How Can I Ensure I am Getting the Maximum Braking Power from My Trailer Brakes

Question:

Are all magnets for 10 drums the same or can a more powerful magnet be added to give more braking. Thanks

asked by: Steve W

Expert Reply:

If you are experiencing poor performance from your trailer brakes you should check a few things to make sure your brakes are performing at their potential.

There are not magnets that are more powerful that you could replace yours with to give you more braking power. The magnets in your trailer hubs have windings in them and are only as powerful as the charge that gets run through them. With that being said, you should inspect your magnets to make sure they are not worn out to the point that braking performance would suffer. If there are windings that you can see on your current magnets it is time for you to replace them. I attached a video below on replacing trailer magnets.

You should also check to make sure that all of your brake hubs are activating when you are applying the brakes. An easy way to do that would be to have a friend apply the manual over ride switch on the brake controller while you go around to each hub and listen for the brake components of each hub to engage.

If there are some that are not activating, you should check the grounds of each hub looking for corrosion or loose wires.

I would consult your owners manual to make sure you are not towing above your towing capacity. If you are towing above the towing capacity of your trailer you will experience poor braking performance.

You should also check the axle capacities of your trailer to make sure you are not overloading your trailer. There should be a tag on the frame of your trailer near the coupler that has the vin number and axle capacities.

If you have a time delayed controller you should also check to make sure that your brake controller is not on too low of a setting to be effective to slow you down.

If you have manual adjustable trailer brakes you should make sure they are adjusted properly to ensure they are performing correctly. I attached a video below that details how this adjustment is done, skip to the 4:30 minute mark if you want to skip right to how the adjustment is done.

If you are not sure if you have self adjusting brakes or manual adjusting brakes, check out the picture to the right. It will show you an easy way to identify the differences.