Just Found An Inoperative Brake

[edatlanta]

My Designer will be two years old in 13 more days. It has Dexter 7,000 axles with self adjusting brakes and Nev-R-Lube bearings. I have always thought it wasn't braking "right" since new. I could never put my finger on the problem, but it just didn't feel right and I have towed a lot of trailers of all types for a lot of years.

The park I am hosting in was evacuated a few weeks back due to tropical storm Debby and towing in windy conditions with wet roads I really felt the problem, but again didn't know what was wrong. Last week there was a well respected mobile repair guy here in the park and I asked him to take a peek a my brakes. Three of them were fine and the self adjusters were doing their job. The left rear wheel had no adjusting mechanism in it. I don't mean it wasn't working right, I mean the entire adjusting mechanism was not physically in the hub. The shoes and magnet were there and one broken spring, but that is all. This brake has never ever worked.

I had the entire hub replaced with a genuine Dexter hub and sent the invoice to my dealer. They said that Jayco would pay them and they would pay me. I don't have my check yet, but my dealer said there would not be a problem even for the mobile service labor. I had the repair guy put on the invoice that with this brake being inoperative it was safer to perform the repair on my camp site.

One last warranty item before my 3 year extended warranty takes over with the $100.00 deductible.

I do feel better that I knew something was wrong. I don't feel better that I ignored it so long. 25% of my trailer braking was not present and what I did have was 2/3 on one side. I'm just glad I am a very conservative driver and never needed to make a panic stop.

[tinlizzie23]

Thanks for sharing this with us, Ed. Goes to show that we all need to pay attention to anything that just doesn't feel right, and check it out. Sure glad you caught the problem before it became a major one.

[edatlanta]

Update 8-15-2012:

My dealer sent me an email saying that a specific named individual with Dexter Axle would be contacting me via telephone to verify where to mail the check. He hasn't called yet, but I do have a name and obviously Jayco contacted Dexter. So far so good. Now all I want to hear is the check is in the mail.

Here is a picture of the hub after it was removed from my Designer. Note the broken spring in the middle and the broken adjuster cable. Also note there is no adjuster wheel between the shoes at the top of the picture behind the magnet. These parts were not installed during assembly by the manufacturer.

The more I think about this the more it bothers me. 25% of my trailer braking capacity was not present and 2/3 of what I did have was on the right side. Whewwwww!!!!

[Shogunles]

Originally Posted by edatlanta

My Designer will be two years old in 13 more days. It has Dexter 7,000 axles with self adjusting brakes and Nev-R-Lube bearings. I have always thought it wasn't braking "right" since new. I could never put my finger on the problem, but it just didn't feel right and I have towed a lot of trailers of all types for a lot of years.

The park I am hosting in was evacuated a few weeks back due to tropical storm Debby and towing in windy conditions with wet roads I really felt the problem, but again didn't know what was wrong. Last week there was a well respected mobile repair guy here in the park and I asked him to take a peek a my brakes. Three of them were fine and the self adjusters were doing their job. The left rear wheel had no adjusting mechanism in it. I don't mean it wasn't working right, I mean the entire adjusting mechanism was not physically in the hub. The shoes and magnet were there and one broken spring, but that is all. This brake has never ever worked.

I had the entire hub replaced with a genuine Dexter hub and sent the invoice to my dealer. They said that Jayco would pay them and they would pay me. I don't have my check yet, but my dealer said there would not be a problem even for the mobile service labor. I had the repair guy put on the invoice that with this brake being inoperative it was safer to perform the repair on my camp site.

One last warranty item before my 3 year extended warranty takes over with the $100.00 deductible.

I do feel better that I knew something was wrong. I don't feel better that I ignored it so long. 25% of my trailer braking was not present and what I did have was 2/3 on one side. I'm just glad I am a very conservative driver and never needed to make a panic stop.

I know this tread is old. However I am a new member with the same issue. I have the same axles as you. And I have a 2012 Jay Flight BHS i bought last year. I have owned other TT in the past. So typically I remove each tire, hub and drum to inspect the bearings and brakes. However, this year, I was pressed for time, and the weather was not cooperating either. So I just decided to pack the bearings.

