Grease on brakes / magnet

[firedreamer]

So my brakes seemed to not be working and when i took off drums for inspection there was bearing grease ever where. So If I clean it all off with break cleaner will the magnets be OK or is there something more I need to do? will the pads which are at 60% - 70% plus be OK? Thanks for the advice

[mhs4771]

Most likely you will never get all the grease out of the Shoes, the Magnets will be fine, but the shoes are another story.

[travelin' texans]

Be sure while they're apart to replace the grease seals with a good quality double lipped seal & NEVER pump grease into the EZ lube zerks in the ends of the spindles, HAND PACK ONLY!
I agree with Michele, the shoes are probably toast. When replacing it's almost the same money, much less mess, to replace the complete brake assembly with backing plate as it is to rebuild the old & you'll get new everything including magnets.

[Ford truck guy]

I agree with Danny, on my last trailer I needed to replace the shoes.. Went to Trailer Parts Superstore online and purchased 4 complete backing plates..

You have to watch, there are right AND left sides...

Remove the drum, cut the brake wire, remove 4 or 5 nuts and remove entire assembly.. here is a link to what that looks like from the place I got them online - https://www.easternmarine.com/nev-r-...y-k23-464-00-0

[shrode]

Replace them! I just went through this. Etrailer has the same self adjusting brake assemblies as the Lippert branded parts for half the cost. I replaced all the bearings and seals with Timken parts and grease from Amazon.

[XCMARK]

I washed mine off with brake clean , roughly 1/2 a can per drum and 1/2 a can on the shoes each wheel. I would say they are OK at best. maybe 80%. There maybe a slight improvement if I washed them again after use. The problem is the shoes soak up grease and its almost impossible to get it out of a pores surface. Just make sure you get the magnet , magnet contact surface and the friction area clean. you may want a tooth brush and some 120 grit sand paper , new seals are a must. Pack the drum bearing by hand add about 4oz extra to each drum and don't add any more until you pulling it apart again.

sand any rust off the brake drums friction surface and remove the rust ridge you can get it apart next year easy. Its very important to have the magnet and the drum clean, with out the friction of the magnet the shoes will not grab as hard as they could.

New loaded backing plates are about $200 for all 4 wheels , if you go that road make sure your wire splices are heat shrined and water proof. for me I am going to disks and not wasting more money.