Trailer brake R&R, brake shoe question.

Anything special about replacing brake shoes on an electric brake equipped trailer. Are the shoes standardized, or do I need to figure out who made the brake in order to get the correct shoe?

You can probably buy a loaded backing plate, including shoes, magnet, springs and all for less than $50 per side. 4 bolts, one wire, complete brake job without ever touching a spring.

yep, seeing that on etrailer now. Are they generic enough to work with any drum, so long as the right size is chosen?

Yep, they are pretty much standardized on trailers, so order the right size and you should be good to go.

yup all have same bolt pattern to the axle if the unit is 12 inch drums then all 12 inch units will bolt to it. FYI: Dexter now offers self adjusting units that work the balls! priced a bit higher but go on sale at trailerpartssuperstore often.

Oh the only difference between the 5000 and 7000 brakes is the magnet windings 7000 unit will take less power to lock up a 5000 loaded trailer

Cool, thanks folks.

http://www.easternmarine.com/catalogsearch/advanced/result/?brand%5B%5D=195

some are on sale now 12x2 for $32 never adjust!

You'll get a kick out of this...finally try to tackle the lack of braking on my left side. Pads are decent and there is voltage at the leads, but things are pretty well rusted inside and need of a little lube. I've had the use of this trailer for a while, belonged to a fellow racing friend. I had room to store it, and he didn't. I finally just bought it from him a few weeks ago. So I've used it a good two years.....today was the first time I realized the front axles have brakes. They certainly haven't been functional for any time I've used it. So I'll be looking into that. I assumed it only had brakes on the rear axle.

Make sure to adjust your controler once you fix the brakes! You don't want to flat spot the tires at the end of the driveway.

So it looks like the front brakes were never hooked up from the factory. They look basically new inside. I tied them into the electrical system and the work fine. Adjusted the rears, but they are in need of replacement before long. Magnets are worn, and shoes are thin. They are 10x2 1/4. Can't wait to tell my buddy who use to own the trailer about the extra brakes, he's going to laugh his arse off.

Spoke with the previous owner and he had order the trailer with the extra set of brakes. I guess they just goofed and forgot to hook them up. He never noticed they didn't work.