With things being as tight as they are I've been looking into whatever I can find to turn a dollar. After hearing that there was a market in the area for guys going around doing hauling stuff that people had bought and had no way to move themselves, not to mention it seems every time I needed a trailer I could never find one to borrow, I decided to drag an old trailer out of the weeds that was given to me several years ago. It was older 14' tilt top car trailer (with the runners on each side) that had been stiffened so it didn't tilt, extended to 16 feet, and floored. The best thing was that it had dual 6000 lb axels each with brakes. The guy that gave it to me had lost the hub and broken a spring messing up maybe an inch of the spindle on one axel. Instead of repairing it he decided to buy another trailer, something he had been planning for awhile anyway. Soooo,given that it was a farely well built trailer and having seen what he put on it I knew it could handle anything I wanted to haul with it weight wise and that with some TLC it could be a nice trailer again.
First thing was to make sure the spindle was repairable and that went fairely quick. Next project get at least one set of brakes working. I figured one set with 12,000 lbs stopping power would be plenty and just put bare hubs on the other axel. Basically I thought I could take the four sets and make two as there were good an dbad parts on each, but boy was I wrong.......Turned out three of four magnets were bad and that killed the deal right there. Then discoverd that they were "old style" high amp draw types anyway vs the new low amp models so they wouldn't have worked properly with a new controler anyway. Then I find out that regardless of type there are no parts available for this brake style as it is a Hayes, from back in the 70's or early 80's we think. One guy told me he had been in the business for nearly 30 years and had never even seen the style brake I had, and no one I talked to could even find it in any of the books they had.....So, no problem, just replace the whole assembly with a new right????? WRONG.....Turns out the backing plates on these brakes are spaced in nearly 3/4 inches further than the new ones which would make the brake shoes hit the front face of the hub before the bearings even reached their seats. To make matters worse with drop spindles there is no way I can change the mounting plate to make the new ones work, not to mention the new ones mount with 3/8 bolts and these have 1/2 mounting holes.
Since I can't afford two new axels I decided to get creative and bought two used assemblies for less than the cost of the replacement actuating levers I am now modifying the lever in my brake assembly to accept the new style magnets. Got one done tonight and hopefully will get the other tomorrow.
What's so funny about this whole mess is that just about every electric trailer brake design is identical to the others. Sure you change the shape of the lever or magnet or whatever to get around someone elses patent but ultimately they are all the same. In this case the way mine is built is much heavier than anything available today including ones rated with another 1000 lbs of stopping power. Too I found out that there are several of the Dexter brakes that have ratings several thousand pounds apart that are all identical except for the friction material. in other words jusrt because a brake is rated as x amount of stopping power it doesn't mean it's actually biuld any better than the smaller ones right below it on the rating scale.
I guess in the end it just really pi$$es me off that there are so many engineers out there nowdays, and throughout the years for that matter, that don't seem to do anything but take a proven design and make arbitrary changes to it simply to have something to do. Seriously even though the magnets may have changed the arc of the actuator lever hasn't, the way the brake operates hasn't, etc, etc. Basically none of the operating parameters or functions have changed so why change the way the thing is designed for no reason when what is there already works just fine. I mean unlike a car that is constantly undergoing style changes a trailer, is a trailer, is a trailer, be it 2 years old or 40 years old. In other words it's not like a trailer is going to suddenly go out of style and be scrapped for no good reason, it's something people tend to hold onto or at least sell until it is worked to the point that scrapping is the only option.....But then again with most of us guys on here a weld here and there and nothing is junk anymore, it just has a fresh coat of paint and a new life................... OK, I could rant on about the three days wasted looking for nonexistant parts in an attempt to save $800 to $1000 I don't have replacing complete axel assemblies, as stuff like this really pi$$es me off, especially when it costs me money I don't really have to fix some engineers idea of fixing something that wasn't broke to begin with......... OK I'll get off my stump now.......
First thing was to make sure the spindle was repairable and that went fairely quick. Next project get at least one set of brakes working. I figured one set with 12,000 lbs stopping power would be plenty and just put bare hubs on the other axel. Basically I thought I could take the four sets and make two as there were good an dbad parts on each, but boy was I wrong.......Turned out three of four magnets were bad and that killed the deal right there. Then discoverd that they were "old style" high amp draw types anyway vs the new low amp models so they wouldn't have worked properly with a new controler anyway. Then I find out that regardless of type there are no parts available for this brake style as it is a Hayes, from back in the 70's or early 80's we think. One guy told me he had been in the business for nearly 30 years and had never even seen the style brake I had, and no one I talked to could even find it in any of the books they had.....So, no problem, just replace the whole assembly with a new right????? WRONG.....Turns out the backing plates on these brakes are spaced in nearly 3/4 inches further than the new ones which would make the brake shoes hit the front face of the hub before the bearings even reached their seats. To make matters worse with drop spindles there is no way I can change the mounting plate to make the new ones work, not to mention the new ones mount with 3/8 bolts and these have 1/2 mounting holes.
Since I can't afford two new axels I decided to get creative and bought two used assemblies for less than the cost of the replacement actuating levers I am now modifying the lever in my brake assembly to accept the new style magnets. Got one done tonight and hopefully will get the other tomorrow.
What's so funny about this whole mess is that just about every electric trailer brake design is identical to the others. Sure you change the shape of the lever or magnet or whatever to get around someone elses patent but ultimately they are all the same. In this case the way mine is built is much heavier than anything available today including ones rated with another 1000 lbs of stopping power. Too I found out that there are several of the Dexter brakes that have ratings several thousand pounds apart that are all identical except for the friction material. in other words jusrt because a brake is rated as x amount of stopping power it doesn't mean it's actually biuld any better than the smaller ones right below it on the rating scale.
I guess in the end it just really pi$$es me off that there are so many engineers out there nowdays, and throughout the years for that matter, that don't seem to do anything but take a proven design and make arbitrary changes to it simply to have something to do. Seriously even though the magnets may have changed the arc of the actuator lever hasn't, the way the brake operates hasn't, etc, etc. Basically none of the operating parameters or functions have changed so why change the way the thing is designed for no reason when what is there already works just fine. I mean unlike a car that is constantly undergoing style changes a trailer, is a trailer, is a trailer, be it 2 years old or 40 years old. In other words it's not like a trailer is going to suddenly go out of style and be scrapped for no good reason, it's something people tend to hold onto or at least sell until it is worked to the point that scrapping is the only option.....But then again with most of us guys on here a weld here and there and nothing is junk anymore, it just has a fresh coat of paint and a new life................... OK, I could rant on about the three days wasted looking for nonexistant parts in an attempt to save $800 to $1000 I don't have replacing complete axel assemblies, as stuff like this really pi$$es me off, especially when it costs me money I don't really have to fix some engineers idea of fixing something that wasn't broke to begin with......... OK I'll get off my stump now.......
