Brakes Question - mkay be stupid but...

[Morin]

How can I tell for sure that I have electric brakes.  I have a 1989 PUP (Coleman Chesapeake).  I look behind the tire and there is a casing with a wire that goes into it from the main electrical feed.  

I can not see a "drum" but It may be inside that round casing.  Does this sound right or not?

I can add oictures if needed.  My thoughts are that I do have the electrical brakes.  Looking at the manual the BLUE wire is for brakes - I follow the blue wire and it spilts off to a blakc wire that goes right into the tireaxle case described above.

[flyfisherman]

How can I tell for sure that I have electric brakes.  I have a 1989 PUP (Coleman Chesapeake).  I look behind the tire and there is a casing with a wire that goes into it from the main electrical feed.  

I can not see a "drum" but It may be inside that round casing.  Does this sound right or not?

I can add oictures if needed.  My thoughts are that I do have the electrical brakes.  Looking at the manual the BLUE wire is for brakes - I follow the blue wire and it spilts off to a blakc wire that goes right into the tireaxle case described above.

A picture would confirm for sure, but based on your post I'm inclined to think that round casing could very well be the brake drum.



Fly

[wavery]

I would say that it surely had electric brakes at one time.

You really should take the wheel off, remove the drum and see if there are any brakes left (as in worn out) and that the magnets are still working. There is also the possibility that the previous owner removed the drums, rather than replace the brakes that may have been worn out or defective.

If the previous owner was pulling that PU with a 3/4 ton pick-up, he may have felt that it wasn't worth overhauling the brake system.

Posting pictures will only help if you do it with the wheel and brake drum off. It is imposible to tell you if you have brakes with the drum on. To do so, would be careless on our part IMO. Even with the pictre we can't tell you if they are working or not.

If you have an emergency brake switch on the tongue of the trailer, you can pull that switch cable and try to move the trailer with the TV. That will confirm if the brakes are working. You may even find that one wheel skids and the other doesn't. However, I would still highly recommend a tear down and inspection.

Also, as long as you have the wheel and drum off, you might as well service the wheel bearings on that baby. :sombraro:

Do you have a Brake Controller" inside you TV? It may look something like one of these:
http://search.ebay.com/brake-controller_W0QQfromZR40QQfrtsZ0

[Morin]

WaveryFly,

thanks for the post.  i knowt is stupid to even ask but i am really unsure and very new at this.  my father in law knows a lot so redoing the brakes will not be a "oh this kids doesn't know what he's doing" garage job.

Two images - one shows the wires that go into that casing the other is simply of the casing itself from underneath.

[AustinBoston]

Both of those photos clearly show a brake drum.  

There still needs to be a functional mechanism inside the drums for the brakes to work.  That is what Wayne is talking about when he says it's a good idea to pul them off and inspect the magnets.

The electricity in electric brakes do not activate the brakes directly - there isn't enough current to do that.  What they do is activate an electromagnet (a.k.a magnet) that gets dragged along the inside face of the brake drum.  That magnet moves an armature that forces the shoes out against the drum.  By doing so, it uses trailer momentum to apply the trailer brakes.

As a result of the magnet rubbing on the face of the drum, the it can wear.  If it wears enough, it can expose the magnet's internal wires and short out, reducing it's effectiveness.

All-in-all, it's a great mechanism for something that was invented more than a half century ago.

Austin

[Morin]

Thanks all - I really do appreciate it....

[Morin]

OK - one more dummy question but I promise it will not be the last.

Do these electric brakes "automatically" work when connected to my tow hitch elec connection?

I have heard a lot of talk about the brake controlllers but the brakes do work without one correct?

The controller only adds to the overall braking experience (in a positive way).  Am I misunderstanding this?

I am going to check my brakes out for wear and tear as suggested (which makes complete sense).  As I am doing this I will most likely get that Prodigy Brake controller that is raved about but in the mean time electric brakes without a brake controller are in fact responding as they should right?  Now I know I have to check my brakes but lets assume the the brakes are in great shape.  I am learning here so I wanna be sure I understand.

[wavery]

OK - one more dummy question but I promise it will not be the last.

Do these electric brakes "automatically" work when connected to my tow hitch elec connection?

I have heard a lot of talk about the brake controlllers but the brakes do work without one correct?
The controller only adds to the overall braking experience (in a positive way).  Am I misunderstanding this?

I am going to check my brakes out for wear and tear as suggested (which makes complete sense).  As I am doing this I will most likely get that Prodigy Brake controller that is raved about but in the mean time electric brakes without a brake controller are in fact responding as they should right?  Now I know I have to check my brakes but lets assume the the brakes are in great shape.  I am learning here so I wanna be sure I understand.

Yes, you are absolutely correct......you ARE misunderstanding this. :p

You MUST have a brake controller in order to make the brakes work but first I would want to be sure that the brakes are functional to start with.

Most here (including myself) highly recommend the Prodigy brake controller like this one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/TEKONSHA-90185-PRODIGY-TRAILER-BRAKE-CONTROLLER-NIB_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33570QQihZ009QQitemZ190100295612QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

There are cheaper brake controllers out there but I wouldn't waste my $ on one....You will most likely end up throwing it away and buying a Prodigy sooner or later. Might as well start out with one and not waste your time and $.

BTW......there are NO stupid questions here. The only stupid questions that you have are the ones that you DON'T ask. If you are thinking about something, that means that a dozen others are as well. A lot of people are shy about asking questions but what they don't realize is that they are helping others when they do.

[Morin]

I laughed when I read the you ARE misunderstanding...  that made me chuckle.. in a good way.

Great - I will definately have them looked at (with my father in law) and then have the controller installed by UHAUL or someone.  I would rather have a good one so I don't end up on the headlines of some news station.

I definately don't want the added stress on my tahoes brakes either.  This is a great resource and I appreciate the feedback!

[AustinBoston]

Great - I will definately have them looked at (with my father in law) and then have the controller installed by UHAUL or someone.  I would rather have a good one so I don't end up on the headlines of some news station.

I've tried a few.  I will not settle for less than a Prodigy by Tekonsha.  If the brake controller says "Draw-Tite" then you need to walk away.  They make good hitches, but most of their bake controllers are timer-based, something you will never be happy with.

Austin

[bmbkamp]

Morin,

Go to this website http://www.brakecontroller.com/prodigyvideo.htm
and watch all the videos.  They gave me a great understanding of what the brake controller does.
 
Bob

[Morin]

Morin,

Go to this website http://www.brakecontroller.com/prodigyvideo.htm
and watch all the videos.  They gave me a great understanding of what the brake controller does.
 
Bob

Great thanks a lot folks!