Posted 2011-01-15 7:53 PM (#128940) Subject: brakes locked up
Regular
Posts: 72
Location: vanceboro, nc
Whats wrong when your brakes lock up on the front axle? It had a grounding problem and my sons in law worked on it. They thought they had fixed it, when I hooked to it this morning the brakes dragged. When I unpluged it they were free. My brake controler in the truck didn't light up either. Can anybody help?
Posted 2011-01-15 9:41 PM (#128943 - in reply to #128940) Subject: RE: brakes locked up
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 500
Location: West TN
I have had probelms in the past when the hot wire in the plug had gotten loose and was touching the brake wire. You can start by pulling the plug and checking it to make sure all the wires are secure. If everything is ok, I would look at tracking down the wires throughout to determine if you have a bad connection somewhere else.
Posted 2011-01-15 10:34 PM (#128945 - in reply to #128940) Subject: RE: brakes locked up
Expert
Posts: 5870
Location: western PA
You are getting a constant 12v source to your brake circuit. Take a multimeter and see if the truck's blue wire is hot all the time. When the brake pedal is not activated, you should only have one hot wire which is the truck's B+. This furnishes power to your interior lights.
If you only have one hot wire in the truck's receptacle, then, as Robdnorm stated, check the trailer's plug. Pull the shell off exposing the terminals and check each wire for frayed or broken wiring ends. The blue wire normally goes to the brakes. It should not be powered unless the truck's controller is activated by the brake pedal.
If you have brakes on both axles, one of your circuits has a open, and is not allowing current to the rear axle. One blue wire goes from the plug to an area near your front axle. There it splits to both sides. In addition, a splice feeds another wire to the rear axle where it again splits, and feeds both sides. Most brake installations are seperately grounded through the frame.
Posted 2011-01-16 2:00 PM (#128962 - in reply to #128940) Subject: RE: brakes locked up
Regular
Posts: 72
Location: vanceboro, nc
thanks so much. i will relay this to my sons in law. it was fine when I parked it under the shelter. when i started to use it the lights were dim on one side. i looked it up on the pc and it said proably not grounded. sure enought it wasn't. They did something and got it grounded. in the process they pulled the adapter off the trailer plug and evidenlty did something wrong when re hooking it together.
Posted 2011-01-27 5:06 PM (#129365 - in reply to #128940) Subject: RE: brakes locked up
Regular
Posts: 72
Location: vanceboro, nc
well, finally got the trailer back working. It was not properly grounded. Put the old adapter back together and it worked perfectly. thanks everyone for your help