Weak brakes & battery box confusion.

[michaelbuck]

Noticed trailer brakes are weak.
Battery box says “recharge” on battery, but battery is only 2 months old and electrical tester reads 12.4V
Brakes work, but don’t do a lot, even with brake controller fully cranked to 10.
The trailer is only a year old and brakes worked well when I first got it.

What should I start looking at? Wiring connections seem fine

All lead acid batteries have the following voltage after they have rested (have not been charged or loaded in 30 minutes)
Fully charged =12.78Volts
3/4 full = 12.50
1/2 full = 12.25 Do not use battery here for any length of time otherwise damage to cells internally.
So rull of thumb for every 1/4 volt the battery drops the battery also drops 1/4
Rememeber 12.75,12.50,12.25 those are easy to remember.
A charging battery should be roughly 13.0 to 14.0 volts during charge.With engine on measure across terminals.Anything less is either bad connections,bad battery or alternator/regulator

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I was just about to start looking at why my trailer brakes aren’t working when I found this thread.

 

[dodge man]

My trailer is about 14 years old and doesn’t get used a lot. Someone said maybe the adjusters are froze up. Are trailer brakes like the ones on cars where they auto adjust when backing up?

 

[Sid Post]

If you are grounding through the trailer hitch instead of the trailer wiring plug, you are doing it wrong...


If a U-Haul trailer is upside down in the median, chances are that the person who loaded it didn't load it with enough tongue weight and it swayed itself off of the road.

As for being underrated, they're built to be loaded to their max weight and run that way all the time by people who paid the damage waiver and don't care what they do to the rental trailer, most trailers aren't designed to be loaded to their max weight all the time and abused like that.

Aaron Z

The U-haul 6x12 trailer has a 2,000lb payload. Exceeding that with a household move is pretty easy.

I know a mattress doesn't really weigh much but, dishes, books, etc. really add up fast.

Most of the passenger vehicles that pull them do not have a tow rating, brakes, or tires to support the weight of the loaded trailer. So that, combined with low driver skills with a trailer, generally ends up in disaster.

 

[Sid Post]

If you are grounding through the trailer hitch instead of the trailer wiring plug, you are doing it wrong...


If a U-Haul trailer is upside down in the median, chances are that the person who loaded it didn't load it with enough tongue weight and it swayed itself off of the road.

As for being underrated, they're built to be loaded to their max weight and run that way all the time by people who paid the damage waiver and don't care what they do to the rental trailer, most trailers aren't designed to be loaded to their max weight all the time and abused like that.

Aaron Z

No arguments there but, most pickups today come with factory trailer brake controllers, at least the HD pickups, and the owner has almost no control over what the factory did and most aren't going to replace a brand new brake controller from the factory with an aftermarket controller.

Personally, I think Dodge/Ram made a huge mistake with their heavy duty hitches on the Ram 2500/3500 pickups, either do a 2" receiver or a 3" receiver, not some sort of sleeve in a 2.5" receiver. In all fairness, I don't expect any new owner to leave the dealer lot and go test the connections on the 7-pin controller on their new pickup. Only later does the owner discover it was done wrong. A bit like myself with that 2.5" receiver sleeve to fit 2" hitch components.

 

[dodge man]

The larger hitch on 2500/3500 are Class V and do away with the need for a weight distribution hitch on most cases.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

When I rented a uhaul 6x12 they made sure my truck outlet was working right, and they connected everything up.

I just checked my trailer, my ground is good. It has welded on stud, I took wire off and wire brushed and reinstalled. I just checked and I’m getting variable voltage from my brake controller. I removed 7 to 6 pin cover to access brake and gnd wires.

Tires still not braking. I only have brakes on back axle on 7k trailer, but normally don’t haul much over 2k.

Sorry to crash your thread.

 

[Chewwy]

My trailer is about 14 years old and doesn’t get used a lot. Someone said maybe the adjusters are froze up. Are trailer brakes like the ones on cars where they auto adjust when backing up?

I have never seen auto adjusters on trailer brakes.

 

[nisaacs]

My trailer is about 14 years old and doesn’t get used a lot. Someone said maybe the adjusters are froze up. Are trailer brakes like the ones on cars where they auto adjust when backing up?

Probably not on your 14 year old trailer, but yes, self adjust brakes are an option on later model trailers. I have that feature on all my goosenecks (4).

https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Brakes/etrailer/AKEBRK-35-SA.html

 

[nisaacs]

No arguments there but, most pickups today come with factory trailer brake controllers, at least the HD pickups, and the owner has almost no control over what the factory did and most aren't going to replace a brand new brake controller from the factory with an aftermarket controller.

Personally, I think Dodge/Ram made a huge mistake with their heavy duty hitches on the Ram 2500/3500 pickups, either do a 2" receiver or a 3" receiver, not some sort of sleeve in a 2.5" receiver. In all fairness, I don't expect any new owner to leave the dealer lot and go test the connections on the 7-pin controller on their new pickup. Only later does the owner discover it was done wrong. A bit like myself with that 2.5" receiver sleeve to fit 2" hitch components.

The sleeve is only a temporary fix for most peoples 2" drawbars. To take advantage of the strength of the 2.5", get matching drawbars. I have never used my sleeve... I upgraded my hitch with the purchase of the new truck.