# Adjusting The Brakes???



## hyewalt34 (May 9, 2004)

Hi Everyone,

Last weekend I set aside time to adjust the brakes on the Outback and was surprised to discover that I have self-adjusting brakes on my 21rs. I did a quick search here on the forum and found that some of the big Outbacks are made this way but most of the smaller ones have the manual adjusting brakes. So, how do you adjust the self-adjusting ones??? Are they the same as a car and they should auto-adjust when you back up and brake? Right now with the Prodigy the best I can get is moderate braking with the lever maxed.

Walter


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## Moosegut (Sep 24, 2005)

hyewalt34 said:


> Hi Everyone,
> 
> Last weekend I set aside time to adjust the brakes on the Outback and was surprised to discover that I have self-adjusting brakes on my 21rs. I did a quick search here on the forum and found that some of the big Outbacks are made this way but most of the smaller ones have the manual adjusting brakes. So, how do you adjust the self-adjusting ones??? Are they the same as a car and they should auto-adjust when you back up and brake? Right now with the Prodigy the best I can get is moderate braking with the lever maxed.
> 
> Walter


I just made an appointment to have my brakes looked over, adjusted, fixed where needed (magnets?) as I get very little braking power from the TT with the Prodigy dialed all the way up. I'll be dropping it off tonight.

I tried adjusting them myself but I don't have a jack heavy enought to lift the TT, don't have the driveway space to do it in, and found it to be a royal pain to even try. It is going to cost me an arm-and-a-leg. Garrick RV gets $104.0 an hour - 1 hour per wheel since I'm having the bearings repacked while everything is off. Add in the parts (probably 400 bucks worth) and I'm looking at $800 bucks before the "incidentals" are thrown in. I'm figuring on a grand - but you can't do without good brakes on the trailer, so I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place.


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## RI-23rs (Jul 7, 2008)

What year is yours? I think most of the newer ones come with self adjusting. I believe your right with the adjusting method.


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## jdpm (Apr 12, 2007)

We repacked our bearings, replaced he grease seals, and replaced all four brakes at the same time. Total cost was $220. It is really pretty basic and easy. Plus, I know it's right. The only thing I wish we would have done was to have installed the "self-adjusting" brakes. jdpm


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## hyewalt34 (May 9, 2004)

Thanks for the answers. Mine is an 2004. I checked today with the shop that I have do our vehicle maintenance, at work, and they will re-pack the bearings and adjust the brakes for an estimate of $175. They figure 1/2 hour per wheel. However, I still would like to know how to adjust the brakes myself!

Walter


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## 2500Ram (Oct 30, 2005)

jdpm said:


> We repacked our bearings, replaced he grease seals, and replaced all four brakes at the same time. Total cost was $220. It is really pretty basic and easy. Plus, I know it's right. The only thing I wish we would have done was to have installed the "self-adjusting" brakes. jdpm


Agree 100% if you have the space and tools to do the job yourself, sounds like we were fortunate to have room to do the work at home







. I did ours this spring and it was an easy day job, priced about the same.

I had no idea the new OB had self adjusting brakes. Something to look up for an upgrade


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## 2500Ram (Oct 30, 2005)

hyewalt34 said:


> However, I still would like to know how to adjust the brakes myself!
> 
> Walter


This was my guide for my 03. Should be the same for all Al-Ko axles. Again mine have the star wheel to adjust but no backer plate to tighten them.

Good luck.


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## hyewalt34 (May 9, 2004)

The problem for me is that I have no star wheel to adjust.

Walter


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## Sayonara (Jul 23, 2007)

How do you know if your brakes are self adjusting? Ill look through my manuals. i have an 08 32BHDS.


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## russk42 (Sep 10, 2007)

Sayonara said:


> How do you know if your brakes are self adjusting? Ill look through my manuals. i have an 08 32BHDS.


look in your axle manual on the maintenance schedule page: mine says to adjust the brakes every 3000 miles.
I believe that AL-KO does not make self adjusting brakes---but I may be wrong.
If you have a Dexter axle, then you may be in luck


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## California Jim (Dec 11, 2003)

hyewalt34 said:


> ...Mine is an 2004...


So is mine and it has ALKO axles which are basic manually adjustable brakes. Sometimes the slot for the adjuster wheel is hard to see and is hidden on the top of the backing plate or obstructed by the axle. There is an oval shaped rubber plug covering the hole. I have never heard of an 04 Outback that came with self adjusters.

Adjusting the brakes is a simple matter of jacking the wheel off the ground and giving it a spin while you turn the star wheel. Adjust it until you can hear the brake pads making contact with the drum and the wheel only spins about one rotation.

That said, an 04 Outback that has never had the bearings manually serviced should likely be torn down and hand packed. I would also expect to replace the brakes while there too.

Good Luck


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## hyewalt34 (May 9, 2004)

Well, I'm going to crawl under the Outback and look again, just to make sure, but I couldn't find the rubber plug. that's when I did a further search here on the forum and someone had wrote that once in while Keystone has built with a combination of Dexter and Alco. I can't find a name on either the wheel or the axel but I was told over the wekend that Dexter puts their name plate facing up (on the axel) so I would not have seen it. You are right about the bearings!!!! Bad me for letting it go this long.... I'm getting it done this week and at the same time I'll find out about the brake issue and get back here and let you all know what happend.

Walter


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## hyewalt34 (May 9, 2004)

Update on my brakes: They are the manual adjusting ones. I was looking for the rubber cover and it turns out none of the wheels has the plug. The opening is a bit smaller than I though it would be too. The owner of the shop I'm taking it to in the morning showed me an example of an electric brake from his junk pile today and that helped alot. The back plate was off so I could see everything.

Walter


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