Help Brakes - 2011 Montana 346LBQ

acspencer · 03-25-2017, 03:32 PM

I have a 2014 F350 pulling my 2011 Montana 346LBQ.
My question is I read that you should be able to lock up the trailer tires doing about 20 to 25 MPH by engaging the brake controller fully. Is this true with this large of a camper?
I have the brake controller gain set to 10 and still does not lock up the tires. Do I need to replace the brakes? Any help would be great.
Thank you

Javi · 03-25-2017, 03:39 PM

No.... that's a great way to tear the linings off the shoes.

Set the controller to 6 and while driving between 3 and 5 mph on loose gravel it should lock and stop. Release the button and get your foot off the go pedal as soon as you see them lock. Adjust from there... remember to back off on the gain a bit for wet or slick roads.

Javi

acspencer · 03-25-2017, 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Javi

No.... that's a great way to tear the linings off the shoes.

Set the controller to 6 and while driving between 3 and 5 mph on loose gravel it should lock and stop. Release the button and get your foot off the go pedal as soon as you see them lock.

Javi

Thank you for the advice, I will try that.

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**chuckster57** · 03-25-2017, 03:41 PM

When you get to the big heavy trailers like your Montana, getting the wheels to lock up on pavement is difficult.

The brakes could probably use an adjustment unless they are self adjusting. Only way to tell if they are self adjusting without a build sheet is to pull a drum and look. If they are you will see a braided cable like the old parking brakes on rear drum brakes.

WaltBennett · 03-26-2017, 02:47 AM

A 2011 will have self adjusting brakes. Getting them to lock up would be only if you're on gravel, but that's still a maybe. What I do to check them is to first get rolling forward around 5 mph or so and try stopping with the paddles. That lets me know if they're working. At 20 mph, I doubt you'd be able to get them to lock up on anything but ice. There's a lot of weight in that rig!

If you're not getting a serious drag with the paddles at 5 mph bringing you to a stop, you may have had a seal or two fail, getting grease on the brake shoes, or one or more may be just worn out. Only way to tell is to pull your wheels and drums - it'd be a good idea to replace the seals when you do (they're very inexpensive).

acspencer · 03-26-2017, 02:49 AM

Thank you!!!

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Tom N OH · 03-27-2017, 01:18 PM

You do know that there are more trailer brake settings in the Driver Information Center on your truck, don't you? If you go into the menu on the dash display, there is, I believe, a "high" "medium" & "low" trailer brake setting. 2014 & up Ford Super Duties added this functionality. Also, you can try burnishing your trailer brakes. That helped mine on my Montana HC immensely. http://www.lci1.com/assets/content/s...ce_Manual_.pdf
Refer to PG 4 for the brake burnishing procedure.

dcg9381 · 03-28-2017, 01:31 PM

I've got a 35' Carbon model. Dual axle. Brakes on "10" won't lock on gravel. Too much trailer, not enough axles/brakes.

acspencer · 03-28-2017, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dcg9381

I've got a 35' Carbon model. Dual axle. Brakes on "10" won't lock on gravel. Too much trailer, not enough axles/brakes.

Thanks

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Webefulltime · 03-29-2017, 11:00 AM

Brakes possibly contaminated with grease?

gearhead · 03-29-2017, 12:18 PM

Get somewhere away from traffic and get going about 45mph. Set the controller on 5-7. Take your foot off the gas and use the paddle switch on the dash. If you can't feel it, you have issues. You might try to put the truck in neutral as well. Not sure if that creates any mechanical issues for Ford though.
It's not too bad a job to replace them. I ordered 4 new self adjusting assemblies (backing plate, shoes, & magnets) from eTrailer for less than $50 each. Get some waterproof butt connectors and heat shrinks for connecting the wires.

acspencer · 03-29-2017, 03:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gearhead

Get somewhere away from traffic and get going about 45mph. Set the controller on 5-7. Take your foot off the gas and use the paddle switch on the dash. If you can't feel it, you have issues. You might try to put the truck in neutral as well. Not sure if that creates any mechanical issues for Ford though.
It's not too bad a job to replace them. I ordered 4 new self adjusting assemblies (backing plate, shoes, & magnets) from eTrailer for less than $50 each. Get some waterproof butt connectors and heat shrinks for connecting the wires.

Thanks for the info.

