Dexter axles

Hey gang, I have a question. pretty sure I know the answer ?, but wanted to get some thoughts on this. I got around to repacking my bearings on my 1992 Fleetwood wilderness, as well as wanting to inspect the electric brake shoes. I pulled one hub down, had grease, but looked like the rear ( inside grease seal ) was not a very tight seal on the flange, but close !. anyway, I was thinking of replacing the whole electric brake assy with a complete set up. my problem : I noticed the electric brake backing plate does not bolt to the axle ( and this is a drop axle, just goes up, instead of down ?..not sure on this ? ), soooooo..from what I seen, I am facing either replacing both axles with new ?, or, just stuck with replacing brake shoes ?, what are your thoughts ?. I see no way of removing the assy, as it's made onto the axle, and can not be unbolted. guessing this is just that old, and they made them this way back in the early 90's ?. my gut tells me, if I want the new style, I have to replace both axles with new !. pretty sure these are 2,200 lb axles, as the gross trailer weight is 4000lbs.

I've not heard of or seen that sort of brake assembly. Is there any identifier on the axle so you can tell the model?

Why replace it? I realize the whole assembly isn't real expensive, but there isn't much to go wrong with them either. If the magnets work and the cam forces the shoe to the drum, what more can you expect?

Some older axles were built that way.  Mobile home brakes are still not replaceable because of limited use.  The problem you have is that brake shoes and magnets might be very expensive and hard to find if replacement is needed.  If possible, just clean it up, grease the bearings and replace the seal.  Give eTrailer a call if parts are needed.

Gary RVer Emeritus said:

I've not heard of or seen that sort of brake assembly. Is there any identifier on the axle so you can tell the model?

Why replace it? I realize the whole assembly isn't real expensive, but there isn't much to go wrong with them either. If the magnets work and the cam forces the shoe to the drum, what more can you expect?

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I seen dexter on the brake drum, gonna guess its a dexter axle ?. I do need to replace the magnets, the one I pulled down, it was ate up on one side, like it wasn't grabbing even ?, which would explain it, from looking at the way the spring was installed by someone that did not know what they were doing. cheaper to replace the magnets than the whole axle, only reason I asked this on this post, was because from what I've watched and read, its cheaper just to replace the whole electric backing plate than do each part by part. I took pics on my smart phone, but I've learned those pics don't like uploading on here, I should have taken them with my digital camera. I still have plenty of work to do to the axles. I will take some pics, and post them later on. with it being a 1992 trailer, this is prob why you have not seen these types of axles ?, they are old. I did see on youtube, some older alxes don't have the electric brake mounting bolt flange already welded onto the axle, soo..guess that's what I got..go figure !..lol.

lynnmor said:

Some older axles were built that way.  Mobile home brakes are still not replaceable because of limited use.  The problem you have is that brake shoes and magnets might be very expensive and hard to find if replacement is needed.  If possible, just clean it up, grease the bearings and replace the seal.  Give eTrailer a call if parts are needed.

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thanks . I have a local rv dealership that I can get the magnets from, about 40 bucks for a magnet kit, magnet,spring, and clip. guess i'll go that route, and repack the bearings with new seals, seems to be the best route for now.

It's not phone vs camera photos. There are size limits on uploads here, so you may need to scale down the images somewhat. Some phones/cameras have options for file size, e.g. by specifying a target such as email, or you can use a image tool to reduce the size before uploading. Dozens of such tools are available for phones or PCs.

well, I decided to just go with two new axles. called around local, got what seems to be a good price on two 3500lb straight axles, electric brakes, with 10in drums. a little over 400 bucks, but the price I want to pay for safety is priceless !. I've already been in one wreck from a drunk driver pulling a old 29ft nomad many moons ago, 7k damage to my truck, camper was a mess, driver had no drivers license, no insurance, was not even her car !. I think at this point, seeing how I've put this much time and cash into fixing my gal up ?, I may as well do it right !. I know there is going to be some of you that would not have done this ?, but me ?, well..i just don't like leaving things half azz so to speak ?..lol. it was in my best judgement to go with new axles.

come find out, after removing my front axle today, while doing this, is when I noticed every one of my shackles were in very bad shape !. every bolt hole was wallowed out !!!, holy crap, how did this camper even get down the road when I pulled It from texas to Arkansas back then when I bought it ?..lol. by looking at all these parts ?, I am 100% sure it was over loaded at one time or another ?!!. leaf springs were flat as could be, bowed up in the middle from riding on the axles, from being over loaded would be my guess. so, not only am I buying two new axles ?, but I have to replace the leaf springs, shackles, and equalizers as well, but hey..the u-bolts and leaf spring plates are still good !!..lol. oh, and the hangers are in good shape, glad I don't have to cut those off, and replace them as well !..lol.

