Adding brakes - Fiberglass RV
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Old 05-23-2007, 11:35 PM   #1
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well, it looks like Perris Pacer is not going to happen... but now I'm chatting with a 13' Scamp owner. The trailer is a 2002 and has just about everything on it that I'd want except for the brakes. It doesn't seem like it is old enough to change out the axle, but I know I want the brakes!

Anyone install them recently? Approximate cost to do that as an add on for someone else to do it and wire them up? What size did brakes could you get?

Thanks.
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Old 05-24-2007, 10:18 AM   #2
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well, it looks like Perris Pacer is not going to happen... but now I'm chatting with a 13' Scamp owner. The trailer is a 2002 and has just about everything on it that I'd want except for the brakes. It doesn't seem like it is old enough to change out the axle, but I know I want the brakes!

Anyone install them recently? Approximate cost to do that as an add on for someone else to do it and wire them up? What size did brakes could you get?

Thanks.
Hi Carol,
I would be tempted to try the trailer as is. New vehicles with four wheel disc brakes work very well and a 13 ft. scamp is very light. I do have brakes on my 16' Scamp but I set the drag very low, more to knock off any rust than anything else.
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Old 05-24-2007, 11:07 PM   #3
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When I looked into this a few months ago while thinking about a 13' Scamp the cost was going to be about C $700 installed... suspect you may find someone willing to do it cheaper.
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Old 05-24-2007, 11:51 PM   #4
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When I looked into this a few months ago while thinking about a 13' Scamp the cost was going to be about C $700 installed... suspect you may find someone willing to do it cheaper.
YIKES! Is that just the brakes? or the brakes and a new axle?
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Old 05-25-2007, 10:11 PM   #5
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YIKES! Is that just the brakes? or the brakes and a new axle?
Carol that was just to add brakes to a Scamp axle that already had the holes in them for mounting. When I first went on line to look at our options I found lots of break sets for around $200-300 but when I called a trailer shop I was told that was only part of what we would need.... we would have to add on a number of other parts not included with the kits along with the installation and wiring. It all added up. A new axle with brakes was only a couple of hundred more but you have the installation to factor in. Keep in mind that this is Canadian dollars but with the exchange today it probable would not be that much cheaper in US dollars.
So unless you find a reasonable priced 13' that needs a new axle anyways just adding brakes may not be worth it. We ended up just looking for a trailer with brakes already installed as our tow vechile requires them on anything over 1000lbs.

Good luck with your search.
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Old 05-25-2007, 10:38 PM   #6
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well, hmm... the brake assemblies themselves from Scamp cost about a hundred bucks - I was figuring a couple hundred for installation and wiring... at the most!

that seems just astonishing! even in American dollars!
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Old 05-25-2007, 11:24 PM   #7
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well, hmm... the brake assemblies themselves from Scamp cost about a hundred bucks - I was figuring a couple hundred for installation and wiring... at the most!

that seems just astonishing! even in American dollars!
Your best bet is to talk to Scamp directly and ask them what all you would need to add the brakes from scratch as I understand it you will need more.... could be wrong though!
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Old 05-29-2007, 11:34 PM   #8
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The brake drums are part of the hubs, so adding the drums means whole new hubs. The rest of the brakes are best bought as complete assemblies, which means the backing plates, shoes, magnets, etc. The whole set of parts - with wiring bits - would be at least $350 (Canadian) here at regular RV shop retail prices but...

...the real issue may be that the backing plates bolt to mounting flanges which are not practical to add to an existing axle: do Scamp non-brake axles have the flanges? If they don't, it's an axle replacement.

I would expect the labour cost to install all of the new parts on an old axle to be close to the same as the labour cost to switch out the whole axle (which comes fully assembled)... but that depends on how the axle is mounted to the frame (bolted versus welded).
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Old 05-30-2007, 04:25 AM   #9
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Carol,

I added brakes to my 2001 13' Scamp last year. The axle had mounting flanges. Our Muffler Shop installs brakes and is highly thought of, so I went there.

Here's the parts list:

Drums and new spindles $212.00
Brake kit backing plates, shoes, magnetsetc. $164.00
Break away switch $ 15.70
Labor $190.00

Prodigy Controller (purchasing online) $100.00
Labor for controller $ 80.00


Total $761.70 plus tax


My Scamp loaded weighs in the neighborhood of 2200 lbs. I love having the brakes it makes a world of difference in braking as the tow vehicles isn't doing all the work. Much smoother stopping pattern especially going down hills. The Scamp isn't pushing the Jeep.
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Old 05-30-2007, 04:54 AM   #10
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Here's a link to brake parts.

2 sets Backing plates, shoes, magnets, and drums with bearings.

Parts aprox $206 plus shipping.

http://www.southwestwheel.com/store/c-172-...-and-drums.aspx
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Old 05-30-2007, 03:10 PM   #11
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...The axle had mounting flanges. Our Muffler Shop installs brakes and is highly thought of, so I went there.

Here's the parts list:

Drums and new spindles $212.00...
Great detailed info, but why the new spindles? They were likely close to half of this part of the cost.
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Old 06-04-2007, 01:49 AM   #12
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New spindles!!! Don't know I'm not a brake person.

I was told I needed them so I got them. If I got taken then I got taken.
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Old 06-04-2007, 01:37 PM   #13
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I was told I needed them so I got them. If I got taken then I got taken.
Maybe not - the specific axle may have used a different spindle with versus without brakes... that's not common, which is why I was wondering. It can remain a mystery! Thanks for the reply anyway, Joy.
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Old 06-04-2007, 01:52 PM   #14
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I don't, he looked at the axle, flanges, spindles etc. and said he could use the existing spindles. Maybe it had something to do with the brake drums. That's sort of what I have in the back of my mind.
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Old 06-06-2007, 11:49 AM   #15
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Joy, I think you meant drums and hubs, not spindles. The new hubs are an integral part of the brake drums (which are the most expensive part of adding brakes) and the old hubs are discarded.

The spindles are an integral part of the axle, to which the brake flanges are welded before the liquid nitrogen assembly process, so spindle replacement on a torsion axle means entire axle replacement.

I am sure of this because I had to replace my axle because one spindle was damaged by a bad bearing (my fault for not lubing).
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Old 06-07-2007, 02:52 PM   #16
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Joy, I think you meant drums and hubs, not spindles. The new hubs are an integral part of the brake drums (which are the most expensive part of adding brakes) and the old hubs are discarded.
Sure, while some axles have bolt-on spindles, the typical Torflex is a welded unit as Pete describes, so separately replacing the spindles in that case is nonsensical. If "Scamp" always implies "Torflex", then Joy must not have separately replaceable spindles.

My only problem with this interpretation is that a pair of Dexter drum/hubs would need to be gold-plated to be worth US$212, so I was guessing there were more parts in this case. Maybe it's just that the bearings were bundled with the drums?
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Old 06-12-2007, 02:14 PM   #17
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Brian, my drum-hubs, from Scamp, did include the bearings with the appropriate parts already pressed in, lubed and ready to slip onto a clean spindle. For some reason, likely quantity, the 7" brakes used on 13' trailers cost more than the 10" brakes used on larger trailers and they are not inexpensive (for some reason, Scamp no longer lists the drum-hubs in their price list).
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