Trailer break problem. I need help, I;='m Stumped

[Oxford]

This smells to me. You say you've done everything, but the one thing you haven't done is put 12v directly to the magnet and back to ground from the same source, as has been suggestsped multiple times. Not through the plug, not with the hand "break",but with a good 12v source. They'll work then, I bet.

It's looking to me like you've been ginning yourself up to badmouth a particular business for four pages.

 

[nathon918]

also if the problem is on your truck, how can that be the trailer repair shops fault??
you had them fix the trailer not the truck, so if your truck wont work the trailer its not their fault...

as for the springs, ive seen trailers set up like both of the drawings you put up, just because your buddys and your other trailer are setup different doesnt mean that thats how all trailers are setup.

 

[confused8122]

I don't know for sure, so don't quote me.

The way the trailer suspension works, if you brake the trailer axles, it loads the rear axle and unloads the front. I'm not sure on the whole geometry thing, but I had built a trailer with two axles, brakes only on one. Didn't think it mattered so put brakes on front. Worked good, but noticed especially when empty that brakes applied, front axle would lift and rear drop. I then started looking at other trailers and notice that all other 2 axle trailers with 1 brake, have the brakes on rear. I promptly moved mine to the rear. Now I only notice when unloaded, but rear axle loads when braking. Makes sense to me.


You can quote me on this.... By moving the suspension to far in certain ways, ie. Jacking one axle almost lifting both off the ground, you can get one to 'flip'. You can unflip same way,

 

[sb47]

I got the shackles flipped and there the way there supposed to be. As far as testing the magnets and the break assemblies, the shop did that and did a direct test of them on a separate 12 volt system, on the bench, On each break assembly , so yes they were tested correctly.

If the problem is in the truck and the truck has been tested and works on not one but two different trailers and they work fine on other trailers, and again the truck was tested then it has to be in the trailer.
If there was a problem with the truck wiring then it would show up during a test and the other trailers would have similar problems.

By flipping the shackles on the front axel it doesn’t lift the front axel any more when the breaks are applied.
The breaks are working a lot better but now I have no turn signals on the trailer but no flashers and no break lights. And yes I checked all the fuses again and there all good.

I’ve built motors and installed them and had them running perfectly in shorter time then I have spent on this damn trailer.
I bet I have 30 hours on this trailer and its still not rite.

I’m no dummy, and when you pay someone the money I spent, it should be rite period.

I could have Easley have bought all the wire breaks hubs and did all the work myself, I’ve done it before several times and always had everything working.

It’s like paying someone to put new breaks on your car, they should get it rite.

Like I keep saying the truck has been tested and so has the trailer, more then once on each, so why can’t they figure it out. There supposed to be pros and know how to do the job rite. If you paid someone to do a break job on your car one would expect it to stop, the first time and every time.
Hell I can just start replacing one thing at a time till I get it fixed, you pay a pro so they can only fix what is needed and not do like me and just start replacing everything. Any jo blow can do that.

I keep telling you guys everything has been tested several times. Even the break controller itself.
Everything had been tested and gone through from the battery to the controller and from the controller to the bumper plug plus everything on the trailer.

Anyone want to buy a trailer?lol

 

[sb47]

It’s going back on Monday and I’m leaving the truck with it and I don’t want ether one of them back till its rite. If they have to rewire the truck and put in a new controller and rewire the trailer then that’s what there going to have to do.
I’m sick of it and I can’t take it anymore!
I’ve lost a weeks work just jacking with this stupid trailer.

And just so you know if it can’t be fixed I can and will burn both the truck and trailer to the ground, just for spite!

I’m at that point where I don’t give a #### anymore!

Sorry for the rant and thanks for all the suggestions but people keep saying the same thing and all those things has been replaced or tested, more then once by more then one person.

 

[Oxford]

If you've put a week and $500 into wiring on a utility trailer and it still doesn't work, I don't know what to tell you, other than you and your friends don't understand electricity.

If you, not the shop, not your buddy, you have isolated each brake by energizing it with a battery charger and hearing the magnet go clunk, then move up the chain by energizing each brake at successive junctions until you find the one that doesn't make it go clunk. If the trailer is using the frame as a ground, then remove the ground connection, grind it to bright clean metal, then remake the connection with a stainless screw and star washer, and connect the (-) terminal of your power source to the ground that the trailer is using.

