Andy135 Posted April 16, 2021 Share Posted April 16, 2021 Whoever invented trailer brakes that use spring cover plates hidden away behind the axle needs to be shot. I'd need fingers 12 inches long and half an inch diameter to fit them. Managed in the end by using axle grease to stick then to the head of a screwdriver, then the same grease holds them in place while the spring clips in from the other side of the back plate. What a faff! Still, both axles done now. Geoff and Saintly Fish 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted April 16, 2021 Author Share Posted April 16, 2021 Ha! Would you f#*king believe it?!?! The drums no longer fit over the shoes. The faces of the drums have corroded and now there's not enough space to slide them onto the hubs with fresh brake linings. Looks like I'll have to get them skimmed to fit. 🤬 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saintly Fish Posted April 16, 2021 Share Posted April 16, 2021 Just now, Andy135 said: Ha! Would you f#*king believe it?!?! The drums no longer fit over the shoes. The faces of the drums have corroded and now there's not enough space to slide them onto the hubs with fresh brake linings. Looks like I'll have to get them skimmed to fit. 🤬 Isn’t it about time you off loaded that rig? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted April 16, 2021 Author Share Posted April 16, 2021 2 minutes ago, Saintly Fish said: Isn’t it about time you off loaded that rig? Why'd you thing I'm putting brakes on the bloody thing?!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saintly Fish Posted April 16, 2021 Share Posted April 16, 2021 9 minutes ago, Andy135 said: Why'd you thing I'm putting brakes on the bloody thing?!! Get rid of both and buy a ferry 👍🏻 Andy135 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odyssey Posted April 16, 2021 Share Posted April 16, 2021 You not sold Apache yet? 😬 Sellers market apparently so hopefully she’ll go soon 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted April 16, 2021 Author Share Posted April 16, 2021 5 minutes ago, Odyssey said: You not sold Apache yet? 😬 Sellers market apparently so hopefully she’ll go soon 🙂 Not yet. Lockdown got in the way of me doing all the little jobs that add value, and in the way of any viewings to be fair. Need to get her advertised properly and get her sold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GPSguru Posted April 16, 2021 Share Posted April 16, 2021 5 hours ago, Andy135 said: Ha! Would you f#*king believe it?!?! The drums no longer fit over the shoes. The faces of the drums have corroded and now there's not enough space to slide them onto the hubs with fresh brake linings. Looks like I'll have to get them skimmed to fit. 🤬 If the drums are corroded that badly then fit new drums. Normally it is just the corrosion ridge on the outside of the shoe area. That causes the futting problem, use a half round file to remove it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted April 16, 2021 Author Share Posted April 16, 2021 Just now, GPSguru said: If the drums are corroded that badly then fit new drums. Normally it is just the corrosion ridge on the outside of the shoe area. That causes the futting problem, use a half round file to remove it. The drums on the axle I have are load bearing. They have the wheel bearing pressed into them and hold the wheels onto the axle shaft. As such they have masses of meat on them, and a pair of replacements are almost the same price as a whole new axle, complete with drums, shoes, adjusters etc. So I'll try skimming them and if that doesn't work I'll throw money at the problem by buying a new axle and be done with it. GPSguru 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suzook12 Posted April 16, 2021 Share Posted April 16, 2021 If you were closer I'd spin em up on the lathe for you GPSguru and Andy135 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted April 16, 2021 Author Share Posted April 16, 2021 5 minutes ago, suzook12 said: If you were closer I'd spin em up on the lathe for you Thanks Steve. If you were closer I'd take you up on that 👍. suzook12 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GPSguru Posted April 16, 2021 Share Posted April 16, 2021 14 minutes ago, Andy135 said: The drums on the axle I have are load bearing. They have the wheel bearing pressed into them and hold the wheels onto the axle shaft. As such they have masses of meat on them, and a pair of replacements are almost the same price as a whole new axle, complete with drums, shoes, adjusters etc. So I'll try skimming them and if that doesn't work I'll throw money at the problem by buying a new axle and be done with it. Can you run a flap wheel around the inside of the drum ? you only need to remove the high spots, and rust is easy to remove. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted April 16, 2021 Author Share Posted April 16, 2021 2 minutes ago, GPSguru said: Can you run a flap wheel around the inside of the drum ? you only need to remove the high spots, and rust is easy to remove. Yes, I've already tried that. I took my drill and a flap wheel for that exact reason. Also took a wire wheel but all it did was burnish the rust scale. It's a pain because 2 minutes on a lathe would have it cleaned up beautifully... but I don't have a lathe 🤷♂️. There's an engineering company in Newbury that I'll call on Monday and get a quote. Got to be cheaper than two replacements. