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GMC trailer [message #354416] Sun, 03 May 2020 15:12 Go to next message
jhbridges is currently offline  jhbridges   United States
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Registered: May 2011
Location: Braselton ga
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Senior Member
I'm fixing a dual axle trailer for my GMC, and to haul at least 23' GMCs. It has electric brakes, of a type I've never seen - my experience with trailer brakes being very limited. Attached are two photos, one of the drum which has three metal plates attached to it. They aren't electrically isolated. The other is of the backing plate. In the center is a honkin' big electromagnet which you feed twelve wolts to activate. Around it are/is the brake shoe. It's a single piece with two shoes riveted on, Obviously it expands against the inside of the drum, sliding on the greased clips, and is rethracted bu the two springs at the top. The shoe is apparently the only moving part other than the roatating drum with the wheel attaced to the other side like any drum brake. My aqquestion is, how the hell does thios setup work? The magnet which is actually cup shaped has a break in the steel in the back - a gap all the way around concentric to the housing i.e. the housing is in two piences. The front of it, which you see, is a mostly sand and epoxy potting compound.

Obviously the brake expands and stops the wheel, but why/how? AQnd since the forum isn't currently letting me upload I'll put the pics on the photo site as trailer brakes.

--johnny


Foolish Carriage, 76 26' Eleganza(?) with beaucoup mods and add - ons. Braselton, Ga. I forgive them all, save those who hurt the dogs. They must answer to me in hell
Re: GMC trailer [message #354420 is a reply to message #354416] Sun, 03 May 2020 17:38 Go to previous messageGo to next message
JohnL455 is currently offline  JohnL455   United States
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Registered: October 2006
Location: Woodstock, IL
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Senior Member
Call etrailer and see if they can tell you what you have from verbal or a picture. I have Dexters on my tandem. When I needed shoes as bonding let go, I took them to NAPA pulled up a stool. The middle aged parts guy pulled the 4” thick brake book off the shelf. Together we browsed and eventually found the photo that matched. He ordered and them had next day. All fixed.

John Lebetski
Woodstock, IL
77 Eleganza II
Re: GMC trailer [message #354444 is a reply to message #354416] Mon, 04 May 2020 07:29 Go to previous messageGo to next message
jhbridges is currently offline  jhbridges   United States
Messages: 8412
Registered: May 2011
Location: Braselton ga
Karma: -74
Senior Member
Matt Colie and Tom Pryor 'splained it. Thanks, guys!

--johnny


Foolish Carriage, 76 26' Eleganza(?) with beaucoup mods and add - ons. Braselton, Ga. I forgive them all, save those who hurt the dogs. They must answer to me in hell
Re: GMC trailer [message #354519 is a reply to message #354416] Wed, 06 May 2020 21:02 Go to previous messageGo to next message
NextGenGMC is currently offline  NextGenGMC   United States
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Registered: December 2017
Location: Washington State
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Senior Member
The picture attachments did not come through.
I've dealt with a lot of different electric brakes on my work trailers. The most common way they work is this:
Electromagnet (usually placed near the bottom of the assembly) is connected via a long arm to a pivot point between the brake shoes. Once magnet is energized, it is attracted to the side of the spinning brake drum (flat part facing the road). This attraction coupled with wheel rotating, pulls the metal arm rearward and turns the cam between the shoes. This action moves front shoe forward. As this happens, the shoe "grabs" on the brake surface and forces the whole brake assembly to rotate a little more, thus engaging the back shoe. The amount of power supplied to the electromagnet controls how much this magnet moves and how much braking power is applied.


Vadim Jitkov '76 Glenbrook 26' Pullman, WA
Re: GMC trailer [message #354540 is a reply to message #354416] Fri, 08 May 2020 07:39 Go to previous message
jhbridges is currently offline  jhbridges   United States
Messages: 8412
Registered: May 2011
Location: Braselton ga
Karma: -74
Senior Member
This one's different. There is a ring electromagnet surrounding the axle on the backing plate, held in place with a spring. It can move outward toward the hub/drum an inch or two. On the inside of the hub/drum are three large metal platres which rotate with the drum. When the magnet is energized, it is attracted to the metal plates, and tries to turn with them. It is limited in its turn to a few degrees by a tab at the top. As this tab moves, it pushes the brake shoe (one, circular) out against the drum. The amount of push is directly related to the current in the magnet which determines the amount of force between the magnet and the rotating plates and thus the rotating force the magnet applies to the shoe tab, expanding the shoe. i.e. Instead of a cam and linkage, the magnet itself contacts the spinning drum and is forced in the direction of wheel rotation, forcing the shoe against the drum.

--johnny


Foolish Carriage, 76 26' Eleganza(?) with beaucoup mods and add - ons. Braselton, Ga. I forgive them all, save those who hurt the dogs. They must answer to me in hell

[Updated on: Fri, 08 May 2020 07:41]

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