Trailer Brakes weak, Why????

[Tail_Gunner]

I've been beating my brains out trying to figure out why my trailer brakes are weak. I can turn the controller up to full max, and can only feel minimal brake pull from the trailer. It has to be something forward of the trailer ball, since I've pulled 3 different dual axle trailers and all 3 have weak braking action. A friend pulled one of the trailers with his truck and tried manually applying the trailer brakes. The the stop was so abrupt he thought the air bag was going to deploy. (Well, almost )

The truck has the factory towing package and I plugged my Tekonsha Prodigy controller into the connector under the dash. I have the same problem even though I tried a different Prodigy controller. I even ran a special 10 ga. wire direct from the battery to the controller and another 10 ga wire to the brake contact in the trailer plug-in at the rear bumper.

Any ideas?

 

[Max Power]

Try another brand of controller. You could short the blue wire to the red wire and see if that locks them up solid. Do this while stopped or you will go through the windshield. If that is the case then you know it is the controller.

 

[Frankenstien]

Had a similar problem,

the short of it was; The gauge of wire used to go from the controler to the connector was not beefy enough, went from the 14/16 guage wire that came with the kit to a 10 guage, made all the difference in the world. I did purchase a different controler thinking that was the problem.... That was a waste of 75 bucks... any way hope this gives you some food for thought. By the way I was getting the Full 13 + - volts to the connector with the the smaller wire... however I beleave once the wire was under a load it started to lose its Umph...

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Well, I tried something else, yesterday. I ran twin 12 ga wires direct from the battery to the controller (yes, there's a fuse in there) and another 12 ga wire from the battery neg to the controller's ground. So as of now, the only wire in truck's harness that is being used is the one for the brake light signal.

The bad news, it didn't help anything. I think the next thing to try is to rig a temp on/off switch direct from battery to brakes as previously suggested. I ought to be able to unplug the controller and just put a jumper wire with the switch for a brake test.

I'll report results when able.

 

[JimmyDee]

Instead of shotgunning the problem, put a volt meter on the wiring right at each brake hub. Turn up the controller and manually activate then check the voltage. If it is close to 12 volts, probably no problem with the wiring.
If no problem with wiring, disassemble the brake drums and you should find your problem. I have seen the problem as simple as grease on the magnetic surface not allowing the brake to activate enough.

Jim

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Instead of shotgunning the problem, put a volt meter on the wiring right at each brake hub.

I see what you're saying, but problem with that approach is I have the same problem with 3 different trailers. The chance of having the the same problem on all 3 trailers is nill. My problem has to be forward of the hitch ball since the truck is the one thing that is common.

 

[JimmyDee]

My problem has to be forward of the hitch ball since the truck is the one thing that is common.

Sorry, didn't see this in the original post.
Jim

 

[trackspeeder]

It can be a faulty ground.

 

[Tail_Gunner]

It can be a faulty ground.

I tried a "jumper ground wire" between the trailer and truck, it didn't seem to improve anything.

I'm still planning on trying a toggle switch test, replacing the Prodigy controller with a tempoary toggle switch. I have just been too busy lately to conduct the test.

 

[powerboatr]

brake

As i read this i reflected on a similiar problem i had in my 92 f250.
Turned out to be the wire connections inside the 7 way connector at the bumper.
I would get great brakes most often at first roll, then they would come and go and never all there when I needed them. cost me over 200 to find out.
the little screws to hold the lugs on were not tight. less then finger and i assume the lug would float and get intermitent connection.

I tried a "jumper ground wire" between the trailer and truck, it didn't seem to improve anything.

I'm still planning on trying a toggle switch test, replacing the Prodigy controller with a tempoary toggle switch. I have just been too busy lately to conduct the test.