"Burnishing" your new brakes. WTF......... Now I've heard it all. (I'm raising the Bullsh!t flag)

[Runs With Scissors]

So there I am minding my own business when my SIL calls me up and asks me the proper way to "burnish" his trailer brakes/rotors that he just replaced?

I said "WTF are you talking about? Never heard of it........Sounds like some internet BS to me. You just put them on, take it it around the block a few times on a test drive, then set the gain on your controller to the proper settings and your done."

So sure enough, I look it up and there are all kinds of these "internet warriors" making some real doosey claims about how you have to "burnish" your brakes or you will bring down Gods wrath and He will rain down Hellfire and Brimstone on thee............... or that if you don't "burnish" them, then you will have "severely compromised your new brakes"

Intrigued, I watched a few videos of these guys, and they commence to doing some of the stupidest shit I have ever seen in my life.

Some even claiming that you need to "really heat them up good" until "they smoke", to get the brakes to "burnish".

I have been doing brakes on cars, trucks, motorcycles, trailers, motorhomes, scooters, bicycles and airplanes for 40+ years now, and have never ever heard of this.

I have worked in dealerships, attended Chrysler Tech center schooling, attended Naval schools about aircraft, worked in independent shops, replaced brakes on EA-6B's to Gulfstream jets,.......... not even once have I done done a "burnishing procedure"; Hell, I had never even heard the term until last night.

Well the SIL decided that he needed to "burnish" them.

So he commences some "burnishing procedure" that was something like going from 60 to 20 using the trailer brakes for 50-60 times with a 30 second cooling period.

Well those brakes are toast now........

BTW this is NOT directed at any one in particular, nor is it meant as "I know it all!" claim. So if you believe in this "burnishing"....good for you. I truly wish you well and hope it works for you.

Is it possible I'm wrong......well yes, anything is possible.....and I'm sure some "smarty pants" will link me to a 240 mph, Formula 1 race car, that must "burnish" their brakes........I'm talking about "real everyday life" though.

Or maybe I have just "been lucky" for the past 40 years?

I just happen to think its a bunch of malarky.

Rant Off......Your regularly scheduled programming will continue after these messages......

 

[lynnmor]

You ARE wrong, trailer brakes are nearly all drum brakes and the material has changed. Read the instructions from the brake manufacturer and do as instructed. When I replaced my trailer brakes they barely worked till I did the burnishing procedure.

From Dexter:
NOTE: After replacing your brake shoes and magnets you will experience a decrease in braking performance until the components have worn into the drum and finished the burnishing process. This process requires many stops to bring the new shoe's performance back to normal. This may take more than 100 stops to finish this break-in period with stops of 20 mph decreases in speed.

 

[Bmyers]

DiamondC, a trailer manufacture has a webpage dedicated to this topic and their trailers.

How To Burnish Your Electric Drum Brakes - Diamond C Trailers

The experts at Diamond C explain how to burnish the electric drum brakes on your new trailer, a necessary process for any new purchase.

www.diamondc.com

Is It Necessary To Burnish The Electric Drum Brakes On My New Trailer?

The question above is one of the most popular questions we are asked by our customers. The answer is yes; Electric Drum Brakes require a break-in process to achieve full performance. The break-in process should be used after the installation of new axles, brake shoes, or magnets as part of regular maintenance. If your trailer uses Electric Over Disc Brakes, you don’t have to worry about burnishing the brakes. Diamond C has 28 trailer models that come standard with ELECTRIC DRUM BRAKES; they are listed below.

(More info at the above link)

 

[Shawn T. W]

I never burnished the brakes on my 2022 Big Tex Trailer I bought new from the dealer in Tucson, AZ ... He never told I had to, never read anything about it either ... Works fine, if I forget to turn the controller down after I unload it, it will skid the brakes!

1200+ mile trip, way overloaded when I moved from AZ ...

Earlier this week ...

 

[Sawdust&Shavings]

So there I am minding my own business when my SIL calls me up and asks me the proper way to "burnish" his trailer brakes/rotors that he just replaced?

I said "WTF are you talking about? Never heard of it........Sounds like some internet BS to me. You just put them on, take it it around the block a few times on a test drive, then set the gain on your controller to the proper settings and your done."

So sure enough, I look it up and there are all kinds of these "internet warriors" making some real doosey claims about how you have to "burnish" your brakes or you will bring down Gods wrath and He will rain down Hellfire and Brimstone on thee............... or that if you don't "burnish" them, then you will have "severely compromised your new brakes"

Intrigued, I watched a few videos of these guys, and they commence to doing some of the stupidest shit I have ever seen in my life.

