Dexter Nev-R-Adjust Brakes - One Brake Is Much Tighter Than The Other 3

Updated 12/22/2025 | Published 10/12/2024

Question:

Hi, I recently bought 4, Dexter Nevr adjusr brake assemblies. They are 12 inch, 7000lb units. After install and several hundred miles of driving, I have 1 wheel that is much tighter than the other 3. So its getting hot. I feel the other 3 are not adjusting up. Do I need to manually adjust them? They will lock up if my trailer is empty, but not even close when loaded. Where should I start to fix this?

asked by: Kevin L

Expert Reply:

Hello Kevin, thanks for reaching out. Since you have already driven with these brakes a lot, the shoes should be properly seated to the drum. New breaks do need to be broken in to get full braking power. This is usually done by speeding the truck up to about 40 mph then using the manual override on your brake controller to slow the vehicle to about 20 mph. Repeating this process 30 or so times until the brakes are nice and hot and this should allow the brake shoes to seat into the hub. This may be the case with the other 3 brake assemblies, but it wouldn't really explain why the one is adjusted so much higher.

If the brakes are seated properly, the only option will be to manually adjust them. Just do so carefully and only a little bit at a time. Proper adjustment is where the hub can be turned by hand, but it does not spin freely.

expert reply by: Jesse M

Jesse M.

12/22/2025

Hey Kevin, how did things go after you manually adjusted the Dexter brake assemblies? It’d be great to know if that evened out the braking and stopped the one wheel from heating up. Your update could make it easier for others troubleshooting the same issue.