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We don't have a discussion section anymore so here goes. I put trailer brakes on a trailer I bought to haul my CJ3A Jeep and my tractor. I finally got everything wired and tested it today. The used controller a friend gave me only works in the manual mode. It does not apply the brakes using the foot pedal. Yes, it's all wired correctly, it just don't work when you step on the brakes and it does get voltage from the brake switch.
The question is, do I really need it to work off the foot brake. I have a 2003 Ranger that is rated at the same weight the gross weight of trailer and load will be, about 3400 lb. When I hauled the Jeep back from Tenn. using a trailer without brakes that weighs more than the one I have I had no problems at all. In fact I considered not even putting brakes on my trailer when I bought it. I decided I may want them in hilly country.
Since the manual part works can I just use that as needed instead of relying on the foot brake system. Having read the instructions for setting up the trailer brakes I can see where going up hill and down hill is going to change the braking effort of the controller. I have a Tekonsha Voyager Controller and a new one is about $60. The only advantage I can see is going down a long grade and since the settings are not in the least self compensating, meaning you could have to much brake or too little brake under different conditions, I don't see much advantage to the automatic part of the controller.
Having towed several trailers without brakes I can see the advantage of brakes as needed applied as needed. I want comments from those that haul a lot using trailer brakes. A friend I go with many times hauls max loads, 10,000 lb+ a lot and don't use trailer brakes at all but he uses a 3/4 ton vehicle.
Comments from haulers please.
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Hi Carl,
I would say yes you need trailer brakes working off of the truck brakes. You have to stop that weight mass so without trailer brakes you are eating up truck brakes faster. In a panic stop the trailer is pushing you and can try to pass you if it has no brakes.
Tekonsha is supposed to be some of the best controllers on the market. My experience is them is poor. I bought the Tekonsha P3 at about $160 which was supposed to be the best money could buy a couple of years back. It came up with a strange error when it was about 3 months old. The error was not in the docs. I filled out a contact form on their site several times and nobody ever answered or called me back. I could not find a phone number for them. I tossed it and swore off of Tekonsha.
If it is working correctly they are so nice. The trailer is helping you stop rather than pushing you. Good ones are proportional so the harder you push the harder the trailer brakes apply. If you are empty you back it of so it's not so aggressive to where it locks the trailer brakes up.
I too had a 10,000 plus loads on a 20,000 trailer and a failed trailer brake controller. Here in the mountains in Washington I went through a set of brakes and rotors on the pickup in short order.
If it was me I would get it working right.
Larry
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Hey Carl,
Here in Washington state (exerp):
(3) Brakes on all wheels. Every vehicle shall be equipped with brakes acting on all wheels except:
(a) Trailers, semitrailers, or pole trailers of a gross weight not exceeding three thousand pounds, provided that:
(i) The total weight on and including the wheels of the trailer or trailers shall not exceed forty percent of the gross weight of the towing vehicle when connected to the trailer or trailers; and
(ii) The combination of vehicles consisting of the towing vehicle and its total towed load, is capable of complying with the performance requirements of RCW 46.37.351;
I would check your state laws regarding brakes.
My flatbed trailer is 14,000 GVW and has brakes on all wheels. I wouldn't have it any other way, even if it was just short trips on flat roads. My brake controller is the OEM Ford unit and it works great. I don't think I would want any controller that wasn't working as it should – in all modes.
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Thanks for the replies. I didn't have any trouble contacting Tekonsha by email for the instructions and wiring diagram and this is an old unit. It looks much like the newer same model. I guess I will end up getting another Voyager controller.
Does anyone use just the manual lever to slow down with rather than the foot brake all the time?
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It's my understanding that the manual slide is used to control a trailer that is swaying out of control. Continue your speed and apply the trailer brakes slowly to straighten out the trailer.
I installed literally hundreds of these working at a Chevy dealership and did have a few Tekonsha's DOA out of the box, hard to read much into that though
I wonder whatever became of Diamondpilot? I know he had a boat business on the side and towed a lot of heavy loads. Id like to hear his take on this thread.
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Like David, I use the manual slider to help set the sensitivity and test the trailer brakes. I haul three different trailers, with the dump trailer being the heaviest, so the sensitivity is different for all the trailers. I remember the old controllers tapped into the towing vehicles hydraulic brake systems, the new ones have an inertia sensor.
Tinbender wrote:
I wonder whatever became of Diamondpilot? I know he had a boat business on the side and towed a lot of heavy loads.
I think the three of them (Greg, Chris, Mike) were joined at the hip.
Miss them.
Carl wrote:
Does anyone use just the manual lever to slow down with rather than the foot brake all the time?
Nope, not a good idea. The trailer brakes are rated for the capacity of the axles, not the trailer, and especially don't include the towing vehicle or the trailers load. That's why the sensitivity adjustment is so important – you want the trailer brakes to start applying just slightly early, that keeps everything in a straight line. Plus, you will be going through a lot of trailer brakes.
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