Some even claiming that you need to "really heat them up good" until "they smoke", to get the brakes to "burnish".

I have been doing brakes on cars, trucks, motorcycles, trailers, motorhomes, scooters, bicycles and airplanes for 40+ years now, and have never ever heard of this.

I have worked in dealerships, attended Chrysler Tech center schooling, attended Naval schools about aircraft, worked in independent shops, replaced brakes on EA-6B's to Gulfstream jets,.......... not even once have I done done a "burnishing procedure"; Hell, I had never even heard the term until last night.

Well the SIL decided that he needed to "burnish" them.

So he commences some "burnishing procedure" that was something like going from 60 to 20 using the trailer brakes for 50-60 times with a 30 second cooling period.

Well those brakes are toast now........

BTW this is NOT directed at any one in particular, nor is it meant as "I know it all!" claim. So if you believe in this "burnishing"....good for you. I truly wish you well and hope it works for you.

Is it possible I'm wrong......well yes, anything is possible.....and I'm sure some "smarty pants" will link me to a 240 mph, Formula 1 race car, that must "burnish" their brakes........I'm talking about "real everyday life" though.

Or maybe I have just "been lucky" for the past 40 years?

I just happen to think its a bunch of malarky.

Rant Off......Your regularly scheduled programming will continue after these messages......

My new travel trailer which uses a Dexter axle and electric brakes provides the procedure to follow to break in the brakes.

 

[whatsupdoc]

All new brakes require some "wear in" before the wear material achieves full contact
whether disk or drum. It is best not to be very heavy on the brakes before the brakes
have had time to break in.

 

[trikepilot]

View attachment 158392

I am actually on the hunt for a Big Tex 60EC car hauler right now. Nice to know it can haul a wind turbine!!

 

[lynnmor]

Buyers of "new" trailers may have no idea how many miles are on the trailer and how the brakes were treated before delivery.

 

[Shawn T. W]

Most trailers like mine are stacked and hauled on flatbeds ... Enclosed trailers, including small RV's are often hauled on a step deck, or car hauler type trailers, except 5th wheelers, and bigger bumper pull RV's ...

Nice to know it can haul a wind turbine!

Only if you got a Hemi!

I will say that I now remember that while at the dealer, even at the highest setting it wouldn't skid the tires with the empty trailer, or even feel like they were working at all, I complained, and they told me to drive forward and backwards around the lot, applying the brake controller, they said they probably forgot to adjust them ... they got better in short time ... So maybe they needed to be burnished, or adjusted?

 

[Captain13]

My tilt Trailer has Dexter axles with automatic adjusters. The first hundred miles of break-in finally saw the trailer brakes working, but not as effective as they should be. I followed Dexter´s process and now I have great brakes. The trailer is an 18,000 GVWR so brakes have to work. With a new trailer, I strongly recommend the owner follow the brake break in procedure since it is a lot different than it was years ago where you just set the controller gain and no break in was needed.

 

[jaxs]

"Burnish" is a poor definition for it. Burnish actually describes a condition I would call "glazed" which results from overheating which causes braking power to fade. "Seating" would be more accurate for what happens. What the break-in period accomplishes is getting maximum shoe surface in contact with drum when brakes are applied. Very little if any wears occurs, the self-adjusters do all the work. A garage that takes pride in their work (and appeases insurance) measure drum diameter then "arch" shoes (grind away material) to place 100% in contact with drum when breaks are applied. Such shops buy shoes with thicker limning especially designed to be arched and forbidden to be installed otherwise. Even these arched shoes benefit from a short break-in which the shop does before turning vehicle over to customer.

Non of this is to disagree with you RWS. I in fact agree that your sil was victim of a bunch of bs by people that don't understand the subject. In the real world , you and I manually adjust new breaks rather than driving around while self adjusters do it.

BTW, has Mrs Scissors released you from limited duty and allowing you to get your blood pressure up over things?

 

[lynnmor]

It is more than wearing the new shoes to conform to the drum, the new technology of material relies on adhesion to grip the drum surface. In the good old days when you had asbestos the brakes would work fairly well from mile one.

 

[D2Cat]

So there I am minding my own business when my SIL calls me up and asks me the proper way to "burnish" his trailer brakes/rotors that he just replaced?