From your description of lights working intermittently, incorrectly, or not at all, my suspicion is that you have a nest of corrosion, a bunch of broken wires, a skun wire somewhere, or a bad ground. You could buy a test plug, or change the plug on your trailer to dispense with the adapter, or just whine and moan about how the people you pestered into helping you haven't done a good job in spite of your willingness to not leave the truck for testing.

 

[sb47]

If you've put a week and $500 into wiring on a utility trailer and it still doesn't work, I don't know what to tell you, other than you and your friends don't understand electricity.

If you, not the shop, not your buddy, you have isolated each brake by energizing it with a battery charger and hearing the magnet go clunk, then move up the chain by energizing each brake at successive junctions until you find the one that doesn't make it go clunk. If the trailer is using the frame as a ground, then remove the ground connection, grind it to bright clean metal, then remake the connection with a stainless screw and star washer, and connect the (-) terminal of your power source to the ground that the trailer is using.

From your description of lights working intermittently, incorrectly, or not at all, my suspicion is that you have a nest of corrosion, a bunch of broken wires, a skun wire somewhere, or a bad ground. You could buy a test plug, or change the plug on your trailer to dispense with the adapter, or just whine and moan about how the people you pestered into helping you haven't done a good job in spite of your willingness to not leave the truck for testing.

You still seem to not understand, the truck and all the cercits have been tested by a pro shop that does nothing but work on and sell trailer for over 17 years. they use thousand dollar equipment to do there testing. so yes once again the truck has been tested by a pro shop. not a mom and pop shop that doesn't know what there doing or some friend that clams to know what to do.
this one shop does nothing but work and test and fix 18 wheeler s so i feel like they know what there doing. they have been testing and fixing my 18 wheeler trucks for 20 years. and they have always got it rite.
so quit saying i'm having armatures look at it.

I've done a visual check of the entire wiring and there is no shorting going on from worn rubbed through wires.

 

[sb47]

I’m no pro but I do know one wire is a hot, the other is a ground, the running lights are on there leg and the blinkers and turn signals are on another(together) and the breaks are on a different line.

So you have a positive, a ground a left turn and rite turn witch works on the same circuit and the emergancy signals running lights and break lights, it’s not that hard.

 

[nathon918]

You still seem to not understand, the truck and all the cercits have been tested by a pro shop that does nothing but work on and sell trailer for over 17 years. they use thousand dollar equipment to do there testing. so yes once again the truck has been tested by a pro shop. not a mom and pop shop that doesn't know what there doing or some friend that clams to know what to do.
this one shop does nothing but work and test and fix 18 wheelers so i feel like they know what there doing. they have been testing and fixing my 18 wheeler trucks for 20 years. and they have always got it rite.
so quit saying i'm having armatures look at it.

I've done a visual check of the entire wiring and there is no shorting going on from worn rubbed through wires.

"does nothing but work and test and fix 18 wheelers"
since when do 18 wheelers have electric brakes???

a visual check of the OUTSIDE of the wire doesnt mean :censored: if its corroded on the INSIDE!
you claim you could do it yourself, yet you brought it somewhere after you tried to fix it? i know you said you didnt want to just throw parts at it, thats why you went to the shop, but in your first post you said you bought new parts before you even tried to diagnose the problem.
if you had just put power DIRECTLY to the actuator (NOT through the trailer wireing) to visualy see that it works, and your other trailer works fine with the truck, then the next LOGICAL thing to do would be to check or just replace the trailer wireing, electrical doesnt get much more simple than a 12v negitave ground system.
just replace the wireing and be DONE with it.

 

[nathon918]

also you brought this to a "PRO SHOP" that does nothing but 18 wheelers,
just because its a pro shop doesnt mean theyre better, theyre getting paid a hell of alot more to work on fleet trucks, and trailers than what theyre going to make off of you, what job do you think theyre going to focus on, small no money trailer job or something that they can make more money on?
they would be more likely to get your trailer out of their shop as fast as possible so they can make some real money.
even if you have been going there for a long time, its still a buisiness, and they need to make money.

 

[sb47]

also you brought this to a "PRO SHOP" that does nothing but 18 wheelers,
just because its a pro shop doesnt mean theyre better, theyre getting paid a hell of alot more to work on fleet trucks, and trailers than what theyre going to make off of you, what job do you think theyre going to focus on, small no money trailer job or something that they can make more money on?
they would be more likely to get your trailer out of their shop as fast as possible so they can make some real money.
even if you have been going there for a long time, its still a buisiness, and they need to make money.

