Electric trailer brake adjustments

[BigRed118]

I have an 04' Charmac enclosed Snow Shuttle. I would think that with the tires off of the ground that the tires should spin freely. They do not. This trailer has electic drum brakes. Is there an adjustment that could be made or are these self adjusting? If they can be adjusted, how do you do this?

 

[Elevation]

I have never seen a self adjusting feature on electric brakes. as the brakes are used they should need to be tightened-not backed off. It is normal for them to drag a little. If you back them off you may not like how they work. If the brakes don't get hot I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[frock]

I have an 04' Charmac enclosed Snow Shuttle. I would think that with the tires off of the ground that the tires should spin freely. They do not. This trailer has electic drum brakes. Is there an adjustment that could be made or are these self adjusting? If they can be adjusted, how do you do this?

To adjust these brakes: raise the tire off the ground so you can spin it. Go in under the trailer on the back side of the wheel hub and there should be a small rubber plug on the back side of the hub, remove this plug. Use a flashlight to look inside the hole and there will be a round piece right there that has a knurled edge on it. Use a flat screwdriver against the knurled edge to turn this round piece. Pry either up or down with the screwdriver and thus turning the round piece tightens or loosens the brake pads by forcing them out or in against the drum. I adjust mine on my 4 place enclosed so they will freewheel by hand with a very slight drag that you can hear when spinning the tire. I've run them like this for about 5 years on the same set of bearings and brakes with no problems. Some brakes have a lock on them that you have to push to be able to turn the knurled round piece, this prevents brakes from backing off. Mine simply has a spring that rides against the round piece and prevents it from backing off by the use of friction. If you can't back yours off, use a small thin long flat screwdriver and insert it into the same hole. It's gonna be crowded in the opening, but it can be done. Push the small flat screwdriver in under the round piece against a small flat piece of metal that is located behind the round piece. This flat piece is a lock that is held against the knurled piece by a spring. You don't have to move it more than about a 1/8th inch to unlock the knurled piece, you will feel the spring tension as you push the flat piece. Now turn the knurled piece with the other screwdriver till you are happy with the amount of freewheel. Hope this helps ya out BigRed.

Cheers;
Shane

 

[BigRed118]

Frock,

Thanks for the info. I will give it a try.