If there is little or uneven brake shoe or drum wear, the magnet wear surfaces are scored, or the actuator arms, pivots, and springs are frozen or corroded then its time to look more closely and see what's up. The crappy insulation displacement connectors are one likely suspect, that would be a good time to change them out for butt connectors and self sealing heat shrink tubing.
Personally, I don't bother taking the time to clean bearings, just wipe them with a clean rag, inspect, and press fresh grease through them till you see the new grease oozing out, put them back in the drum, install a new seal and done. Doesn't take near as long or make as much mess that way. I don't really see what completely cleaning them does for you other than maybe leaving some solvent in the bearings.
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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furpod
Moderator Group - pHp
Joined: 25 Jul 2011
Location: Central KY
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Posted: 13 May 2020 at 3:30pm |
Personally.. I would just ez lube.. 1500 miles is not many, the brakes should be fine unless they are out of adjustment, and in fact if they got ate up in that short of time, you should have noticed them running hot.
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podrunner
Senior Member
Joined: 30 May 2013
Location: Draper, UT
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Posts: 106
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Posted: 13 May 2020 at 12:05pm |
My trailer is 11 years old. Not too concerned about warranty. Thanks for the advice.
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2010 R Pod 151
2017 4runner
2006 Honda Metropolitan
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lostagain
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Joined: 06 Sep 2016
Location: Quaker Hill, CT
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Posts: 2587
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Posted: 13 May 2020 at 11:55am |
+1 to OG. I also advocate, having learned the hard way, to carry at least one bearing and seal set with the bearing fully greased and ready to go incase you have a bearing failure on the road. But watch out because Lippert warns that "non-certified" people who mess with your bearings "may void any and and all warranty claims."
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Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost
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