Posted 2007-02-15 12:44 AM (#55585) Subject: Trailer Brake Repair
New User
Posts: 3
Location: Lilburn, GA
A friend recently took their trailer to the RV shop for a brake job. The trailer is about 5 years old, has been used mostly for local trips, with a few trips of 300-400 miles. There were no known problems with the brakes. They appeared to be working reliably, but it was assumed that they were due for maintenance. The RV shop replaced the brake pads, serviced the brake assemblies, and road tested the trailer. The brakes worked intermittently and the braking force changed randomly. As the tech tried to diagnose the problems the symptoms continued to change. This went on for close to 2 hours before they eventually traced the problem to corrosion in the trailer plug connector. There was enough corrosion and rust in the connector to cause the connectivity to vary enough to cause the brakes to work part of the time and fail completely or partially at other times. Once the connector was replaced all of the problems went away. Upon reflection, we realized we had missed some clues that could have caused us to look at the connector. For several weeks we had noticed that one tail light would work at some times and fail at others. We assumed that we had a bad light bulb or socket. There were also times when the numbers on the brake controller would flicker rather than remain solid. Once the brakes were working correctly the numbers on the brake controller stayed solid and we realized that there had been some times when the brakes probably weren't working. Thanks to good F350 brakes and light loads we didn't really notice it. Just a reminder to check the trailer plug connector wiring as part of your maintenance and when you are having intermittent problems.
Posted 2007-02-15 1:07 AM (#55586 - in reply to #55585) Subject: RE: Trailer Brake Repair
Veteran
Posts: 148 Location: columbia tn
thank you for taking time to try and help others.. i know i will think of that now if my brakes act up.. thats what is great about this site so much information... thanks again happy trails
Trailer Brake Repair
