Brake Controller Question???

[JooolesM]

Hi, I currently am pulling a 2,500 lbs Aliner Expedition with my 2024 Sequoia when traveling on vacation. The trailer is light and I barely notice it back there when I'm pulling it. However ......

My previous car was a Mazda CX-5, arguably the wrong car to be pulling even this relatively light trailer. The electric brakes on the Aliner were actuated via an RF device inside the vehicle. With that system, I could add considerable trailer breaking, easily locking up those wheels if I wanted to.

Given my Sequoia has a brake controller and detects the trailer whenever I plug in the seven-pin plug, I removed the wiring for the RF system. However, even with the gain turned up to 10, and / or actuating the dash controller, it's impossible to lock up the trailer wheels. I can easily stop the trailer, but I'm wondering if the braking is working at all, since I can barely feel it braking.

Anyone know what I'm doing wrong? How do I test this? It's important to figure out what's going on, since I'm planning to upgrade to a trailer more than twice the weight of my Aliner. Would appreciate any advice!!!

 

[JooolesM]

I've since confirmed, the brake controller IS braking the trailer wheels ... just not enough to lock them up for setting purposes ... even with the gain set at 10. I don't know what, if anything, to do next.

 

[BlackSequoia04]

Have you done your annual trailer brake adjustment?

 

[JooolesM]

No I didn't. Electric brakes need to be adjusted every year? Eight years' owning my Aliner, no one ever told me that.

 

[BlackSequoia04]

There’s always more to learn. It sounds like taking off your trailers tires and hubs to look at your pads and magnet is the place to start. I’m guessing your RF controller sent through max voltage which caused the tires to lock up (which is a bad thing) and has worn down the pads. Hopefully they just need adjusting but if the pads are 1/16th of an inch or less than the brake assembly on both sides should be replaced. I’m not an expert. My understanding is to tighten the pads annually. Drive the trailer on a flat road at 20MPH with a brake gain of about 5 take your foot off the gas and manually engage the trailer brakes. The desired result is a gentle slowing of the car and trailer. Too tight and the brakes lock up. Too loose and you don’t feel braking.

 

[JooolesM]

I really appreciate your reply, @BlackSequoia04.

It sounds like taking off your trailers tires and hubs to look at your pads and magnet is the place to start.

The mobile RV tech simply jacked up the trailer and verified the tires stopped rotating when I applied the brakes. He said that it was unlikely the pads were worn, based on the amount to time I used the trailer. I thought the brakes were self-adjusting like most drum brakes are. So when I saw your comment on "annually adjusting the brakes," I was startled. The trailer's been in for service with my dealer for many times, and never did this experienced RV dealer mentioned needing them being adjusted on any schedule. They did repack the axle bearings a few years back, saying that this service would have my brakes checked as well.

I’m guessing your RF controller sent through max voltage which caused the tires to lock up (which is a bad thing) and has worn down the pads.

That's not exactly true. The in-cab RF controller had both a push-button feature to actuate just the trailer brakes (for example, in the event of sway) and a dial. When you start out, if the dial is turned up too high, you noticed it right away; it was something I usually checked as a pre-trip item. The only way the tires could have locked up for an extended period was if I somehow spun up the dial on the RF controller while riding on the expressay, and left it there for an extended period. That's possible but unlikely but, if there was a risk of that, I could see the rationale for checking the pads (again?).

I never tried your simple test of seeing if the trailer brakes would gradually slow the rig, but that test is coming. But I've only used the trailer once this year, and I'm not sure if I'm going to even have time to use it again before de-winterizing. I have a call into my RV guy because, based on your idea, perhaps he should have actually checked the pads at least on one wheel while he was here.