Need stronger brakes, what can I do?

[LouNY]

I guess that would depend on how much you are towing and how well you wish to stop,
and the load on your trailer compared to your tow vehicle.
Lots of hills or high traffic areas, heavy loads 2 grand isn't that much.
Or go spend $80,000 on a 4500 or 5500 series tow vehicle and get a CDL.

 

[mljenkins]

Sorry. This got long.

If you can lock all four wheels empty then the brake controller, wiring, and electric brakes are operational. A good thing. The brake controller works by providing a higher voltage to the brake magnets during heavy braking. Yes, the boost on the Prodigy determines the minimum/starting voltage. The contoller works on inertia so standing on the vehicle brakes will cause the electric brake controller to apply more voltage than when you just touch the vehicle brakes.

The factory wiring and length is the issue IMHO. I estimate that you could be losing 25% of your trailer braking power. Without getting too electical...

Each brake likely draws 5 amps at full braking so that is 20 amps on the brake wire/ground on a dual axle trailer. The higher the current (amps), the greater the voltage loss in the wiring and the lower the voltage getting to the brakes. Not good! The problem is that the length of the wire from the battery, through the controller, to the trailer axles is maybe 35feet+ on a big truck and long trailer.

If you have a multimeter you can do a test to confirm the issue. With the truck running and trailer connected, have someone fully squeeze the controller manual trigger as you measure the voltage at various spots. You may find 16 volts at the battery, 14v at the hitch connector and 12v at the electric brakes. 25% loss!

I estimate that icreasing the gage of the wiring to 8AWG (on both the positive and ground) will reduce your loss to 5% . That may not be practical so 10gage =8% loss. Not bad.

Run heavy wire directly from the battery post, through a auto resetting 30amp relay to the the controller input. Run extension cord type wiring from the brake controller back to the 7 pin connector. Two 12ga wires twisted together = one 9 gage wire. For the ground use the frame as you ground "wire" except at the hitch connector. For that run a short 8gage from the 7pin connector to you truck frame and the same on the trailer side - Big bolts, sanded frame and then paint over. Take the ground wires from your electric brakes to good frame grounds close to the axles.

That should make a huge difference.

I totally agree with this advice. The only thing I'll offer is on my last 2006 1500 Silverado it already had the wiring for the trailer brake. I had to get a connector and tie the Prodigity harness into it so it basically plugged in under the dash and things worked fine. I towed a larger gooseneck horse trailer with the truck and had no issues with the Prodigity controller since it was inertia based. I had one of the cheaper time based controllers at first and I got rid of it after the first time pulling it.

If the op cannot lock the trailer tires with the controller set to max boost at around 15mph when activating the plunger manually, then the issue is either the brakes or the wiring, and from quickly reading through the thread it seems wiring may be more likely the issue. Also, check the grounding wires, not just the positive brake wires. My horse trailer I had was grounded to the steel frame, and sometimes it would not get a good ground and cause the brakes to fade or completely go out. I ended up replacing where it was grounded to the frame with a better connector.

 

[4570Man]

I guess that would depend on how much you are towing and how well you wish to stop,
and the load on your trailer compared to your tow vehicle.
Lots of hills or high traffic areas, heavy loads 2 grand isn't that much.
Or go spend $80,000 on a 4500 or 5500 series tow vehicle and get a CDL.

Done, but I didn’t spend anything close to 80k. Maybe for the more reasonable approach just get a heavier axel that’ll have bigger brakes on the trailer.

 

[4570Man]

Done, but I didn’t spend anything close to 80k. Maybe for the more reasonable approach just get a heavier axel that’ll have bigger brakes in the trailer.

 

[LouNY]

View attachment 607926

Good sized truck and with the trailer being a dual wheeled tandem axle should have any problem with any legal sized load,
is the truck juice or air on the brakes?
I came to appreciate the maxi brake air systems, no air no go.

 

[4570Man]

It’s hydraulic with electric brakes on the trailer. It would be a lot better if truck and trailer was air brakes.

 

[North to Alaska]

I壇 be more inclined to use that $2000 to trade up for a new trailer.

The OP has a 14k trailer. I don't normally see them go that cheap.

 

[North to Alaska]

I壇 be more inclined to use that $2000 to trade up for a new trailer.

Agreed! Especially if it is an occasional use trailer - pretty expensive upgrade.

Having an accident because your 14k trailer that is hauling 10k worth of tractor while using cheap drum brakes is even more expensive.

 

[4570Man]

The OP has a 14k trailer. I don't normally see them go that cheap.

No but assuming the resale is 80-90 percent an additional 2 k would go a long way.

 

[North to Alaska]

I壇 be more inclined to use that $2000 to trade up for a new trailer.

No but assuming the resale is 80-90 percent an additional 2 k would go a long way.

We can compromise.
Get a new trailer with the the electric over hydraulic already on...
PJ Trailers Hydraulic Disc Trailer Brakes