trailer brakes

[bigblock_doc]

I have a 2009 Classic enclosed trailer. Classic is now out of bussiness.

Problem started back then. When it rained or snowed or slushy, I had no

brakes. This was with my 03 TD. Had a prodigy unit on it. Next day

worked fine. Only failed when wet. Then it started getting weak braking.

Adjusted brakes, seemed fine. Later, weak again. Bought the new

Prodigy, same thing weak braking, pull the lever over and could not

lock up the brakes. Lived with it. Bought new 2012 dually TD with the

intergraded modual. Still weak braking. Pull lever over and it won't stop

the truck. Put all new brakes on. New backing plate assys. , with all new

hardware. Ran new wires from the rear of the trailer where the six wire

splits up, to the wheels. Have 12volt power, but still weak braking.

Pull the lever over on #10 and still truck idles away.

Please help. Am I missing something? Help.

Thanks

Doc

 

[Hoefler]

Check your ground. Make sure the wheels are grounded to the frame or have a wire run to the front. Make sure the ground wire in the plug is securely grounded to the frame and the brake wire if it is run up to the tongue. I rewired my enclosed trailer and ran ground wires to the front and to the frame, tied it all together with the ground from the plug.

 

[NIsaacs]

Check your ground.





I agree. The ground on a trailer is key. Without the trucks ground, the trailer does not have one by itself. The hitch usually only grounds intermittently. Do your clearance lights dim when you step on the brakes?



Nick

 

[bigblock_doc]

All grounds good. All been remade with the install of a ground bus bar at the rear

of the trailer. Also a new plug with another ground wire that is screwed to the tongue.

I guess next is to ground each wheel to the frame. Been wrenching for 40 years now,

and I know how important grounds are on trailers, but... I'm missing something, but

what?

Thanks, Doc

 

[Mark31]

What effect does jacking the trailer off the ball have on lights and brake "buzz"?

 

[bighammer]

I have a sort of similar issue. Brakes worked on one trailer, and I added electric brakes to another trailer. They didn't work so I figured I had done something wrong. Next time I used trailer #1, brakes didn't work on there either. I can hear the brakes on both, but neither are strong enough to lock up. (also using a Prodigy)

 

[NIsaacs]

This may not apply but it's possible that the brakes are on backwards. With complete brake assemblies, including the backing plate there is a front and back and also a left and right. If you notice, trailers don't brake very well in reverse.



Nick

 

[Bill Stockard]

Have your truck ready to tow your trailer. Disconnect the trailer electrical cord to the truck to prevent back feeding the cnotroller. Pull the plug out of the breakaway switch (assuming your trailer breakaway battery is in good condition) and immediately put the truck in gear and try pulling the trailer. Do not leave the plug out of the breakaway switch very long or it will burn up the brake magnets. If the brakes hold, it's your brake controller or the wiring between the brake controller and the trailer. A good place to check is the connector on the back of the factory 7-way receptacle for corrosion.



Bill

 

[JMetzger]

Not to knock Prodigy Brake Controllers but when I had mine I could never lock my brakes on my Holiday Rambler but since I installed the MsxBrake I can lock the brakes any time if I want to, Just a thought

 

[Mark31]

Have your truck ready to tow your trailer. Pull the plug out of the breakaway switch (assuming your trailer breakaway battery is in good condition) and immediately put the truck in gear and try pulling the trailer. Do not leave the plug out of the breakaway switch very long or it will burn up the brake magnets. If the brakes hold, it's your brake controller or the wiring between the brake controller and the trailer. A good place to check is the connector on the back of the factory 7-way receptacle for corrosion.



Bill

My McElrath trailer has a decal by the battery box that says the trailer should be unplugged from the truck when "pulling the plug" to keep from damaging the controller.

 

[Bill Stockard]

My McElrath trailer has a decal by the battery box that says the trailer should be unplugged from the truck when "pulling the plug" to keep from damaging the controller.

You are correct. Some brake controllers can be damaged from back-feeding them. I should have mention that in my suggestion. The test I mentioned would yield the same results if the trailer electrical plug was disconnected by eliminating the truck from the trailer brakes.



