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Trailer brake adjustments

6.2Blazer

3/4 ton status
Joined
Feb 24, 2000
Posts
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Location
Ohio
I have the standard electric drum brakes on all four tires of my trailer. When I first got the trailer I only ran the adjustment on the controller about 1/2-2/3 towards the highest sitting and and the brakes felt really good. Over more use it seemed like I need to turn the adjustment up higher and higher on the controller to get the same amount of braking out of the trailer.

I pulled the drums off and they are non-self adjusting brakes...no problem, I adjusted like I would a normal drum brake (until you could just barely hear the shoes rubbing the drums). The linings looked good and the magnets had no unusual wear that I noticed (though I'm not that experienced with electric trailer brakes). However when loaded the brakes still seem very weak even with the controller turned all the way up.

Is there something I missed during the adjustments? Maybe I just need to adjust them more (simply thing to check I know...but the adjusters seem to be frozen up again even after just cleaning/lubing them so I would have to pull the tires/hubs again).

Are maybe the magnets worn? Would that cause this problem?

The wiring is crappy...uses all wire taps/scotch locks and not sealed, so everything is getting corroded. Could it just be corrossion and the higher resistance in the wiring? I plan to cut out all of the scotch locks and replace with decent "real" connectors, but was is a good way to test the output at the brakes (I have a multi-meter)?
 
6.2Blazer said:
The wiring is crappy...uses all wire taps/scotch locks and not sealed, so everything is getting corroded. Could it just be corrossion and the higher resistance in the wiring? I plan to cut out all of the scotch locks and replace with decent "real" connectors, but was is a good way to test the output at the brakes (I have a multi-meter)?


I would start here as well. Most electric brake instructions specifically say not to use scotch locks (mine did). I would solder all the connections and insure the wires are in good shape. If that doesn't fix it, at least you have headed off a future problem early.
 
JEBSR said:
I would start here as well. Most electric brake instructions specifically say not to use scotch locks (mine did). I would solder all the connections and insure the wires are in good shape. If that doesn't fix it, at least you have headed off a future problem early.

This is something I've wanted to do for awhile, and I've already started doing some connections. Never thought about looking at the wiring when I originally bought the trailer, just assumed it would have been higher quality. Lesson learned.............:rolleyes:
 

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