Trailer tongue leveling and brake controller questions

[s219]

So I started hauling my Kubota B2920 on a 16' landscape trailer a couple weeks ago, and it's going well. However, I want to fine tune a few things and was hoping folks here could weigh in.

First is the angle of the trailer tongue. I have a drawbar that gives 3/4" rise or 2" drop (from what I can tell, this is the least range I can buy). Right now, it's mounted for 3/4" rise. With both an empty trailer and loaded trailer, the tongue always angles up towards the ball (note: this is with the proper 10% tongue weight per a scale).

I want to try flipping the drawbar to the 2" drop, but my measurements suggest it will be very close to level unloaded, with the chance of angling downward (very slightly) when loaded with tractor.

Based on that, am I better off with a good bit of upward angle as it is now, or a slight amount of downward angle I'd get if I flip the drawbar?

Second, I setup my brake controller (Tekonsha Prodigy) as directed by the instructions, and a setting of 6.0V works great for the empty trailer. This brakes to just before lockup at 25mph. While driving around, the braking works great on this setting when empty -- feels natural, with no additional push or pull imposed on the vehicle itself.

With the tractor loaded, I could tell I needed a higher voltage. I went as high as 8.5V and never got the brakes to lockup at 25mph. However, that setting, and settings down to about 7.5V, are obviously too high while driving. They cause the trailer to over-brake the vehicle and makes the rear end of the vehicle squat. Dialing down to a setting of 7.0V feels about perfect with the tractor loaded -- nice and natural.

Does that seem reasonable? Per the instructions, I was thinking I should be finding the "lockup imminent" voltage with the tractor loaded, and back off from that, but I never got that high since the voltage levels were obviously too strong for normal driving.

Thanks!

 

[dodge man]

Sounds like you have your brake controller setup fine to me. It seems like there was some debate on another thread on weather your trailer should lock up the brakes with a load or not. It seemed like most people, myself included didn't think you should really be able to lock up your brakes on your trailer with a load on it.

As far as the drop of your hitch, unless your hauling a really heavy load, I'm not sure it matter that much. You should be able to find a larger variety of hitch drops, I know I have seen them that are more or less zero drop or rise.

 

[JB4310]

So I started hauling my Kubota B2920 on a 16' landscape trailer a couple weeks ago, and it's going well. However, I want to fine tune a few things and was hoping folks here could weigh in.

First is the angle of the trailer tongue. I have a drawbar that gives 3/4" rise or 2" drop (from what I can tell, this is the least range I can buy). Right now, it's mounted for 3/4" rise. With both an empty trailer and loaded trailer, the tongue always angles up towards the ball (note: this is with the proper 10% tongue weight per a scale).

I want to try flipping the drawbar to the 2" drop, but my measurements suggest it will be very close to level unloaded, with the chance of angling downward (very slightly) when loaded with tractor.

Based on that, am I better off with a good bit of upward angle as it is now, or a slight amount of downward angle I'd get if I flip the drawbar?

Second, I setup my brake controller (Tekonsha Prodigy) as directed by the instructions, and a setting of 6.0V works great for the empty trailer. This brakes to just before lockup at 25mph. While driving around, the braking works great on this setting when empty -- feels natural, with no additional push or pull imposed on the vehicle itself.

With the tractor loaded, I could tell I needed a higher voltage. I went as high as 8.5V and never got the brakes to lockup at 25mph. However, that setting, and settings down to about 7.5V, are obviously too high while driving. They cause the trailer to over-brake the vehicle and makes the rear end of the vehicle squat. Dialing down to a setting of 7.0V feels about perfect with the tractor loaded -- nice and natural.

Does that seem reasonable? Per the instructions, I was thinking I should be finding the "lockup imminent" voltage with the tractor loaded, and back off from that, but I never got that high since the voltage levels were obviously too strong for normal driving.

Thanks!

For the tongue angle, try it flipped, sounds like it would be better if it looks off one way dropping 2 inches might be just right, Loaded or empty should not change the angle much. Otherwise you will have to get a different insert. My 2 trailers have the adjustable couplers, where I can raise or lower the coupler for the perfect level set.

On the brake controller, I fine tune mine on the go, I use less power when empty and increase when loaded. I think that's pretty common practice.

JB

 

[Diamondpilot]

Your controller seems fine. As you noted you need to get your trailer as near to level loaded as possible. 1 or 2 inches is not going to be a big deal if its off a little.

Chris

 

[rasimmo]

as others have said the brakes sound about right to me. I don't want mine locking up with a load either.
For the leveling you may look at an adjustable hitch. I have the B&W tow & stow which works good for me, but there are several options.

 

[Dmace]

Turn the hitch to drop it, I find a trailer pulls straighter when angled slightly down towards the truck than when it's angled up (hitch higher than trailer). Level is the target but not always easy.

As far as braking, you'll always have to adjust the gain going from empty to loaded. I like my brakes setup to just before lockup and if you can't lock them up when stopped and loaded then you dont know how well your brakes are working.

 

[s219]

Thanks for the great feedback guys, I appreciate it!

 

[JB4310]

Both my dumper and my flatbed have this type of adjustable tongue/ coupler.

Easy to set up to get the trailer as level as possible and easy to replace the coupler or swap between ball and pintle.

I wouldn't invest in an expensive 5 ton or up trailer that didn't have this feature.

JB

 

[s219]

I got my drawbar flipped tonight, and the trailer looks real good now. But it was quite a spectacle getting the work done. For whatever reason, I could not get the ball loosened from my original drawbar. In fact, I actually tore my vise off my workbench cranking on it with a long wrench. That threw me backward onto the hood of my wife's car, and sent a chainsaw on a nearby shelf flying in on top of me (thankfully it was in a scabbard). Talk about nuts. After that, I decided to just buy a new drawbar and ball -- I'll fight with the old one another day once I get my vise remounted. The new drawbar dropped me an additional 1/2" compared to the old one, and now things look just about perfect when loaded up.

 

[jejeosborne]

First of all congratulations for choosing a very good aftermarket brake controller. I owned that exact model after first trying the cheaper timer based units. Realize that the maximum gain you are setting will be what is sent to the trailer during an emergency stop. Any reduction for comfort will increase your stopping distance in an emergency event. Look to the right of the letter "C" on your display. If there is a decimal point to the right, your boost is turned on. There are three levels of boost which basically tells the controller what level to start at during a braking event. Try turning that off or lowering the boost value and you should see a big difference. Sounds to me that the boost is on because I kept my controller maxed out when I had a loaded trailer and still made comfortable stops.


Here is a link to the manual describing this setting:
http://www.tekonsha.com/content/downloads/installation/N90885.pdf

Jeff