Bill

 

[bigblock_doc]

Will try that later. But... did that test earlier. Truck drove away. Tested voltage

and found 6volts coming out of the switch. Bought new switch and have battery

voltage on both ends now. But still idles away. Looked inside, I can see what

looks like a set of points. Looks like they need a quick file job to get rid of

corrision. Still trying.

 

[Mark31]

Doc, my "electric" prowess is limited to not much more than changing bulbs and cleaning grounds, so I feel kinda like a kindergartener talking to a rocket scientist. An old school codger would scream and holler at me if I ever mentioned the word "file" in the same sentence with points. He said even the finest files damaged the tungsten(?) coating and if cleaning them with a business card or a folded dollar bill with maybe a little cleaner on them didn't fix 'em, they needed to be replaced. He said any "fix" that I got from filing would be temporary. The most baffling ground problem I had was on my 88 S15 GMC. Trailer lights would, wouldn't work, blow bulbs. Finally figured out the ground in the truck harness wasn't always good, cut into the harness and grounded to the frame and all is (still) well. "Old Codger" would make me check all grounds 3 times before he would help. What is so good (bad?) about it is that it usually fixed the problem! Another thing I have come to believe in is ground wiring with bigger wire all the way to the plug instead of grounding to points on a trailer and having to pick it up later. End of kindergarten lesson . Mark

 

[bigblock_doc]

Have you seen the size of the wires at the back side of the 7 wire plug. Pretty

small. Going to add a second ground wire on the truck side. Your teacher is right.

In the old school it was OK to file and reset the dwell. Just replace them, they

were cheap back then.

 

[mwilson]

Doc,



Is it possible that the axles were installed backwards at the factory, you came along and replaced them the same way???



Here is a link to a picture of a Right Hand Side Brake... look at the first page. That is a RH brake assembly. I used a 12" X 2" just for reference.





http://dexteraxle.com/i/u/6149609/f/600-8K_Cat_1-12/12x2_Inch_Brakes_1-12.pdf





Here is a link to the Dexter Troubleshooting Manual. Has a lot of good info including what gauge wire vs. distance and wheel count. How to test amps and volts at the magnets, etc. . Read the whole thing, troubleshooting is down the page a bit.



Maybe something in there that will help you.



http://dexteraxle.com/i/u/6149609/f/6-8K_Service_Manual_1-12/Electric_Brakes_1-12.pdf



Mike.

 

[bigblock_doc]

Thanks Mike. Will study it.

Doc

 

[bigblock_doc]

Thanks Mike. Put brakes on right out of the box, listed as right side or left side and

was the same as I pulled off.

 

[mwilson]

You may have already mentioned this, but did you just do shoes or did you buy the new braking units that include the shoes, magnets, backing plates, etc. . ???



If so then it looks like you are back to an electrical issue, take an multi-tester and do the tests in the trouble shooting guide for volts and amps.

Hope you find it, that would drive me nuts after all that work and then still have crappy brakes.



Mike.

 

[Teich]

sounds like a ground issue, go to each wheel , have someone apply the brake you should hear the mabnet "click" at each wheel,should be quite loud , get your booster cables and hook one end to trailer frame and other end to truck, try again. If all thie doesn't work unplug trailer get a good battery used jumper wires hook to brake terminal and ground or trailer frame actually do both ways see if you hear the brakes, jack up one wheel at a time turn wheel try brakes should stop instantly. If all this still doesn't work remove the wheels and check each magnet see that the pucks are clean and the surface they grab on to is clean. Laurie

 

[jelag]

The simple way to test this is to install a volt meter at one of the wheels and look at the voltage as someone moves the brake lever in the cab... the volt meter should move from about 2 volts up to 13 volts. If you don't see than you have a connection problem someplace in the circuit... I can't look over your shoulder but you missed something.



If you do have good voltage you've to to look at the surface of the magnets and the surface of the brake drums... as you pull the brake lever across its movement a screw driver or putty knife should be pulled towards the magnet and as the power comes up it should be harder to pull away... .



Hope this helps... .