joshuabardwell
Elite Member
Every time I hook up my trailer, I do a little "skid-test" on the brakes to make sure they're adjusted right. Yesterday, when I did that, they didn't pull very hard at all. I jacked the trailer up and applied the brake button on the controller, then spun the wheels by hand, and I could feel the brakes pulling a little, but not very much. I could still turn the wheels by hand, which I'm sure isn't right.
A little background. The trailer is fairly new. It has about 300 miles on it. When it ticked over 300, I adjusted the brakes, per manufacturer's recommendations. I adjusted the pads so they were just barely scraping the drums when the wheel was spun and no brakes were applied. Then the trailer sat for a while until I pulled it out yesterday to use it.
Another variable that's worth mentioning is that the truck I was using yesterday is a different truck than I have ever used the trailer on before, so I'm not 100% sure that the issue isn't in the truck.
Anyway, I checked voltage on the brake pin in the truck's connector and it was 12.5 volts with the brakes applied. Then I went on to checking ground and realized I don't 100% know what I should be looking for. On the trailer, there was about 2 ohms between the ground pin on the connector and the grounding screw that the brake disconnect battery uses (which is grounded to the frame of the trailer). On the truck, I wasn't 100% sure what to use as a ground. I tried the bumper, the hitch, and the ball, and got continuity, but different, wildly varying ohm readings. I'm not 100% sure it wasn't because my hand wasn't very steady with the test lead, though.
I have tried to find a concise set of troubleshooting steps, but everything I find just says, "Be sure you have a good ground." Okay. Can anybody give me any more details on how to do that?
PS: I haven't checked voltage at the brakes or anything like that because I got tired of being out in the sun and decided to work on it some more later.
A little background. The trailer is fairly new. It has about 300 miles on it. When it ticked over 300, I adjusted the brakes, per manufacturer's recommendations. I adjusted the pads so they were just barely scraping the drums when the wheel was spun and no brakes were applied. Then the trailer sat for a while until I pulled it out yesterday to use it.
Another variable that's worth mentioning is that the truck I was using yesterday is a different truck than I have ever used the trailer on before, so I'm not 100% sure that the issue isn't in the truck.
Anyway, I checked voltage on the brake pin in the truck's connector and it was 12.5 volts with the brakes applied. Then I went on to checking ground and realized I don't 100% know what I should be looking for. On the trailer, there was about 2 ohms between the ground pin on the connector and the grounding screw that the brake disconnect battery uses (which is grounded to the frame of the trailer). On the truck, I wasn't 100% sure what to use as a ground. I tried the bumper, the hitch, and the ball, and got continuity, but different, wildly varying ohm readings. I'm not 100% sure it wasn't because my hand wasn't very steady with the test lead, though.
I have tried to find a concise set of troubleshooting steps, but everything I find just says, "Be sure you have a good ground." Okay. Can anybody give me any more details on how to do that?
PS: I haven't checked voltage at the brakes or anything like that because I got tired of being out in the sun and decided to work on it some more later.