Alternate title: Why adjust your trailer brakes.

We were getting ready Saturday to leave Sunday for a 4 day trip. Got everything ready, and decided at 9:00 at night maybe I should adjust my brakes for the first time ever on our 2007 Keystone Cougar fifth wheel. It has had about 10,000 miles on it, most of which has been mountain roads, so I read the manual, and decided to go ahead.

All was fine till I got to the rear wheel on the left side, couldn't find the star wheel with my adjusting tool. Finally grabbed a flashlight, looking through the liitle adjuster slot, and found the adjuster wasn't there? Thought maybe I popped it off or something while digging around for it, so 10:00 with a flashlight in my teeth and traffic driving by on our fairly busy side street, I pull the hub to find only a pair of brake shoes hanging, with the magnet still attached. No sign of the adjuster, or any return springs. From the look of the drum, it obviously never had been functional.

So I put it back together thinking if it lasted this long, it would be OK. (and it was, we got back Thursday)

Called the dealer today, who doesn't seem interested in fixing it under warranty. They sent me to Keystone to plead my case, but they are closed until Monday.

Moral of the story, don't assume your brakes are functional. Keep your brakes adjusted.

 

That is a poor dealer, he should get you in take pictures of the brakes and drum will prove it wasn't assembled. Then they could get policy from the manufacturer, if they valve as a customer they should call Keystone not you.

 

with al-ko it seems that if it looks like an axle it passes quality control. they leave alot to be desired.

 

Ya I thought it was fairly cheap of the dealer not to help out. Can't be more than $30 worth of components. Even if they gave me the stuff to fix it myself I would be happy (in fact I would prefer I did it myself, then I know it'll be right).

It's not like it'll break the bank if I have to buy the components myself, but it is the point I shouldn't have to fix it. Obviously checking the brakes isn't part of the dealer's pre-delivery inspection.

Think I may phone up my salesman and tell him I will go elsewhere to buy our next trailer (we are getting another one next spring) and see what kind of response that gets.

 

I don't know if I would blaim Al-Ko for this. It sounds more of an issue with the dealer not inspecting the previously owned product they are selling.

 

It would seem that if you ar getting your bearings lubed annually, the brakes should be checked as well. There is nothing more important on trailer maintenance that this.
This should have ben discovered within the 12 month service of the trailer, by whoever serviced it.

 

We bought the trailer new. Is it up to the dealer to check/adjust the brakes before they release it? I would think so, but I doubt that ever happens.

Personally I think it is a primarily an issue with AL-KO. It left the factory incomplete, so it was obviously NEVER inspected there. Sure the dealer should have some responsibility too, but AL-KO released an incomplete product.

My axles have the "ultra lube" or whatever its called, so you don't need to pull apart the hub to grease the bearings. Yes in a perfect world I should have adjusted the brakes before now, but they were working fine so I didn't really think one wheel was missing most all the components. I do all my own maintenance as I am a licensed mechanic. Not going to pay someone I don't trust to do work I can do myself.

Bottom line is no one wants to fix it on thier dime, even though it should not be up to me to fix or pay for the repair.

 

I don't see where any of this is the dealers responsibility, to a point. For all he knows, you tried to adjust the brakes and messed it all up and is trying to make him fix it. (I'm not accusing you of this) As said before, you should have already serviced your wheel bearings twice, and if you would have done so, you would have seen it the first time. I think you would have gotten a more favorable response from your dealer when you would have serviced the first time and brought it to their attention.

Don't take this as I'm beating you up. A trailer is every drivers full responsibility the moment you pull it onto the pavement, especially the brakes. I personally don't trust anyone with stuff like that, especially if there's a chance they can mess up and someone gets hurt. I can also easily see where someone would hookup to a new trailer, and if the brakes worked, which you would have known because you would have adjusted your brake controller right away, you would naturally assume that all 4 were working.

I think you have a very rare case that might be a little difficult to prove. My 5'er has AlKo axles and there's never been an issue with them, ever. Who knows. Hopefully you can make some connections with Alko and they will send you a brake set. It's not like they are expensive. If not, there are places all over that you can pickup a complete brake assembly allready mounted on a backing plate. Disconnect your wires, remove 4 bolts, swap plates, replace bolts and wires and hub then adjust.

The good part of all of this, is you did find the issue before you got into a bind.

 

Actually it is up to the trailer manufacturer who installed the axles, wired the brakes, and tested them to make sure they work properly. Many manufacturers do not even order axles complete with hub/drums. I am not saying Al-Ko is perfect, but they get it right 99.8% of the time.

 

Yeah, that would chaffe my hide too.

In the end, though, I'd say fix it, forget about it, and go camping.

I helped a buddy grease the bearings on an easy-lube equipped trailer, but we pulled them apart. I don't really care for those easy lube things, as there is no way to see the condition of the bearings, brake components and stuff.

Plus, although the easy lube thing does get a vein of clean grease thru the bearings (and hopefully not into the brakes), they don't remove much of the old grease.

 

Its not worth your time for the $30. Fix it and save yourself the headache.