Weak brakes & battery box confusion.

[RandyT]

I have never seen auto adjusters on trailer brakes.

My nephews 7K trailer has them because I installed them. His 14K came with auto adjust from the factory. But for the most part smaller trailers don't come from the factory with auto adjust brakes.

 

[m7040]

I went through my old 10 000 lbs trailer last year with no brakes. First thing I did was lift it up on the side so I could easily access wire connection points. Then tested each wire with a battery for continuity and replaced old wire connections. Still no brakes so then tipped it upright and checked the brake solenoids and found some with broken wires. Replaced the 4 backing plates with new ones and connected them up. Cleaned the drums and reinstalled. No more problems

 

[Hay Dude]

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. View attachment 809558Tires 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.

Crash away my friend. It’s all good. I have just enough time to eat & sleep and fix hay equipment. The trailer will have to wait.
The original reason for starting the thread was to pick up any useful shortcuts to getting it fixed quick!

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Maybe I’ll find problem similar to yours. Mine is almost 24 years old, but probably used less than 50 times. When you need one you need one, but generally it sits.
Used to cost $13.50 to register, now $51

Maybe tomorrow I’ll lift back end and play with adjusters.

 

[RandyT]

Maybe I’ll find problem similar to yours. Mine is almost 24 years old, but probably used less than 50 times. When you need one you need one, but generally it sits.
Used to cost $13.50 to register, now $51

Maybe tomorrow I’ll lift back end and play with adjusters.

Cheap plates. My 7K 14 foot trailer went from $58 to $158 a few years back, and my nephews 14K trailer plates cost $258 a year,

 

[aczlan]

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

2000#? U-Haul says 2480-3710#:

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.

I won't argue that a lack of skill and tow vehicle capacity is an issue, but 99% of the time a trailer as short as a U-Haul trailer ends up upside down in the median (absent a blown tire) it's because whoever loaded it did not load it correctly to get enough tongue weight.

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.

Why would you replace the built-in brake controller which is integrated the vehicles ABS system so it knows what the tow vehicle is doing with an aftermarket one has to guess?
The ground connection should be in the plug on ANY OEM or aftermarket trailer plug, as I said before, if you are relying on your hitch and ball to provide a ground for your trailer no matter if you have a 4, 5, 6 or 7 pin trailer plug you're doing wrong
99.9% of the time if there's a problem with the OEM wiring on the tow vehicle 6/7 pin connector it is an older one where Chevy used a different pin out than everybody else for a while.
I have several co-workers with vehicles that have built-in brake controllers, they all say that the built-in brake controllers are significantly better than the aftermarket ones and they did not have to do anything to their OEM trailer wiring to make it work (aside from some manufacturers or you still have to put in a fuse), otherwise it's just plug in the trailer and go.

Aaron Z

 

[slckeys]

Cheap plates. My 7K 14 foot trailer went from $58 to $158 a few years back, and my nephews 14K trailer plates cost $258 a year,

$258 a year.. holy cow! That's more than I paid for a permanent registration tag on my 12k trailer

 

[dodge man]

I’m from Illinois also and the $158 a year for plates really aggravates me. For smaller single axle trailers and boat trailers they lowered the fees but apparently not for 7k trailers and above.

 

[nyone]

Cheap plates. My 7K 14 foot trailer went from $58 to $158 a few years back, and my nephews 14K trailer plates cost $258 a year,

You should look into a Maine trailer registration if your paying $158yr. That's how much I paid for 10yr with new plates.

 

[Snobdds]

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

I never like to tow a bumper pull trailer with any load without a weight distribution hitch. It puts weight onto the front of the truck, which helps with steering and the overall comfort of towing.

My dad never hauled without one and it rubbed off on me.