what would be the best way to test to se if your tralier brakes are working in your trailer.
trailer brake test (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter fj40taz
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lx450landcruiser
Moderator
electric or parking?
if its parking just put her on a slight hill and put the brake on?
if its parking just put her on a slight hill and put the brake on?
- Thread starter
- #3
the electric brakes for a 16' trailer.
not sure they are working, i have the brake booster in the truck and all but it never seems to kick them on....
not sure they are working, i have the brake booster in the truck and all but it never seems to kick them on....
With the trailer empty, you should be able to turn up the controller until the tires squeal. If you can't feel them working then they probably aren't.
The correct way to adjust your controller is to do just that - on dry level pavement slowly adjust the current up and manually apply the controller until the tires skid, then back off a little.
You probably have a wiring problem somewhere, either in the socket or trailer plug, or at the brakes themselves. It may be a crappy trailer ground - this is REALLY common and one of the first things to check! I like to wire the trailer ground through separate wires to the brakes and lights rather than relying on an "iffy" frame ground path. Read this page:
How to Wire your Car or Truck for Trailer Lights
The Dexter site has a ton of resources for troubleshooting:
Dexter Axle - Trailer Axles and Running Gear Components - RESOURCE LIBRARY
AT the very least you will need a decent digital volt/ ohm meter to do the testing. Radio Shack has some affordable ones for less than $40 - you don't need a $200 Fluke. Make sure the meter has a DC amps rating of 10 amps or more - you can use that to quickly check brake magnet operation, but you have to cut each magnet wire at the splice, then re-attach afterwards.
What controller do you have? Some like the Tekonsha P3 have built in diagnostics that let you know exactly what is going on:
Good luck.
John Davies
Spokane WA
You probably have a wiring problem somewhere, either in the socket or trailer plug, or at the brakes themselves. It may be a crappy trailer ground - this is REALLY common and one of the first things to check! I like to wire the trailer ground through separate wires to the brakes and lights rather than relying on an "iffy" frame ground path. Read this page:
How to Wire your Car or Truck for Trailer Lights
The Dexter site has a ton of resources for troubleshooting:
Dexter Axle - Trailer Axles and Running Gear Components - RESOURCE LIBRARY
AT the very least you will need a decent digital volt/ ohm meter to do the testing. Radio Shack has some affordable ones for less than $40 - you don't need a $200 Fluke. Make sure the meter has a DC amps rating of 10 amps or more - you can use that to quickly check brake magnet operation, but you have to cut each magnet wire at the splice, then re-attach afterwards.
What controller do you have? Some like the Tekonsha P3 have built in diagnostics that let you know exactly what is going on:
Good luck.
John Davies
Spokane WA
What John said. On my Prodigy instructions said drive slowly on level ground and apply just the trailer brakes with the controller. On the Prodigy, that's the movement of the lever on the bottom side of the controller to manually apply the brakes. You should be able to stop. If you can't, then adjust.