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heatkits · 03-29-2017, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom N OH

You do know that there are more trailer brake settings in the Driver Information Center on your truck, don't you? If you go into the menu on the dash display, there is, I believe, a "high" "medium" & "low" trailer brake setting. 2014 & up Ford Super Duties added this functionality. Also, you can try burnishing your trailer brakes. That helped mine on my Montana HC immensely. http://www.lci1.com/assets/content/s...ce_Manual_.pdf
Refer to PG 4 for the brake burnishing procedure.

I had the same problem with my trailer 2015 (11K lbs) and 2016 F250... I looked for the trailer brake setting, but it wasn't until my last trip that I found it. The trailer had to be plugged in and the proper trailer selected (I Have 3 trailers with brakes). It popped up on the DIC and I selected the heaviest setting with the gain set at 10. Man, that was a mistake... darn near put me through the windshield and the smoke rolled out behind the trailer. Once I regained my composure, I set it down to medium and gain is down to 8. What a world of difference.

I alway thought the breaks were sub par on this trailer. I even took the wheels off at 8K miles for inspection, repack the bearings, burnish the shoes and readjustment of the breaks. But, that didn't make any difference.

I guess the reason why the trailer has to be plugged in for access to the settings is my other trailer have different breaking requirements.

acspencer · 03-29-2017, 03:32 PM

Thank you for this. I will hook up and test. Hopefully I have that setting on my 2014 f350

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acspencer · 04-07-2017, 04:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom N OH

You do know that there are more trailer brake settings in the Driver Information Center on your truck, don't you? If you go into the menu on the dash display, there is, I believe, a "high" "medium" & "low" trailer brake setting. 2014 & up Ford Super Duties added this functionality. Also, you can try burnishing your trailer brakes. That helped mine on my Montana HC immensely. http://www.lci1.com/assets/content/s...ce_Manual_.pdf
Refer to PG 4 for the brake burnishing procedure.

Not sure my truck has this setting. Hooked up today and went through all menu settings and cannot find it. Where do you find it?

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gearhead · 04-08-2017, 04:28 AM

I'm pretty sure it's in there. My ex-Ford had it. It's been over a year though.
Stop by any Ford dealer and get a service writer to show you.

acspencer · 04-08-2017, 05:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom N OH

You do know that there are more trailer brake settings in the Driver Information Center on your truck, don't you? If you go into the menu on the dash display, there is, I believe, a "high" "medium" & "low" trailer brake setting. 2014 & up Ford Super Duties added this functionality. Also, you can try burnishing your trailer brakes. That helped mine on my Montana HC immensely. http://www.lci1.com/assets/content/s...ce_Manual_.pdf
Refer to PG 4 for the brake burnishing procedure.

2014 does not have this setting. 2015 does.

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**JRTJH** · 04-08-2017, 05:20 AM

If I remember correctly (I've slept since then), Ford has two different dash layouts. One uses a small LED green dot screen for basic functions in the XL, and some XLT models. There is a 4" LED full color screen in the "upgraded models" (Lariat, King Ranch and Platinum) and that screen is optional on the XLT.

The multiple level brake controller settings (low, medium, high) are accessible in the upgraded models, but I don't remember seeing any way to access that feature on the smaller "green dot screen". It may be there, but I don't remember seeing it on my 2013 XLT SuperDuty.

acspencer · 04-08-2017, 05:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JRTJH

If I remember correctly (I've slept since then), Ford has two different dash layouts. One uses a small LED green dot screen for basic functions in the XL, and some XLT models. There is a 4" LED full color screen in the "upgraded models" (Lariat, King Ranch and Platinum) and that screen is optional on the XLT.

The multiple level brake controller settings (low, medium, high) are accessible in the upgraded models, but I don't remember seeing any way to access that feature on the smaller "green dot screen". It may be there, but I don't remember seeing it on my 2013 XLT SuperDuty.

Mine is the Platinum Series and I still don't have it

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Dave W · 04-08-2017, 05:57 AM

Of course you can always do the switch over to a disc brake arrangement as I will be doing in the next couple weeks. My '11 Ford has only the single brake assist setting and the 12K trailer has marginal stopping power on a good day. Not sure why these brakes are so marginal as the last 5er pulled by the same truck had the identical brake pieces and at about the same weight was much better.

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