gary350
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We should have gone camping today it is going to snow 6" tonight.
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Post by gary350 on Oct 16, 2016 4:41:48 GMT -8
180 mile return trip home brake controller set on 4.0 left tire on driver size started locking up sliding the tire.
I changed control at 3.5 tire stopped locking up but breaking hard trailer tries to turn pushing back end of SUV to one side this almost forces me off the road.
I set control on 3.0 this is better but after driving a while lots of breaking on mountain road wheel starts locking up again.
I set controller on 2.5 this is better for a while then it gets worse.
I set controller on 2.0 this was ok the last 50 miles home break on left seem about right but brake on right. Controller is set too low for right brake to work.
What is going on?
What should i look for when i take it apart?
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Post by bigbill on Oct 16, 2016 6:41:38 GMT -8
My first thoughts would be bad/wrong size wires causing a high resistance which was aggravated by the extended use of brakes in the hills or a defective controller heating up and changing values. When you say locking up do you mean tire sliding when you hit brakes or wheel locking up even when brakes not applied? if all of your wiring is good and of the proper size then I would suspect a magnet failure on one side causing the other to be doing all the braking and the trailer to twist sideways when brakes applied. We need a lot more information to offer any more than general advice, such as was both wheels locking up at first or just one, do you have a grease seal leaking on one wheel, are your bearings adjusted properly, are the brakes adjusted right. There are so many things that could be causing this that an exact answer is tough. Your final sentence makes me think you should start at the right side looking for your problem.
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gary350
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We should have gone camping today it is going to snow 6" tonight.
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Post by gary350 on Oct 16, 2016 7:21:30 GMT -8
There is 1 brake wire in the center of the trailer it connects to 2 wires, 1 wire to each wheel. Same signal from controller goes to both wheels. It worked good for many camping trips in the past with controller set of 4.
Now with controller set on 4 left wheel brakes so hard the tire slides but right wheel is fine.
Set controller on 2 left wheel is braking a little too much but is ok like that to get home, right wheel is braking almost none.
Wheels have new grease seals and new Red Lucas grease.
Last sentence above I am saying brake signal is too low for the right wheel set on 2 to brake. When controller was set on 2 before there was almost no brakes on either wheel. Now left wheel has too much braking set on 2.
Something is wrong making left wheel brake too hard?
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Post by bigbill on Oct 16, 2016 8:27:29 GMT -8
From that information it sounds like the right wheel has a broken wire, bad connection or a bad magnet. if it isn't getting proper power or is not using it, that would make the left brake stronger causing what you are describing. Check your wiring from where they divide to the magnet for a problem, if you are sure they are fine then may have bad magnet. Wire could be broke inside insulation so if all looks good check current at magnet before buying a new one.
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gary350
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We should have gone camping today it is going to snow 6" tonight.
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Post by gary350 on Oct 16, 2016 11:30:43 GMT -8
Left wheel never locked up in the past on 2 or 4 or 6. Now it is almost locked up on 2 and will lock up in gravel on 1. The right wheel has not changed.
I will call Midway trailer sales tomorrow.
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azshastanut
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Post by azshastanut on Oct 16, 2016 12:06:36 GMT -8
I would pull the left side wheel and drum and inspect the complete brake assembly. I had one that did that and blew a tire when it totally locked up. I pulled the tire and drum only to discover that a spring had broken and allowed the adjuster to jam the shoes onto the drum.
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gary350
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We should have gone camping today it is going to snow 6" tonight.
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Post by gary350 on Oct 16, 2016 12:38:00 GMT -8
I jacked the left back wheel up. It is stuck. 2 of us pulled and pulled and tugged and pulled we finally got the wheel to turn a little bit. The chrome wheel is solid black probably dust from brake shoes. Probably not a good idea to pull this anywhere with the brake this tight.
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bullseye17
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Post by bullseye17 on Oct 17, 2016 17:17:38 GMT -8
There should be an adjuster that you can get to through the back of the brake assembly that will allow you to manually back off the brake. That's assuming there isn't something severely wrong with it like a broken spring it. I'd bet you either have something broken, OR somehow that brake got adjusted way too tight somehow.
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gary350
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We should have gone camping today it is going to snow 6" tonight.
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Post by gary350 on Oct 20, 2016 12:26:59 GMT -8
The auto brake adjuster was not working right. Auto adjuster only works when you back up. I had to take both wheels off to see how the good working brake is suppose to work to fix the bad brake.
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Post by bigbill on Oct 21, 2016 6:05:29 GMT -8
You should have noticed the wheel locking up even when you were not applying the brakes. Anytime you notice a "weird" action when towing your trailer you should pull over at the first safe place and do a complete walk around, checking for both visual clues and smells. I also carefully touch my wheels and tires, this will alert you to problems if one is hotter than the other or if both are excessively hot. A hot tire can signal low air pressure and a blow out waiting to happen. If I discover a hot wheel I check for a dragging brake or a bearing problem. The reason I said carefully touch a dragging brake can cause enough heat to burn you. On a hot summer day after many miles things will be warm but you want to look for excessive temperatures.
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