Is a Gap Between a Trailer Brake Backing Plate and Drum Normal

Updated 04/25/2018 | Published 04/23/2018

Question:

hI,I ordered all four new brake plates and four drums and i installed the brake backing plates to the 5 bolt flange and installed the assembled drum over the shoes and i torqued the spindle nut to 50 ft. pnds. and then backed it off after pre load, I am seeing now that theres almost a half inch of space between the backing plate and the back face of the drum and i can see the shoes slightly when looking through the gap. It seem like the backing plate or mounting plate should be forward almost that half inch or the magnet will also be further away from the armature. Please let me know what your thoughts are.

asked by: Tom B

Expert Reply:

The slight gap you see is normal. The drum is not supposed to make contact with the brake mounting plate. There are some instances when mixing brands of brakes, hubs, and axles, that won't line up properly but in this case it is normal. I did also run it by another set of eyes just to make sure and we both came to the same conclusion.

expert reply by: Michael H