4 yr lod gooseneck, adjusted brakes, cleaned magnets etc., brakes activate but do not hold. My pickup in drive will pull trailer at idle. Tried different tow vehicle, same results, so must be trailer related. Is it possible I am getting ground, but not enough ground to apply brakes fully? Is there something else I should be checking?
charles todd
Well-known Member
There are only two wires for the brakes; +12vdc FROM controller and -12vdc ground. Usually there are [b:706fed4834]TWO grounds[/b:706fed4834], one for lights and one for brakes. Also, if the ground from the truck is not getting to the trailer from the pigtail (trailer cord) the only grounding is thru the ball, not good. I'd also check the controller ground as well. I would check these first and formost, this corrects most issues.
If the ground checks out, then make sure the controller is outputing. at low levels it should show 5-7V (less than 12vdc), at max it should show roughly system voltage (12 ish engine off, 13-14 engine running). If this is true then the controller is most likey doing all it can.
The electric trailer brake is a simple device. If the magnets and not shorted and all springs are there then it should work if voltage and a good ground are present. When power is applied the magnet pulls against the backing plate on the drum and pulls the linkage to spread the shoes.
If you are getting no response it is possible the brakes are out of adjustment or the shoe are worn down. Jack up the trailer and adjust until the wheel cannot be turned, to set brake shoes. Then back off until a [b:706fed4834]light drag[/b:706fed4834] is felt. Repeat on all brakes. If they are adjusted like this and electricaly sound you should be able to [b:706fed4834]SMOKE[/b:706fed4834] the tires with an empty trailer and controller set to max.
Parting shot, if you are using a [b:706fed4834]6-wire plug or a 7-wire RV to 6-wire adapter there are two accepted ways to wire it up... Center pin brake, Center pin auxillary...[/b:706fed4834] Mine is wired Center auxillary. This burned my backside when I bought my trailer and hooked it up the first time. If you are using an adapter, it will be the only two wires with set screw connections, reverse them if in doubt.
Let us know how it turns out, good luck.
Charles
If the ground checks out, then make sure the controller is outputing. at low levels it should show 5-7V (less than 12vdc), at max it should show roughly system voltage (12 ish engine off, 13-14 engine running). If this is true then the controller is most likey doing all it can.
The electric trailer brake is a simple device. If the magnets and not shorted and all springs are there then it should work if voltage and a good ground are present. When power is applied the magnet pulls against the backing plate on the drum and pulls the linkage to spread the shoes.
If you are getting no response it is possible the brakes are out of adjustment or the shoe are worn down. Jack up the trailer and adjust until the wheel cannot be turned, to set brake shoes. Then back off until a [b:706fed4834]light drag[/b:706fed4834] is felt. Repeat on all brakes. If they are adjusted like this and electricaly sound you should be able to [b:706fed4834]SMOKE[/b:706fed4834] the tires with an empty trailer and controller set to max.
Parting shot, if you are using a [b:706fed4834]6-wire plug or a 7-wire RV to 6-wire adapter there are two accepted ways to wire it up... Center pin brake, Center pin auxillary...[/b:706fed4834] Mine is wired Center auxillary. This burned my backside when I bought my trailer and hooked it up the first time. If you are using an adapter, it will be the only two wires with set screw connections, reverse them if in doubt.
Let us know how it turns out, good luck.
Charles
Welding man
Well-known Member
- Location
- West Virginia
Dont't know about expert, but have been working on these things for about 30yrs.Are you sure all 4 brakes are working? Do you have the brake control adjusted to max output?Did you check the faces of the magnets where they contact the drum? The face of the magnet and the face of the drum has to be perfectly flat with no grooving to get maximum braking.Does the arm that the magnet hooks to,move back and forth freely,sometimes they rust up on the pivot pin and will not actuate the shoes. Are your shoes chrystallized. If you had a ground problem they likely wouldn't work at all.
ScottyHOMeY
Well-known Member
I wouldn't be sanding on the drums or shoes any. I really doubt that's your problem.
If you're going to take them apart wheel-by-wheel anyway, clean everything up with brake cleaner and make sure all your parts are clean and moving as they should. Do NOT be slapping lubes around in there. They accumulate dust and crud and bind up.
To quote a fellow I very much admire, if you can't fix it with a hammer, you have an electrical problem. I expect that's what you've got.