I said "WTF are you talking about? Never heard of it........Sounds like some internet BS to me. You just put them on, take it it around the block a few times on a test drive, then set the gain on your controller to the proper settings and your done."

So sure enough, I look it up and there are all kinds of these "internet warriors" making some real doosey claims about how you have to "burnish" your brakes or you will bring down Gods wrath and He will rain down Hellfire and Brimstone on thee............... or that if you don't "burnish" them, then you will have "severely compromised your new brakes"

Intrigued, I watched a few videos of these guys, and they commence to doing some of the stupidest shit I have ever seen in my life.

Some even claiming that you need to "really heat them up good" until "they smoke", to get the brakes to "burnish".

I have been doing brakes on cars, trucks, motorcycles, trailers, motorhomes, scooters, bicycles and airplanes for 40+ years now, and have never ever heard of this.

I have worked in dealerships, attended Chrysler Tech center schooling, attended Naval schools about aircraft, worked in independent shops, replaced brakes on EA-6B's to Gulfstream jets,.......... not even once have I done done a "burnishing procedure"; Hell, I had never even heard the term until last night.

Well the SIL decided that he needed to "burnish" them.

So he commences some "burnishing procedure" that was something like going from 60 to 20 using the trailer brakes for 50-60 times with a 30 second cooling period.

Well those brakes are toast now........

BTW this is NOT directed at any one in particular, nor is it meant as "I know it all!" claim. So if you believe in this "burnishing"....good for you. I truly wish you well and hope it works for you.

Is it possible I'm wrong......well yes, anything is possible.....and I'm sure some "smarty pants" will link me to a 240 mph, Formula 1 race car, that must "burnish" their brakes........I'm talking about "real everyday life" though.

Or maybe I have just "been lucky" for the past 40 years?

I just happen to think its a bunch of malarky.

Rant Off......Your regularly scheduled programming will continue after these messages......

Well, I don't know about burnishing the brakes, but Malarky are some of the best roofing shingles made!

 

[jimh406]

I don't know about breaking in brakes but it seems like they would break in over time. Unless you are trying to do speed stops, I'm not seeing that it would matter early after changing shoes.

 

[Captain13]

"Burnish" is a poor definition for it. Burnish actually describes a condition I would call "glazed" which results from overheating which causes braking power to fade. "Seating" would be more accurate for what happens. What the break-in period accomplishes is getting maximum shoe surface in contact with drum when brakes are applied. Very little if any wears occurs, the self-adjusters do all the work. A garage that takes pride in their work (and appeases insurance) measure drum diameter then "arch" shoes (grind away material) to place 100% in contact with drum when breaks are applied. Such shops buy shoes with thicker limning especially designed to be arched and forbidden to be installed otherwise. Even these arched shoes benefit from a short break-in which the shop does before turning vehicle over to customer.

Non of this is to disagree with you RWS. I in fact agree that your sil was victim of a bunch of bs by people that don't understand the subject. In the real world , you and I manually adjust new breaks rather than driving around while self adjusters do it.

BTW, has Mrs Scissors released you from limited duty and allowing you to get your blood pressure up over things?

I would have adjusted mine, if I could. For the low clearance tilt trailers with the 8K and 9k axles, the way the axles are mounted doesn’t allow any room to get in there and adjust. I tried and I probably could have finally figured out something but the heat index was 110 so I let the automatic adjusters do the work. I do almost all of my own mechanic work but if7when I need new brakes, I’ll probably take it to a trailer shop.

 

[Old Machinist]

I never burnished the brakes on my 2022 Big Tex Trailer I bought new from the dealer in Tucson, AZ ... He never told I had to, never read anything about it either ... Works fine, if I forget to turn the controller down after I unload it, it will skid the brakes!

1200+ mile trip, way overloaded when I moved from AZ ...

View attachment 158392

Is that auxiliary Prop Pulsion device lectric or fuel powered. I can see why you need it. Just never seen anything like it mounted on a trailer.

 

[Henro]

Well, I don't know about burnishing the brakes, but Malarky are some of the best roofing shingles made!

Sounds like a lot of Marlarkey!

 

[Shawn T. W]

Is that auxiliary Prop Pulsion device lectric or fuel powered. I can see why you need it. Just never seen anything like it mounted on a trailer.

It's really just a big fan to keep my brakes cool while breaking them in, or otherwise called burnishing ..

