Toy Hauler trailer brakes/bearings questions....

[Dirtcrasher]

Something I've never had to deal with but I'm learning.

Right off the bat I can rebuild these POS campers/haulers etc. better than OEM :lol:

Anyhow, I have 10" brakes. I need 2 right sets of shoes and 2 left sets. Also a left electromagnet....

I briefly looked today and the ones I saw had 2 top springs. Not the longer single spring I have now, (probably doesn't matter); 10" should be 10"?

Before I EBAY/AMAZON etc. buy these, I imagine they are all the same if they're 10"??

And I don't want junk, I want good shoes rather than sub-par brakes. I don't want to get trapped into that.

The roofing material will be here next week so I'm pre planning.

I want to change all 4 wheel bearings as well while I'm it at - suggestions??. It's still in a hundred pieces but I'm getting there.

2007 Weekend Warrior Superlite that closed during the 2008 crash and restructured. I don't go to dealers but safety is job ONE!!

I know I can just take those off and measure/replace them with a good brand; I lost 1 coming home from Air MX last October.

I have a couple hundred hours into it as is. I'll do a whole rebuild thread at some point......

I imagine others have a website they use for this? and I appreciate any help.

Thank you,
Steve
DC

[sledcrazyinCT]

http://www.trailerpartsdepot.com/

Try this company, good parts (dexter) and good pricing, plus they are located @ 88 Main St, Oxford, MA 01540 They have a parts counter but most business is over the net. they seem surprised if you walk off the street

Look at how much $$ for 'loaded' bolt on backing plates - that way you get it all assembled and with new magnets pretty affordable IMO

[RoscoW]

https://www.etrailer.com

I agree, might be a couple bucks cheaper to "part" it back together but with the cost of new loaded backers in the 50 dollar range it's just too easy not to. New magnets, self adjusting……just re-surface the drums on the lathe and your golden. Full bearing kits as well.

Ross..

[86T3]

I agree with the 2 posts above, go for the loaded backing plates. For 8 lug dexter axles on my flatbed they at $57 each at the local trailer place this week on sale. You can't hardly buy the shoes for that. I'd just clean and repack your bearing, most likely your camper hasn't seen many miles. If your axles don't have grease zerks on the spindles, look into "bearing buddy" caps. Any place you can get loaded backing plates should have the bearing buddies. It replaces the stock bearing cover and has a grease zero in the center so you can pump new grease in without having to repack your bearings.

[BOB MARLIN]

While your in there you might want to disassemble a couple of the leaf spring hangers/shackles/ equalizers, and check for wear. I had one come apart on me a couple months ago so I replaced them all. When I took them apart they were all ready to let loose. you can upgrade to the heavy duty set and they don't cost that much. I agree that all these trailers are built like crap, you just gota find the week spots before is bites you in the but.
Mine is a 2006 Ragen, and at that time Ragen was owned by Weekend Warrior, so I sure they used the same spring set up.

Buy the way does anyone know why all the RV manufactures use those lame screws that take the square bit to get them out?. They all use them and they suck.

[Dirtcrasher]

I agree with the 2 posts above, go for the loaded backing plates. For 8 lug dexter axles on my flatbed they at $57 each at the local trailer place this week on sale. You can't hardly buy the shoes for that. I'd just clean and repack your bearing, most likely your camper hasn't seen many miles. If your axles don't have grease zerks on the spindles, look into "bearing buddy" caps. Any place you can get loaded backing plates should have the bearing buddies. It replaces the stock bearing cover and has a grease zero in the center so you can pump new grease in without having to repack your bearings.

Great suggestions.

And mine is a 5lug not an 8 so if yours were 57$, then I'll be right around there. I said "bearing buddies" to my friend the other day, he looked puzzled, but I knew what they were, lol.


While your in there you might want to disassemble a couple of the leaf spring hangers/shackles/ equalizers, and check for wear. I had one come apart on me a couple months ago so I replaced them all. When I took them apart they were all ready to let loose. you can upgrade to the heavy duty set and they don't cost that much. I agree that all these trailers are built like crap, you just gota find the week spots before is bites you in the but.
Mine is a 2006 Ragen, and at that time Ragen was owned by Weekend Warrior, so I sure they used the same spring set up.

Buy the way does anyone know why all the RV manufactures use those lame screws that take the square bit to get them out?. They all use them and they suck.

Bob, I actually made all new hangers out of thicker steel on my mill. And 6 big rectangles to weld over the stock cheap azz leaf hangers and center equalizer. Weekend Warriors built some shoddy campers (toy haulers ) that look AA+ , even a pull out MOEN faucet.

Apparently in 2006 they had a class action lawsuit on them for bent tongues. They were only .125 thick and almost all bent. They did fix some of them with 3/16ths steel.

