Travelling through mountains... lost trailer brakes!!

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1down

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Apr 4, 2017
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Belen NM
Set out this morning with our new used 5th wheel.  Trailer brakes working fine.  Then started getting message from 2015 3500hd that the "trailer brakes need serviced" and i would have no trailer brakes.  This became more frequent and of longer duration as the 400 mile trip progressed.  The problem would come and go but became progressively worse until I had no trailer brakes at all the last 100 miles from Payson to Mesa.  Fortunately the engine brake provided excellent braking. 
Any ideas on the cause of the progressive brake disappearance?
 
I'd suggest buying an IR gun and shoot the tires and brakes periodically to see if they are dragging and overheating.

What year, make and model truck and trailer do you have?



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Travelling through mountains... lost trailer brakes!!

Set out this morning with our new used 5th wheel.  Trailer brakes working fine


Hummmm ...  being a semi truck driver for over 36 yrs .....    all I can say is that I have seen this a LOT . Could it be possibly be driver fault ?  LOTS of people have absolutely NO idea how to go down ( or up ) hills/mountains properly . ( and yes , that includes a LOT of these "new" truck drivers out here today )
Lets here about  HOW your going down the hills  and we can go from there . Don't always be so fast  to make it equipment  failure/fault .
 
Likely an intermittent electrical fault, check connector, wires, wires inside axle tube and brake magnets.
 
I would start with the electrical connections, especially the plug/receptacle where the trailer hooks to the tow vehicle.

That message isn't very helpful. Is it from a RAM built-in (MOPAR factory installed) brake controller or an add-on? If  something that was added, what brand & model?  Most Tekonsha controllers give more specific messages concerning the type of fault. If Ram (MOPAR), what does your Ram owner manual say about it? And what settings are you using on it?
 
Arch Hoagland said:
I'd suggest buying an IR gun and shoot the tires and brakes periodically to see if they are dragging and overheating.

What year, make and model truck and trailer do you have?



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I shot the tires with my IR gun... all were within a couple degrees of each other..  73 to 74 degrees.

Thanks for the profIle advice ...
 
lynnmor said:
Likely an intermittent electrical fault, check connector, wires, wires inside axle tube and brake magnets.

I was thinking intermittent but the problem grew steadily.

This is a used trailer that hadn't seen much road use.  It had the original tires from 2004 when I bought it two months ago.  A friend bought it used , with not much use, and  he used it parked as a second home for work. 
I'm wondering if some corrosion  hasn't set in.
 
Gary RVer Emeritus said:
I would start with the electrical connections, especially the plug/receptacle where the trailer hooks to the tow vehicle.

That message isn't very helpful. Is it from a RAM built-in (MOPAR factory installed) brake controller or an add-on? If  something that was added, what brand & model?  Most Tekonsha controllers give more specific messages concerning the type of fault. If Ram (MOPAR), what does your Ram owner manual say about it? And what settings are you using on it?

Yep.  I unplugged several times in order to reset the truck info readout.  It worked at first, the truck recognized that a trailer was plugged in but when I hit the brakes it would give me the "trailer brakes need service" message.  The problem became more frequent and longer duration as the trip wore on until the truck built in brake controller would no longer interface with the trailer brakes.
 
1down said:
I was thinking intermittent but the problem grew steadily.

This is a used trailer that hadn't seen much road use.  It had the original tires from 2004 when I bought it two months ago.  A friend bought it used , with not much use, and  he used it parked as a second home for work. 
I'm wondering if some corrosion  hasn't set in.

I hope the tires your have on it now aren't the originals. If they are, you need to replace them ASAP. RV tires are typically only good for 8 or 9 years at the most even if the tread looks new.
 
Rene T said:
I hope the tires your have on it now aren't the originals. If they are, you need to replace them ASAP. RV tires are typically only good for 8 or 9 years at the most even if the tread looks new.

New tires were installed last week.
 
1down said:
Yep.  I unplugged several times in order to reset the truck info readout.  It worked at first, the truck recognized that a trailer was plugged in but when I hit the brakes it would give me the "trailer brakes need service" message.  The problem became more frequent and longer duration as the trip wore on until the truck built in brake controller would no longer interface with the trailer brakes.

Once the controller would no longer interface with trailer brakes, you stopped, unplugged trailer cable, replugged in and brakes still wouldn't work? Just wondering what else was tried after it got to the would no longer interface stage.

I know that road from Payson to Mesa (my dad lives in Payson). That's quite a road to go down, especially when just leaving Payson, without brakes. Fortunately there has been some good improvements made to that road to make it somewhat safer, and really glad you made it down safely.
 
Although your fault sounds electrical, it doesn't hurt to check the brake pads either. Axles by Lippert tend to use extremely cheap grease seals which allow the bearing grease to heat up then blow out all over the inside of the drum, brake pads, and magnets.  I speak from experience.  You can check them with a good flashlight by crawling under the rig and peeking between the backing plate and the drum. If it is greased, you will see it everywhere. 
 
1down.....no disrespect intended, but if you had early warnings about the trailer brakes not working correctly, why would you continue on a 400 mile trip, especially through the mountains?  Glad you made it safely, but that could have been a story with a not so happy ending.
 
Just for curiosity, what would inform the brake controller that the trailer brakes need servicing?

Is it just that it doesn't see a reasonable load on the brake circuit?

My Prodigy only lets me know it sees the trailer brakes are connected.
 
Do you have a factory option installed controller?

If so I would suspect the controller.  Do check your wiring and and pads as suggested, but IMO if they seem to work and lock up appropriately I would look at the controller.  IMO truck manufacturers have managed to screw up everything that was once simple and reliable, like a dash mounted brake controller.
 
Gods Country said:
IMO truck manufacturers have managed to screw up everything that was once simple and reliable, like a dash mounted brake controller.


LOL - I agree. No troubles with my factory controller so far (knock wood) but I have heard horror stories of troubled systems where the truck dealer says the controller is ok and the RV dealer says the trailer brakes are ok. Well then why don't my brakes work???
 
Joezeppy said:
LOL - I agree. No troubles with my factory controller so far (knock wood) but I have heard horror stories of troubled systems where the truck dealer says the controller is ok and the RV dealer says the trailer brakes are ok. Well then why don't my brakes work???

When I was shopping around for a new controller I considered an OEM for my truck.  After laughing at the cost and reading the countless stories of the OEM controllers I purchased a Prodigy and happy I did. 

 
1down, you may already have run across this, but just in case, I thought I'd share this thread from the Duramax forum.  It may cast some light on the possible cause.
http://www.duramaxforum.com/forum/gauges-electronics-wiring/120320-itbc-service-trailer-brake-system-resolution.html
 
Old Blevins said:
1down, you may already have run across this, but just in case, I thought I'd share this thread from the Duramax forum.  It may cast some light on the possible cause.
http://www.duramaxforum.com/forum/gauges-electronics-wiring/120320-itbc-service-trailer-brake-system-resolution.html

Now that is interesting. 

Im taking the trailer in tomorrow, bright and early, for inspection and repair.

I ordered a Tekonsha P3 with wiring kit to replace the oem brake controlder so I can bypass the on board stuff.
So hopefully everything will sort out here shortly.
 
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