Trailer Brakes Will Not Fully Lock Up After Replacing Braking Assemblies and Brake Controller

Question:

My trailer brakes were not working good enough could barely feel them. Pads were worn so went ahead and replaced them with complete assembly without drums. Made no difference checked voltage was only getting 8 DC to wheels or to trailer, replaced controller, now getting almost 11vdc to trailer and wheels still brakes are barely working will not lock wheels up on gravel. Adjusted brakes till wheel would not free spin while jacked up I sanded drum surface and cleaned with brake cleaner still no differance.

asked by: Gregg S

Expert Reply:

It sounds like you have already eliminated most of the usual suspects. That said, you should be getting at bit more voltage back to the magnets while at full power using the manual override. If you are still not getting 11 volts with a new brake controller then that tells me you have some sort of issue with the brake output wire. I recommend you trace this back while checking for breaks and running a new one with part # 10-1-1 if need be. If your brake controller has boost settings then now would be a good time to play with these as well.

Please note, not all electric brakes have the power to fully lock up the trailer. If you can let me know what your axle capacity is I may have other insights on this issue as well.

expert reply by: Conner L