Make sure your magnets are clean, and there's nothign wrong with taking a ScotchBrite pad to the inner face of your drums.
Check and recheck where the wires pass through the backing plate to make sure they haven't chafed through and are shorting. In the end, it really sounds like the most common of trailer electrical problems -- the ground. You should have a ground blade on the truck side of your plug. First verify that that blade is grounded by using it as the ground to test the blade of one of your light circuits.
If that checks out okay, trace the wire for the corresponding pin on your trailer pigtail, and see to it that it is on a good wire that has a clean connection to the chassis of your trailer. Then check that the ground wires for your brakes have just as good a connection to the chassis. I have one trailer that gave me such problems with ground that I had a small belt welded onto the frame as a stud, and ran the ground wire from the pig tail and the ground wire from the brakes, soldered eyes onto each of them and bound them down on that one stud. That fixed a lot of squirrely sparks flyin' and not flyin' the way they should have on that trailer.
If something like that isn;t obvious, it's gonna be the ugly trace of each wire looking for a spot where it might have chafed through to whort.
The other thing you can do, I can't get to mine quickly, is try looking on Dexter Axle's site and see if you can find an online manual. I know they have a troubleshooting sequence for brakes in their paper manuals, that includes the impedances you should expect when testing for a faulty magnet as one other thing that might be wrong.
HTH
If you're going to take them apart wheel-by-wheel anyway, clean everything up with brake cleaner and make sure all your parts are clean and moving as they should. Do NOT be slapping lubes around in there. They accumulate dust and crud and bind up.
To quote a fellow I very much admire, if you can't fix it with a hammer, you have an electrical problem. I expect that's what you've got.
Make sure your magnets are clean, and there's nothign wrong with taking a ScotchBrite pad to the inner face of your drums.
Check and recheck where the wires pass through the backing plate to make sure they haven't chafed through and are shorting. In the end, it really sounds like the most common of trailer electrical problems -- the ground. You should have a ground blade on the truck side of your plug. First verify that that blade is grounded by using it as the ground to test the blade of one of your light circuits.
If that checks out okay, trace the wire for the corresponding pin on your trailer pigtail, and see to it that it is on a good wire that has a clean connection to the chassis of your trailer. Then check that the ground wires for your brakes have just as good a connection to the chassis. I have one trailer that gave me such problems with ground that I had a small belt welded onto the frame as a stud, and ran the ground wire from the pig tail and the ground wire from the brakes, soldered eyes onto each of them and bound them down on that one stud. That fixed a lot of squirrely sparks flyin' and not flyin' the way they should have on that trailer.
If something like that isn;t obvious, it's gonna be the ugly trace of each wire looking for a spot where it might have chafed through to whort.
The other thing you can do, I can't get to mine quickly, is try looking on Dexter Axle's site and see if you can find an online manual. I know they have a troubleshooting sequence for brakes in their paper manuals, that includes the impedances you should expect when testing for a faulty magnet as one other thing that might be wrong.
HTH
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
trade trailer
mattofvinings
Member
If you see *any* scotchlocks used...eliminate those first as a likely source of your problem.
They are pretty much *guaranteed* to fail eventually in an exterior application.
My suggestion is to use heat-shrink butt-splices in their place (or a bare-metal butt-splice, and then pre-apply your own length of heat-shrink tubing.)
They are pretty much *guaranteed* to fail eventually in an exterior application.
My suggestion is to use heat-shrink butt-splices in their place (or a bare-metal butt-splice, and then pre-apply your own length of heat-shrink tubing.)
Hook a battery straight up to your trailer brakes and see what happens then.
When you adjusted your brakes did you jack the wheels up and turn them while adjusting them? If not do so!
If they lock up in reverse rotation they are put on the wrong sides of the trailer. I've seen this before. The plate that the shoes are mounted to should have a decal stating right or left side. Left side being the driver's side.
Let us know what you find.
John in Illinois.
When you adjusted your brakes did you jack the wheels up and turn them while adjusting them? If not do so!
If they lock up in reverse rotation they are put on the wrong sides of the trailer. I've seen this before. The plate that the shoes are mounted to should have a decal stating right or left side. Left side being the driver's side.
Let us know what you find.
John in Illinois.
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