Trailer brakes?

[Royboy]

I have one wheel that locks up tight when applying the brakes with a load or empty and it does not matter how the controller is adjusted. The drum is shinny in both the magnet area and shoe surface. There is no oil present on backing plate or drum. I checked the ohms on the magnet and got 4.7. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Could you have a short in another wire causing some extra juice to it?

 

[Michael Soldan]

You can check the magnet with your test light, apply power and with your grounded test light poke around the magnet holes where the fine wires show..if your test light lights up you have a short. It does sound like the magnet and actuator are working but an electrical malfunction seems the culprit as you have adjusted the shoes. I do a lot of trailer brakes for a friend and buying the whole wheel set(backing plate, shoes,magnet and actuator) as a unit is by far the cheapest way to go. Before doing this go back to the tow vehicle..is everything wired OK on it? I ask because I thought I had a trailer with a broken wire only to find out that one of the connections on the truck's plug had corroded and broke off. If you can, do you have a friend with a truck wired for trailers?, would be nice to check and see how the trailer performs on another vehicle, then you would know whether it was a trailer problem or the truck's wiring. Your description of the drum pretty much says the actuator is putting on the brake and the brake is working properly,a more intense electrical current seems to be causing the problem, so starting with the truck might be a good move. In regards to wheel kits, I was getting them at Carquest for $56 complete, while buying the parts would be$90, four bolts and two wires to solder and the wheel brakes are swapped out, you save a lot of labour as well. Good luck with it, let us know what you find.