Need stronger brakes, what can I do?

[Renze]

In Europe electric brakes are a rarity, surge brakes are the standard. I rebuilt my 1991 trailer 3 years ago with new bowden cables, and shoes on one axle. Cost 50 euro. Havent touched it ever since, and you really feel it slowing you down..

If you want to drive safe, you have to throw away and start over every now and then, whether bowden cables or electrics, both get resistance over the years, and its not worth your time to mess with it for too long because parts are cheap.

 

[Renze]

Good luck to OP on improving the stopping power. Nothing is more concerning than being pushed into an intersection by your load.

That requires an anticipating driving style, which commercial drivers driving 80k lbs with 500hp have. Hot shots that drive 20k with a 350hp pickup truck, usually dont, most people dont adapt their driving style to the weight they tow.

 

[4570Man]

From your first post

Statements like that remind me of those guys I regularly see with 3/4 ton pickups hauling overloaded 24 foot trailers texting on their cell phones and tailgating cars. I see idiot commercial truckers doing the same thing and they have better potential stopping power than pickups pulling trailers with electric brakes.

The longer your wire runs get the less effective they are. Every connection is a weak point in terms of added line resistance too. Every crimp connection junction point corrodes in time and bad/poor crimps are weak points I.e. butt and spade connections. Soldering stranded wires will cause problems. Avoid aluminum wiring, cheap crimp tools and cheap aluminum connectors.

PEJ5s advise is bang on.

You cut from a post that wasn’t mine because I never said anything about not being able to stop. When I was towing with a 1 ton I had outstanding trailer brakes. On my 6500 the trailer brakes aren’t very good but the 6500 has way more brakes than the 1 ton truck. Even with no help from the trailer brakes the 6500 stops it with authority where the pickup is pretty useless trying to stop that much without help.

 

[Fallon]

Most every electric brake I have seen has a crimp splice where the end of the wires from the magnet connect to the trailer wiring harness. Crimp connectors are not a good idea (at least up here). As for the ground, I weld a stainless bolt to the frame where the trailer wire harness meets the first part of the frame that's not bolted on, at each light, and each brake. That provides a great path to ground that will never corrode. Another problem I find is that where wires ground the company that built the trailer just uses a self drilling screw. It works fine when new but sooner or later rust or corrosion is going impact how well the connection is made. Anything that's connected I solder and if I need to use a ring lug for ground I only use gold plated one that I crimp then solder. You could also check the gauge of the wire. If it's 16 or smaller you could start to see a voltage drop when under full braking.

Crimp connectors are fine... if you are using the right crimpers & crimp connectors.

Scotchlock type connectors are always trash anywhere. The standard hard red/blue/yellow ring, spade & butt crimp connectors are good if they arent in the weather & properly crimped with a good crimper. If water can get into the connection things will corode. But there are nicer connectors that you heat shrink on after crimping. Those quality heatshrink ones work great even in the wet.

 

[LouNY]

Has anyone gone with the disk brakes and the electric hydraulic controls?
If so how do you like them?

 

[BWSwede]

Thanks for all the replies guys. There is a lot to unpack here.

Ovrszd: I use the trailer to haul my 10,500 pound tractor. Yes, they drum brakes. After reading your post I wonder if my shoes are glazed or contaminated. I have noticed on the outside of the hubs that oil from the grease has seeped out is is causing dirt to collect on the bearing cover. I wonder if this seeping could also be on the pads via contact with the drums. I'll have to think about this a bit.

TMGT: During my last panic stop when I had the slider all the way over I thought I only saw "12" showing. I'll have to check this as it may be a contributing factor.

AWSUBIE: Before I start driving I set the voltage all the way to max. I vary the boost during my drive depending on the type of road I am on, how fast I am travelling, and the traffic conditions.

I'll post back after I do some investigating. I sure hope I don't have to change out all my brake components and rewire my truck and trailer.

Thanks again,
Blane

 

[Rock Crawler]

What is the magnet face and the drum face looking like? After years of use the drum face that the magnet grabs gets severely grooved and worn as does the magnets. I blame that for my poor performance of a 17 year old trailer. 2 years ago I replaced my backing plates with complete loaded assemblies as well as replaced the 17 year old drums, I completely stripped and re-wired the trailer and only soldered. I was amazed at the new brake performance compared to what it was like before.

I ordered loaded backing plates from a place called Trailer Parts Depot (I think that was the name) online and was actually surprised at how cheaply I could buy full loaded backing plates. I did run a dedicated ground for brakes, but grounded all of the newly installed LED lights with self tapping screws.

 

[ovrszd]

If you see any oil seepage, that unit has minimal braking power. So if you see that on 2 wheels, you only have half your brakes working.

I've tried roughing up the shoe surface to gain life but that's a waste.

 

[AWSubie]

Now I'm wondering if it is a simple case of the shoe adjusters not being extended enough to allow the shoes to fully grab when the magnet has engaged and the shoe lever has reached full travel. I know its a pain in the behind, but pulling your hubs and checking the adjusters and the resistance through the magnets would go along way to isolating the problem.

 

[4570Man]

You can adjust the shoes tighter without pulling the hubs or at least you can on my trailer. I’m not certain that you can loosen them though so be careful not to adjust too tight.