Hate to tell you this, but what you have is a widespread problem.  I keep my distance from any and all trailers on the road.

Now add this to your list of things to buy:
A wet bolt kit with heavy duty shackles to replace the worthless nylon bushings.
A complete set of u-bolts, they should be only used once due to the stretch.

Sad to say that overloaded trailers are all too common, and many owners don't have a clue about either the weight or the mechanical damage that usually results.  It's also a fact that most RV trailers are equipped with the very minimum size axles and tires needed for its rated load, so typically the components are stressed to their max even n everyday use.

Since you are going to replace the running gear anyway, I suggest stepping up in size/weight rating. But then you probably need new tires too...

Gary RVer Emeritus said:

Sad to say that overloaded trailers are all too common, and many owners don't have a clue about either the weight or the mechanical damage that usually results.  It's also a fact that most RV trailers are equipped with the very minimum size axles and tires needed for its rated load, so typically the components are stressed to their max even n everyday use.

Since you are going to replace the running gear anyway, I suggest stepping up in size/weight rating. But then you probably need new tires too...

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already covered sir . putting new 3500lb axles,electric brakes, 1750 leaf springs, new shackles, new equalizers . the bolts and hangers are in great shape, everything else was trashed. also bought 5 brand new 8-ply tires, radial at that, not sure how they will ride ?..not like I will be in it with it going down the road !?!..lol. i'm almost 100% sure the running gear I am putting on it will be a large improvement from what I had ?, sure beats having a unsafe trailer going down the road .

lynnmor said:

Hate to tell you this, but what you have is a widespread problem.  I keep my distance from any and all trailers on the road.

Now add this to your list of things to buy:
A wet bolt kit with heavy duty shackles to replace the worthless nylon bushings.
A complete set of u-bolts, they should be only used once due to the stretch.

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I looked at those wet bolts, and I just did not have the extra cash to fork out for them, they did look great though !. not sure why they stick nylon bushings in a place where steel rubs ?. as for the u-bolts ?, mine looked great, rusty ?, but other than this, they are in great shape, I will re-use them. everything else was bought new.

just an update: I finally got my axles installed yesterday, took me all day to do it, but it is done !. I ran into a snag when time came to hook the shackles up ?, seems the new shackles are only 3/16 thick ?, were the old shackles were a full 1/4 thick. I am not sure what is up with this ?, but I am sure I can blame them for being from china !..lol. the problem I had: after the shackles were installed with the shoulder bolts, I was left with about a little over 1/16 gap on one end of the shackles ? after looking it over, I knew this would allow the springs to sway in and out. not going to work. everywhere I looked, all new shackles were 3/16 thick !. soooo, I had to shim the shackles, no way around this. I decided to use grade 8 washers, worked great !. installed my new tires on these straight axles, I got about 3 inches in lift, worked out great, now my trailer is not low to the ground. before I installed my tires, I then hooked my on board battery up, pulled the break-away switch, ran around to each hub to check to make sure they were working ?, yep !, all 4 hubs were locked !!. put the break-away switch back in, hubs released, sweet !. then mounted the tires. I will post a few pic's of this here soon .

here is a few pics of my install . notice the height difference after and before . pretty happy how it turned out . tires are 8-ply.

You are correct about the Chinese steel.  The  shackles are made from 5mm cheap steel.  I made my own from quality heat treated alloy steel.  To make matters worse, the holes are punched in rather than bored giving only a small area to engage the knurls on the bolts.  When a hole is punched, only a small portion of the hole is the correct size and the rest tapers to a much larger diameter.  As soon as there is any movement at the knurled area the shackle begins to fail. 

I sure wish that you would have installed the heavy duty wet bolt kit.  It has shackles more than twice as thick with bored holes.

lynnmor said:

You are correct about the Chinese steel.  The  shackles are made from 5mm cheap steel.  I made my own from quality heat treated alloy steel.  To make matters worse, the holes are punched in rather than bored giving only a small area to engage the knurls on the bolts.  When a hole is punched, only a small portion of the hole is the correct size and the rest tapers to a much larger diameter.  As soon as there is any movement at the knurled area the shackle begins to fail. 

I sure wish that you would have installed the heavy duty wet bolt kit.  It has shackles more than twice as thick with bored holes.

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thanks for the tip !. if I was going to use this camper on a regular basis ?, then I would have gone the wet bolt route ?, but seeing how I won't be using it that much ? ( yet ! ), then I will see how this pans out for now ?. I will deff keep an eye out on these crappy shackles !. i'd almost bet these are a common item everywhere these days ?, too bad we can't buy good products anymore. i'd almost bet the grade 8 washers are better off than the shackles ?!..lol.