The last wheel I did, the greese was not pushing out. I though I had a problem with my greese gun as I did before. So I tried again, and no greese. I peeked bhind the wheel, and noticed greese coming from the drum. So I removed everything to see that the rear right wheel brake had a broken spring holding the pads together on the bottom. I have less than 3,000 miles on it.

So naturally, I went out and bought a brake assembly from a local trailer shop and installed it myself. Normally I would have taken it to the dealer to see if it could be fixed under warranty. However, I am leaving for a trip to Disney from NY tomorow. So it was not an option.

Install went well besides the snow we were having. It looked as if the spring had been broken for a while because it was weared down on one side. And the braking was off. So I am considering sending the receipt to Jayco to see if they will cover it. I am skeptical because I did the work myself. Just wanted to tell you that you are not alone with this issue we have had.

[kiwaon]

My 2012 Jayco 305 RLS Fifth Wheel also had brake problems, it also was a Dexter axle.

Shortly after I brought it home while adjusting my brake controller before a trip I noticed one wheel was not dragging on the gravel when I applied the brake to maximum. After having a look I discovered both wires to the brake magnet were connected to the same terminal on the trailer wiring (ground side). Didn't want to drive the 75 Km to the dealer so I fixed it myself.

cheers

[edatlanta]

I think the message here for all of us is to keep a better watch on our brakes and if something doesn't feel right, as in my case, check it out. Don't ignore it like I did. In my case the adjusting mechanism simply was never installed at all. It didn't break in service, it was not manufactured correctly to start with.

As a followup to my original post, I received a check from Dexter for the entire amount of my repair by the remote service company. They didn't hesitate to reimburse me at all. No question. I did take pictures of the defective hub assembly which they did want. They did not want the old hub returned, but I did keep it until I had the check.

[Shogunles]

I just assumed that brakes were a wearable item and would not be covered. For that reason I did not take pictures. I suppose I am used to dealing with car dealers that look for any reason to get out of paying. My mistake. It was only $70 and my time. So it wan't a big deal. If I needed a new drum, than I would have gone another way. I was more concerned about getting the trailer fixed and ready to go than the warranty at that point. We have been planning this trip for over 8 months. Plus my 2 daughters would have been very disappointed if we did not go. Partly my fault because I have been building this trip up in their minds for the past 2 months. I think I am more excited than them! It is fixed now and I hope it stays that way.

[Raugustin]

Hi Ed,

I understand that the ultimate responsibility falls on our shoulders and you should be cognizant of the operation of the trailer, but IMHO to it goes a little farther than this... the dealer is supposed to perform a PDI, which is what you paid him to do. That means making sure the trailers brakes actually work. I would ask the dealer to credit you back for something they obviously did not do.

Ron

Originally Posted by edatlanta

I think the message here for all of us is to keep a better watch on our brakes and if something doesn't feel right, as in my case, check it out. Don't ignore it like I did. In my case the adjusting mechanism simply was never installed at all. It didn't break in service, it was not manufactured correctly to start with.

As a followup to my original post, I received a check from Dexter for the entire amount of my repair by the remote service company. They didn't hesitate to reimburse me at all. No question. I did take pictures of the defective hub assembly which they did want. They did not want the old hub returned, but I did keep it until I had the check.

[edatlanta]

This is a two part response. Brake wear and tear isn't covered. My case was that one brake didn't work at all because internal parts were missing. That is the reason warranty covered it.

PDI was done and I was present when the brake part was done. The brakes worked, but in order to find one wheel that wasn't working would require the trailer be jacked up. I don't know any PDI that would include that. I should have caught that fact that the braking wasn't symmetrical. I won't ignore my gut feeling the next time.

[Raugustin]

Hi Ed,

The dealers mechanic would have signed off on the PDI, it's not up to the customer to find issues, it's the responsibility of the dealer to make sure the trailer leaves the lot in a safe condition. That's what you paid for in the PDI.....I would go back to the dealer with your issue!

Originally Posted by edatlanta

This is a two part response. Brake wear and tear isn't covered. My case was that one brake didn't work at all because internal parts were missing. That is the reason warranty covered it.

PDI was done and I was present when the brake part was done. The brakes worked, but in order to find one wheel that wasn't working would require the trailer be jacked up. I don't know any PDI that would include that. I should have caught that fact that the braking wasn't symmetrical. I won't ignore my gut feeling the next time.