 

[Henro]

Is that auxiliary Prop Pulsion device lectric or fuel powered. I can see why you need it. Just never seen anything like it mounted on a trailer.

I should not divulge this inside information. It really is a top secret development. What appears to be a propulsion device is actually a wind powered generator. The pulling truck is an electric vehicle.

It is a prototype perpetual motion machine. The generator output actually produces more energy than the electric truck uses to pull it.

I believe Shawn is the next Elon Musk in the making...you heard it first here at OTT!

Edit: Do not be mislead by claims stating otherwise,

 

[BBFarmer]

So there I am minding my own business when my SIL calls me up and asks me the proper way to "burnish" his trailer brakes/rotors that he just replaced?

I said "WTF are you talking about? Never heard of it........Sounds like some internet BS to me. You just put them on, take it it around the block a few times on a test drive, then set the gain on your controller to the proper settings and your done."

So sure enough, I look it up and there are all kinds of these "internet warriors" making some real doosey claims about how you have to "burnish" your brakes or you will bring down Gods wrath and He will rain down Hellfire and Brimstone on thee............... or that if you don't "burnish" them, then you will have "severely compromised your new brakes"

Intrigued, I watched a few videos of these guys, and they commence to doing some of the stupidest shit I have ever seen in my life.

Some even claiming that you need to "really heat them up good" until "they smoke", to get the brakes to "burnish".

I have been doing brakes on cars, trucks, motorcycles, trailers, motorhomes, scooters, bicycles and airplanes for 40+ years now, and have never ever heard of this.

I have worked in dealerships, attended Chrysler Tech center schooling, attended Naval schools about aircraft, worked in independent shops, replaced brakes on EA-6B's to Gulfstream jets,.......... not even once have I done done a "burnishing procedure"; Hell, I had never even heard the term until last night.

Well the SIL decided that he needed to "burnish" them.

So he commences some "burnishing procedure" that was something like going from 60 to 20 using the trailer brakes for 50-60 times with a 30 second cooling period.

Well those brakes are toast now........

BTW this is NOT directed at any one in particular, nor is it meant as "I know it all!" claim. So if you believe in this "burnishing"....good for you. I truly wish you well and hope it works for you.

Is it possible I'm wrong......well yes, anything is possible.....and I'm sure some "smarty pants" will link me to a 240 mph, Formula 1 race car, that must "burnish" their brakes........I'm talking about "real everyday life" though.

Or maybe I have just "been lucky" for the past 40 years?

I just happen to think its a bunch of malarky.

Rant Off......Your regularly scheduled programming will continue after these messages......

I know absolutely jack $%&# about trailers.

Or gulfstream jets for that matter......My goodness that must be somethin btw. Mad props sir. Being a basic wrench chucker, I knew you were a next level kind of tech anyways with them fancy lathes and what not. Plus that sweet F350. You can't hide money LOL.

No, don't beat yourself up big guy. I'm sure I've been doing it wrong to for at least 25 years. I'm familiar with the term. And over a couple decades i've been told dozens of different procedures. Some by techs, some by instructors, some by parts reps. And actually it was a napa rep who years ago told us a minimum of 60 "braking events". And this was following actually machining the brand new rotor that you had just purchased from them.

We don't generally pad slap because most folks wont deal with the possible occasional squeak that can potentially sometimes follow.

It's also been so long since we've turned any drums or rotors that we actually moved our lathe upstairs to free up some floor space in the shop. Although rotors and drums are fairly inexpensive on majority of manufactures now, years ago you started seeing a decrease in material anyways.

For example, a rotor would be born 25mm thick. Well, by the time Mrs. "I travel 60mph and brake 10 feet before the walmart turn off" is finished with them, they'll come in for a BJ at 24.5. Well then Mr. manufacture is going to say don't cut them puppies past 24.3 and then discard is at 24.2. You up and cut them anyways, and Mrs. customer is back in a couple weeks with the brake shakes because the rotors were cut too thin, couldn't dissipate the heat, a warped on the ole girl.

Or better yet, you can't get an apprentice trained right on the lathe, they cut the zigs zags on in there, and now the car sounds like an airplane taking off while its trying to friggin slow down. I seen it too many times.

No these days were gonna take her down the road, give her to ole italian tune up, and get the cosmoline and crap off the rotors so the customer don't get passed in a cloud of smoke at the next red light.

After that, you just wait for them to call complaining that their engine is misfiring, or headlight is out and the brake job you did 6 months ago is the cause of it.