Trailer brake effectiveness less than expected after adjustment.

[RickReichert]

Originally Posted by MarkEHansen

We just inspected and repacked the wheel bearings on our trailer. As part of this job, we cleaned up the brake shoes and magnets (there was some grime, but not really any grease - like from a failed seal). We also cleaned out the brake drums.

We then adjusted the brake shoes according to the manual.

Upon test pulling the trailer, I initially moved my brake controller gain down to 5, but in subsequent test stops, kept increasing the gain all the way back to 10 (this is the max gain on my truck) and still not much "pull" from the trailer when I actuate the trailer brakes using the brake controller manual lever.

It's hard to describe how much "pull" there is, but the braking action is definitely not enough to lock up the trailer wheels. This is when running at around 25mph and applying full deflection on the manual lever.

I would expect that for my trailer, which is pretty light at the moment, and full brake controller gain that we should get the tires to lock up.

Now with our truck we tow with tow mode and the exhaust brake on so the trailer brakes are not used much anyway. I'm really just wondering if I'm adjusting them correctly or if there's a potential problem with them.

Any advice?

Thanks,

What did you"clean up the brake shoes" with?

[chuckster57]

We use brake parts cleaner. Since we are in calif it’s the non chlorinated type. Use a clean rag. Spray the shoe and wipe in a downward motion.

[Ken / Claudia]

Thanks John and Chuck, good tips.

[skids]

I had a Jayco 195RB that was incapable of locking the brakes, even on gravel. Several other owners claimed the same thing. Reportedly, Dexter said that not all brakes are capable of lock-up. That trailer was a single axle rated at 3500lbs (D35). Funny, The Keystone Bullet 248RKS also has Dexter D35 axles but has two of them. I don't remember the size of the drums on the Jayco, but since the tire sizes are the same as the keystone, I wonder how good the trailer brakes are on it. My wife was on the gravel road where I was testing and I locked the brakes on the Keystone. She affirmed it, but you really couldn't tell from the cab that it was happening.

[LewisB]

I'm not sure about your Chevy, but our 2017 Ford F350 DRW has the built in break controller that includes the dash "manual" lever and a digital output display. In the dash system programming for the brake controller, there is a general selection area for programming multiple trailers. Each trailer can be set so far as general braking effort (something like small, medium, and large). So we have a 16' cargo tandem axle trailer that we have set to "medium" and we also have our Raptor toy-hauler we set to "large". I don't think those are the actual terms, but you get the idea. The built in programming allows the setup of multiple trailers and you can select the general breaking effort for each individual trailer. Then, when the trailer is connected, you tell the controller which trailer you are towing and the general braking effort is pre-programmed. Then when you set the "gain", it begins with the pre-programmed level of effort for the appropriate size/weight trailer...
...all that being said, is is possible that your trailer set-up on the truck is set for too small a trailer with too low of a breaking effort for what you are towing? Just a thought...