I replaced 8 x 8' of the front floor with PT .750 (that was a job!!) and the roof was bad from the front back about 3'. All due to no one sealing it well every year. We had like 8' of snow over a few weeks in 2015 and when I bought it he said "remember all that snow last winter??". His reason for selling it was he was incapable of any further repairs. It was 5K with that expensive tow hitch and torsion bars....

If you had seen it, you'd think the guy was on drugs, what a beautiful T.H.!!!! ; But he knew the work it would need. However, if you took a shower and slipped, you would have fallen out of the camper!!

The uprights and roof are 1 1/8th x 1 1/2. Guess why?? You can rip a 2x4 twice and get 3 8' long puppies outta that 1 2 x 4". AND, they use scraps of cut offs and finger joint them with glue. Now they are the best knot free 2x4"s 1.5 x 1.5.

I'll tell you this, I could build these so much better and still make a killing. Almost 70,000$ for these!!

I can point out every weakness and poorly built portions and correct them all. If I was in Cali, I'd open shop and "Dirty Toy Haulers" would be the best ones out there!!

I'm gonna DL tapatalk right now and see if I can get the pics on here.... I do love it to death!

EDIT - I found out the OEM tires were load rated "C" !!!!! Not a "D" or "E". One "C" blows out and the other 3 are damaged carrying that load.

[BOB MARLIN]

I hear ya. in California they actually passed some laws because of the W.W that were being produced at the time. Nothing over 40 feet can be registered here now. And I believe it was because they had a 40 foot bumper pull that would flip over the tow vehicle in the winds we have here, and the W.W "ULTRA LITES" had big holes through the frame to make them lighter and they were cracking and falling apart on the road. W.W was in trouble with a lot of lawsuits here. But in California if you catch a cold you could sue for millions.

[fabiodriven]

I went through the same process. Loaded backing plates is pretty much the only way to go. Piecing them together pretty much isn't even an option anymore. East Coast Truck and Trailer in Brockton can get anything you need and has many parts on the shelf as well as Drinkwater Trailer in Pembroke.


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[Thorpe]

Not trying to thread jack Dirtcrashers thread, but anyone here deal with the electric/disc trailer brakes? Kinda interested in them for my boat trailer....

[fabiodriven]

I was under the impression if they're disk they're usually surge brakes? Surge brakes are great for boat trailers.


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[BOB MARLIN]

Boat trailers use surge brakes. Submerging electrical brakes in water is not the best.

[Thorpe]

From what I was reading, they make a setup that uses an electronic actuator to run the hydraulic's to the calipers... So you can still have adjustable gain on your controller when towing. I have no experience with them, but seemed like a neat idea... But don't yet know of anyone using them either. My boat is 18' fiberglass, and I am certain it doesn't bother my Ram, but since when would 3ww guys ever over build or over engineer something?!

https://www.etrailer.com/faq-Adding-Electric-Over-Hydraulic-Disc-Brakes.aspx

[BOB MARLIN]

If it was some kind of e-hydraulic hy-brid that would be nice for backing up, especially up hill. Surge brakes tend to activate when going backwards uphill.

[86T3]

Electric over hydraulic brakes. My buddy just picked up his new trailer with these. It has an electric pump on the trailer that engages when you hit the brakes. You need a 12v power wire in your trailer plug and an electric over hydraulic specific brake controller to run it. He just picked it up A couple days ago so he doesn't have much time on it but he said the brakes engage much smoother than his old one. This is a 35' gooseneck with dual wheels, not sure if they offer this system on smaller trailers

[fabiodriven]

If it was some kind of e-hydraulic hy-brid that would be nice for backing up, especially up hill. Surge brakes tend to activate when going backwards uphill.

I never even thought about that. There must be a lockout pin or something for reversing?

[Thorpe]

I have an 18`er with an I/O but it`s a single axle trailer with no brakes cause it`s under 3k lbs. ......salt water tears brakes up !

Sounds about the same as my boat... Salt water isn't an issue here in MN, but you could be boating at noon, and towing home in the snow....! Jk Guess I was mostly just thinking about trailer brakes after totaling my 2012 Ram while towing, might not be a bad idea...

[86T3]

I never even thought about that. There must be a lockout pin or something for reversing?

I think I remember Ben telling me that there is an electrical lockout on his boat trailer that's triggered when your back up lights come on

[Dirtcrasher]

On another note, at 1PM today, I finally have an entire new front section finish framed, all new brass PEX plumbing, (no plastic) and the roof structure is finished as well.

My 8'6" x 25' of roofing just showed up yesterday so no more tarp in a couple days!!

Floor was done last winter and I'm left with the backing plates and the gussets I made to get welded on.

This undertaking is as huge as the rebuild of the 3-53 Dynahoe Detroit diesel backhoe I did 10 years ago; Neither of which I knew anything about!!

My father tried to help but he's such a hack that I fired him a month ago :lol:

So, I'm pretty stoked!!!!