Spike in trailer braking!?

[BWagnaar]

So my girlfriend has this 2 horse slant/tack room trailer with tandem axles and a stout construction. The thing almost weighs 3,500lbs. It hadn't been towed in a long time and we used it the other day and found that if you barely touched the brake pedal just enough to get the brake light to come on the trailer brakes would jolt on hard. It was horrible at speed below 10-15 mph. I adjusted the Power Pod (i think thats what it is) from Reese and it would still jolt. If i had it turned all the way down it would still have the initial jolt from the brakes and then it wouldn't help with braking. If i had it turned all the way up it would jolt and then brake hard. Is there something i can do about the initial jolt of braking so the horses dont kiss the wall every time the brake lights come on.



Thanks

 

[rweis]

I would take the drums off and inspect the brake shoes and hardware. The first braking of the day of brakes that work well have a thin surface of rust on them, then they generally work well (assuming adjusted properly).



Brake shoes can absorbe water and act very oddly. You said it had not been towed in a while. Pull the drums, repack the bearings and change what needs to be changed (bearings are cheap compared to trailers or horses), then manually adjust the brakes so they just kiss the drums lightly ad back off so the drum turns freely.



That will give you a starting point to then adjust the controller knowing you have good mechanicals.



Bob Weis

 

[DonTX]

A cheapie brake controller will do that too. More expensive ones actually "ramp up" the voltage rather then just giving a full jolt when the brake light circuit energizes. Sounds primarily like rust on the drums though, did it get any better as you pulled it?

 

[jelag]

I've brake drums with so much rust from sitting that the brake shoes are damaged from the rusty surface... . This will damage the friction... . Like rweis stated its time to take them apart and inspect them...

 

[WestTN]

I had that problem with my travel trailer and solved it. You will find the the brake wires run through the axle. In time, the wiring insulation wears through and allows a tmeporary short to ground when the brakes are applied and you hit a bump. This does not blow a fuse because the brake controller is a current regulator. The solution is to cut the wires where they enter the axle and run wires outside the axle to the other side. Fasten them to the axle with tye-wraps.

 

[rweis]

I changed my internal axle wiring (that shorted out) with underground rated 12/2 from Home Depot zip tied to the top of the axle. The only flex point is getting the wire from the frame of the RV to the axle. I put in a double loop of 12/2 and have had no problems with it.



12/2 will have zero problems carrying what ever current the brakes need and with a huge safety factor.



Bob Weis