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Old 06-03-2017, 08:14 AM   #1
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T1661 Brakes

My brakes on my T1662 don't work. I looked to replace them, but they appear to be welded to the axle. They are original to this 1989 TT. Does this seem right or am I missing something?

Thanks,
Jim
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Old 06-03-2017, 09:10 AM   #2
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Hi Jim

Can you post a few pics from under the camper looking at the back of the brakes?

Have you pulled a brake drum yet? any chance of a pic with the drum off? and is there an aluminum tag on the axle with a brand name on it?

Many of the 80's campers had a Hayes axle I think that the backing plates where welded on and you could only replace the shoes/magnets and parts where a concern on finding parts anymore. But not all 80's campers. Some had Dexter and that will greatly help and a Dexter/Hayes combo.

But a 1989 seems to be on the edge of the Hayes era. We need to see what you are up against to help better unless one of our members happens to have a 89 in a similar camper and can report back.

See this thread http://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f7...urn-11148.html

If we can find you have the Dexter, this is more easy. If you have the dexter axle with the hayes brakes, they may be bolt on. If you have the entire hayes setup, well it seems getting new linings bonded on may be the only answer short of replacing the axle if the shoes are wore out.

There is also the question of, your brakes do not work but it may be an electrical problem or the old ones are rusted in place and do not pivot any more. We may be able to help you if you have the tools and means to do the work to get it working again as long as the parts are still intact and usable.

Hope this helps

John
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Old 06-03-2017, 09:38 AM   #3
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I will post a couple more
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Old 06-03-2017, 10:10 AM   #4
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Braked

It may be electrical. The magnets seem to minimally energize with power. I will try new wiring first I guess.
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Old 06-03-2017, 06:13 PM   #5
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Ah yup, you have the old Kelsey Hayes brakes that are now out of business.

The good news, your brake shoes have a good amount of lining still left on them. Since they where not working, they can't wear out the lining.....So you do not need new shoes at this point unless under close inspection you see a problem as getting parts for these old brakes is really hard.

You can take the brakes apart and clean them up so everything moves like it should. Also these old Hayes brakes have the adjuster up on the top which makes this really hard to adjust once the drum is on. In fact, I do not know if you can adjust it once the drum is on. I have never did one of these older ones.

That said, you need to tweak the adjuster and play test fit with the drum so they are close enough before you put the drum on. And to try and get the slight drag the same between the left and right wheel.

Yes, the wiring can be bad, especially inside the axle tube. It is a classic camper brake failure when the wire inside the axle tube gets old and brittle. And as the camper bounces down the road, the insulation gets rubbed and creates a short and you have no brakes then.

Since you have a small camper and only 1 axle, suggest you run a new hot wire and a new ground wire down each side of the camper to each wheel. One set for each wheel. Then you have no wires inside the axle tube. When you make the wires jump from the frame to the brake coil, leave enough of a loop so when the axle moves up and down you do not stretch out the wire and break it. And fasten them to the frame so the wires do not get caught up in the wheel. They sell small bolt on one hole nylon eyes at the auto stores that work well for this. They look like this. Just get them small enough for your 2 wires they will grab the wire


For your camper, I would suggest to use no 12 awg copper stranded wire. This is heavier then needed but gains you a benefit. By going direct to each wheel from the front it will lower the voltage drop with the heavier wire and you eliminate the axles wire tube issues. You will join the 2 brake hot wires up front and then to the brake wire on the 7 wire cable to the truck. Also join the 2 ground wires and attach that to the ground wire of the 7 wire truck cable too. Do not use a trailer frame ground as corrosion on the ground can be a bad actor in a brake circuit.

Make sure the connections are good and tight and completely sealed. Do "not" use scotch lock quick connectors. These things. I see these all the time on trailers and they are a disaster waiting to fail.



Ideally you solider the connections, shrink wrap and then 3M 33 tape them to keep the water out. If this is too much for you, then a good sound butt splice that is then tapped to keep the water out will work. Water in the connections is a bad thing.

As long as the brake coils are still good, which they very well could still be, you should be/may be able to clean up the old brakes and get them working again.

Let us know how you make out.

John
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Old 06-03-2017, 08:32 PM   #6
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Thanks John. I will rewire and adjust the brakes as you describe. I really appreciate all this great information. I will let you know how I make out.

Jim
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Old 06-10-2017, 03:16 PM   #7
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I rewired and adjusted the brakes. They work ok. I have a bit more drag than I like in one side. I am hoping it is only rust and will free up. I may need to adjust after a few miles. Thank you so very much.

Jim.
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Old 06-10-2017, 05:13 PM   #8
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The backing plates on my Dexter axles (10.5 inch) are welded (T1700). Jack the trailer up and pull the emergency cable that should lock the brakes up you should not be able to turn the tires at all if you can probably the magnet is toes up or the wiring is poor. When I got mine one worked two sort of and one not at all 4 magnets latter all was good. Mine work well enough manualy I often use them on an incline to start off (stick shift truck).
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Old 06-11-2017, 08:16 PM   #9
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Hi Jim,

Glad you have your brakes working again. Great! Thanks for reporting back.

John
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Old 07-17-2019, 09:11 AM   #10
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hi I have a 1985 T1550 sunline need to get brake system fixed doe you know where i can get parts? the original book and sale papers says it is a dexter any help is appreciatedhttp://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/members/11410-albums785-picture6341.jpg
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Old 07-17-2019, 09:29 AM   #11
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Old 07-17-2019, 02:30 PM   #12
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Hi Bams,

I can try and help. That brake actually looks like an Alko brand, but back in 1985 maybe Dexter did there brake parts different. The single spring sort of gives it away. Dexter use to use 2 springs around the center pivot plate. They might be Hayes brakes too, Somehow I think they may have been combined with Alko.

Regardless of brand, what is the brake drums ID where the shoes run on?

What is the width of the brake shoe?

While they look there age, what does not work on them? Often times if you take them apart and clean them up,(wire brush etc) put back on, adjust and check the wiring for shorts etc and if the magnet works, you can get them up and going. If the adjuster is rusted up, see if you can get it working again with some penetrating oil.

Actually, your brakes look better then many of the ones out there on an old camper.

When you come back with dimensions we can see if these at 10 x 1 1/2" or 10 x 2" or what size. Then maybe we can back into some parts.

Hope this helps

John
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