Trailer brakes

[OffTime]

Originally Posted by J-Mech

Make sure the trailer is grounded good. Do you ground to the frame of the trailer? Is the ground on the truck side good? I always check trailers with it completely disconnected from the truck, minus the plug. That way, you know if you have a ground issue. If it's hooked up, it could ground through the ball, and you don't want that.

I always do the same thing. I always say that you cannot overkill a ground. A ground must carry the amp load of all circuits combined. I know I am insane about connections, but I never use those crimp on or pinch on splices. I have had pretty good job security repairing those splices that fail. It is a liability issue. They should be outlawed. I always solder splices and then heat shrink the splice to seal it up. It definitely takes more time to do it this way, but the chances of a failure down the road are almost nothing. And I will repeat what Jonathan already said - there must be a proper ground through the trailer connector.

[OffTime]

I might add that for the sake of having brakes when I need brakes, I don't only ground the brakes the the frame of the trailer. I also run a 12 ga wire directly from the axles to the pig tail cord. That way there is no chance of a poor connection at the frame.

[J-Mech]

Originally Posted by OffTime

I always do the same thing. I always say that you cannot overkill a ground. A ground must carry the amp load of all circuits combined. I know I am insane about connections, but I never use those crimp on or pinch on splices. I have had pretty good job security repairing those splices that fail. It is a liability issue. They should be outlawed. I always solder splices and then heat shrink the splice to seal it up. It definitely takes more time to do it this way, but the chances of a failure down the road are almost nothing. And I will repeat what Jonathan already said - there must be a proper ground through the trailer connector.

I agree about the splice connectors!! I do the same thing. Solder and shrink wrap everything.

Had a guy come in the other day with trailer light problems. He was in a hurry, and I was working him in, (For lack of time I'm not going to tell the whole story) so I used a crimp on plug. (4 wire flat, which I HATE, but that's what the truck and trailer were already set up for) Anywho, he came back a week later with problems again. I apologized, and grabbed a new pigtail plug, soldered it in, told him that it should give him any trouble now. (No charge) Point is, crimp connectors never last. Good call.

[truckntran]

I am a holdout for crimp on connectors, properly crimped. Most of the sets out there have a cheap pliers type tool that will not give you a good crimp. If you use a long handled pliers style crimper you will have a much better success rate with crimp on connectors. I'm talking a tool that has no spot for strippers, and it puts a solid crimp in place, different one for insulated and uninsulated.

I'd prefer uninsulated crimp style connectors and shrink tubing myself. There is the issue of the soldered joints flexing and cracking right at the end of the solder on things like trailer axles that see a lot of flexing.

On my car trailer I run each pair of brakes on each side to a frame ground near the axles, and connect the other wires to the feed. Normally the usual problem is breaking of the wires if it either gets pinched between the axle and the frame, or the trailer gets airbound and pulls the wire apart. It took a few tries to get it right, those axles move more than you might think. I had my trailer on its side to do the wiring last time, which really helped get it done faster.

Jack up your trailer and apply 12 volts and aground to each magnet.....you should hear it go clunk against the drum, then as you turn the wheel forward, it should apply the barke to lock it up. One you know each individual brake is good, then wire the trailer up with grounds for each brake or each side, and feed wires to the front. Again, apply 12 volts, they should work. then, look into the trucks electric brake wiring.

Lots of troubleshooting stuff and wiring diagrams on the web...including two different wiring diagrams... match truck to trailer wiring because if you have one of each wire style it doesn't stop.

[OffTime]

Originally Posted by truckntran

I am a holdout for crimp on connectors, properly crimped. Most of the sets out there have a cheap pliers type tool that will not give you a good crimp. If you use a long handled pliers style crimper you will have a much better success rate with crimp on connectors. I'm talking a tool that has no spot for strippers, and it puts a solid crimp in place, different one for insulated and uninsulated.

I have that type of crimping pliers and have used them extensively. They definitely do a better crimp than most other pliers. However, my experience tells me they are still no match for soldered connections. They will still have a much greater chance of failure.

Originally Posted by truckntran

I'd prefer uninsulated crimp style connectors and shrink tubing myself. There is the issue of the soldered joints flexing and cracking right at the end of the solder on things like trailer axles that see a lot of flexing.

As to the cracking issue, I have wired multiple trailers and misc other as well. If the wires are routed properly, the wires will not break at the end of the solder. I have had zero problems with that.

[dale c.]

are the drums where the magnet runs flat the drums will wear a groove in them and the magnet won't come out of it to let the brakes apply

[olds45512]

we narrowed it down to the drums so we have a set on order. thanks

[gmbadgley]

Also make sure that the swing arm that the magnet is mounted to is not rusted up and actually swings and spreads the shoes. Had one in last week that had seized up.

Greg