Perhaps you didn’t understand, the 18 wheeler shop that I had worked out of for 12 years are what I consider more then just a shop looking to make money, there also personal friends that I have spent weekends with there entire family. I’ve done them favors and that have done them for me.
At the time I took my truck and trailer there, they had an empty shop with no paying jobs at the moment. And they spent 2 hours looking and probing. And didn’t want a dime for there trouble, even though I offered.
They didn’t rush me out the door, in fact I had to leave to make another appointment or they would have welcomed me all day. In fact Gus invited me to his ranch for a weekend when I get the chance. There friends and didn’t blow me off.

The trailers shop that I let do the work is a smaller trailer shop where they only sell small to fairly large trailers of all kinds, anything from 10 foot single flat bed’s to cargo trailers of all sizes, horse haulers, car haulers. And so on. Up 40 foot 4 axel goosenecks.
So there specialty is sales and service of small trailers, not 18 wheelers.
So the people that did the work that I didn’t do are pros at what they do, because that’s all they do and have been there 17 years with a shop that is kept so clean it still looks new after all these years. So they are doing something rite.


One would think that after only selling and servicing small trailers in the same place for that long, they would be qualified to do a quality job.
I understand that everyone can make mistakes no mater how good or how long you have been doing it.
That’s why its going back, so they can check it again, and have the opportunity to get it rite.
I’m just frustrated that it’s been such a pain in the ass and have been venting a little bit.

My guess is it’s something simple that just hasn’t been discovered yet, even with all the work that has already been done.

Like they always say, it’s always in the last place you look.lol

 

[sb47]

If you can’t trust your equipment with someone with that kind of longevity and specializes in the field you need, then who can you trust?

 

[Jam67es]

Run a temporary ground wire from frame to frame.

 

[sb47]

Run a temporary ground wire from frame to frame.

Did that already!

 

[lone wolf]

Did that already!

Did you try a 12 volt battery charger at low amps to the brakes to see if the truck is at fault?

 

[deepsouth]

The best thing I ever did with the basic small box trailer I bought, 7' x 4', was to rewire it.

It had the cheapest nastiest Chinese 5 core wire, barely insulated, and connections that were only twisted together and taped - not even crimped, let alone soldered.

The actual trailer isn't badly made, but the electrical was shocking.

Only went there after the lights were dull, blew a couple of fuses on the tow vehicle, then broke the light housings so decided to fix it proper, fit LEDs and make it how I wanted it.


Just bought a new trailer - it has a minor electrical issue to resolve (dull clearance light) and I'm yet to test the brakes.

 

[triptester]

Did that already!

The temporary wire must be run from the magnet all the way to the trailer connection not just from frame to frame. The wire between the brake and frame is subject to allot of flexing due to axle movement which could cause internal breaking of wire strands not allowing the wire to carry full load amperage.

 

[sb47]

Well today I decided to blow off some steam and have some fun so I hooked my race trailer (the cargo trailer) and headed to the track to do some long awaited and needed riding.
The trailer worked like a charm. When I got to the end of my street (speed limit 30 mph)
And got to the stop sign, I used the hand break only and only gave it about 4 volts on the meter and the trailer stopped me all on its own with no help from the truck. And it only has breaks on one axel.
I dialed her back down to around 3 so when I used the foot break the trailer can only get 3 volts and the trailer stopped just as expected depending on how hard I pushed the foot break on the truck.

Spent the day riding and having a blast, I feel much better now. I’ll deal with the other trailer next week.

Hooked up one of my riding buddies trailers and my used controller and truck to work there breaks and they worked like they should.

Here is a little air shot from today!

 

[Frank Boyer]

90% of the techs in most shops know very little about trouble shooting/testing electrical problems. They check for 12 volts with a test light and then say it is a tough one. A voltage drop test will show the circuit from the battery to the load on both the pos and neg side. It should not take 2 hours to test and repair trailer circuits. A shop that does trailers should have long test leads made up and can do the voltage drop test on both side in 15 to 20 minutes. If one or both sides fail finding the exact problem should not take over another 30 minutes. You can check for bad controlers, switches, FUSE BLOCKS, connectors, and wiring with a simple test.
GOOD LUCK

 

[naturelover]

Hmm, are your grease seals seeping?

(only thing I could think of that hasn't been mentioned....)