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDP Posted April 16, 2021 Share Posted April 16, 2021 Hav'nt seen drums used before, here they are galvanised or bronze with disk brakes. That doesn't look like its marinised at and more like a car part. I hose my trailer and breaks down with salt-away which keeps them working and looking good. We also have the equivalent of 12 month MOT's on trailers here and the inspection is pretty thorough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suzook12 Posted April 17, 2021 Share Posted April 17, 2021 I have seen and used myself, taking the edge of with an angle grinder before now.... Just go easy and will be fine. Done the same with discs too to take the wear lip off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted April 17, 2021 Author Share Posted April 17, 2021 31 minutes ago, suzook12 said: I have seen and used myself, taking the edge of with an angle grinder before now.... Just go easy and will be fine. Done the same with discs too to take the wear lip off. It's more than the lip though, as after I flap-wheeled the drums I could get them part way on. Wonder if I can rig the drum up to a drill in a vice and use some coarse sandpaper to wear down the faces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suzook12 Posted April 17, 2021 Share Posted April 17, 2021 9 minutes ago, Andy135 said: It's more than the lip though, as after I flap-wheeled the drums I could get them part way on. Wonder if I can rig the drum up to a drill in a vice and use some coarse sandpaper to wear down the faces. I would say centrifugal force will break something........ 900rpm and that amount of weight will hurt!! If it's rust scale, go round with a hammer (inside and out), that will shift most of it, then go again with a coarse flap wheel. I usually give the shoes a clout up and down to make sure they move to centre themselves GPSguru 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted April 18, 2021 Author Share Posted April 18, 2021 I went out and got a new 60 grit flap wheel yesterday and spent 20 mins on one of the drums this morning, just to see what difference a new flap wheel would make compared with my old, tired one. You can see the results below. Top drum as they were with the old flap wheel. Bottom with the new one. Might be able to avoid the lathe after all. GPSguru and Geoff 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotch_Egg2012 Posted April 18, 2021 Share Posted April 18, 2021 If they still don't go over rather than lathe the drum why not remove some of the friction material on the shoes? Can easily be done with a hacksaw blade and you won't need to take much off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GPSguru Posted April 18, 2021 Share Posted April 18, 2021 2 hours ago, Andy135 said: I went out and got a new 60 grit flywheel yesterday and spent 20 mins on one of the drums this morning, just to see what difference a new flap wheel would make compared with my old, tired one. You can see the results below. Top drum as they were with the old flap wheel. Bottom with the new one. Might be able to avoid the lathe after all. Yep, that will work. When you fit the drums just tap around the drum with a lump hammer to centre the shoes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted April 18, 2021 Author Share Posted April 18, 2021 19 minutes ago, Scotch_Egg2012 said: If they still don't go over rather than lathe the drum why not remove some of the friction material on the shoes? Can easily be done with a hacksaw blade and you won't need to take much off This will be my fall back option. Instead of a blade I'll just put them in the vice and run the flap wheel over them to take off half a mil or so - whilst wearing a respirator! #safetyfirst Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotch_Egg2012 Posted April 18, 2021 Share Posted April 18, 2021 Just now, Andy135 said: This will be my fall back option. Instead of a blade I'll just put them in the vice and run the flap wheel over them to take off half a mil or so - whilst wearing a respirator! #safetyfirst Absolutely with a respirator, you won't need to remove the shoes doing it with a blade though, just thinking if they were that much of a pain to fit Andy135 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted April 18, 2021 Author Share Posted April 18, 2021 Wheel mating face cleaned up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted April 18, 2021 Author Share Posted April 18, 2021 I'm calling these done. Time for a beer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted April 18, 2021 Author Share Posted April 18, 2021 33 minutes ago, Scotch_Egg2012 said: Absolutely with a respirator, you won't need to remove the shoes doing it with a blade though, just thinking if they were that much of a pain to fit Good thinking. 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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