Removal of Old Brake Assembly

[SteveSmith]

Understand. I was kinda kidding! Maybe a quick stop by a welding shop could get the bolts off for you.

[fieldphoto]

hey $700 is no joking matter for me right now, wallet is still recovering from car repair. :P

here is my question to you, and to the group. It seems to me that based on the construction of the brake and hub assembly, and how the wheels attach to axle, that this brake assembly (and the plate welded to the axle that the bolts are attached to) are part of the structure of the wheel.

I have severely damaged one of the bolts/nuts- so at this point I do not feel it would be safe to put the wheel back on and drive it somewhere. I figured once I started hacking at the bolts/nuts I had committed to not moving the trailer.

am I wrong in this assumption?

[Jack L]

The axle spindle and hub assembly and retaining nut are what holds the wheel on your trailer. Not the brake assembly. The only risk to putting everything back together would be the UNLIKELY event that something in the brake assembly came free and damaged the drum and hub while you were towing. If something in the brake assembly did come loose it would make considerable noise.

[fieldphoto]

Jack, thank you.
I see, though the drum assembly fits in front of/over the brakes, it is the large nut on the axle (that goes on last) that really holds the drum on. Because the wheel lug nuts then attach to this drum assembly, and it is secure- then it doesnt matter what is going on with the brakes.

Thank you for helping me visualize that.

[wilyoung]

I ran into the same problem. Changed one side and thought the other side was good. Then the other side went down the drain.

I had one nut on one side and two on the other that would not budge. After soaking them with WD40 and penetrating oil I put a wrench on them and hit with a hammer. Eventually the teeth on the pressed in end stripped and the bolts just turned in the backing plate.

Final solution was a nut splitter and cold chisel. Real PITA. Also took all the internal brake parts off the backing plate before final attack.

If (when) I had (have) to do again I think I would (will) try the drilling out from the backing plate side - before stripping the bolts in the backing plates.

[mszabo]

Had the same problem when I changed my axle. Wanted to reuse the old parts on axle.
Five of the eight bolts spun when I broke them loose.
Ended up using the sawsall, make sure you have a new long blade.
I was able to cuts some off from the front and a few had to be cut off from the back.
Bought new hex head bolts, lock washers and nuts.
The blade won't be very straight when your done but, it worked great.

[fieldphoto]

THE BRAKE IS OFF!!!! WOoohoooooO!!!!
It took cutting off the bolt heads with a small dremmel cutting wheel (sawzall or something larger would have too big to get into such a small space).
Then we beat the remaining bolt plug with an awl and sledgehammer.


NOW.
I tested the electrical wire coming from the left brake before I even took the old brake off. I was getting a solid reading.
Now? of course... nothing. I can hear the left brake clicking on, but there is nothing on the right side. So, I cut the wire and tested again, nothing. Par for the course on this project, which is 'if it can go wrong it will'... lol.

So, either there is power and I am not using the volt meter correctly (very possible, but I think it is right! besides, there isnt the 'clicking' noise)

Or, I mysteriously have a disconnect issue now. Any suggestions on how to chase down the problem between the two sides?

Am I correct in that I should be able to activate the brake assembly before putting everything back together anyways?

Thank you all for your continued support in this project! I will be excited to move on to other issues.

[fieldphoto]

FYI, I reposted my last question in a new thread, since it is really a separate issue.