Troubleshooting Curt Tri Flex Brake Controller that Locks up Trailer Brakes

Updated 03/10/2015 | Published 03/09/2015

Question:

I tow a 26 foot travel trailer with a 2012 Dodge Ram. The manual suggests initial settings of L1 and 22, then making some fine tuning adjustments to set the braking to make smooth, even stops short of lock up. The problem is that my brakes are locking up at low speeds, or stop and go traffic that I encounter during city driving, particularly bad lockup occurs if I make a turn. I cant adjust anything lower than L1, and moving the braking down to less than 10 still doesnt solve the issue. Some people are telling me I have no choice but to go to a Ram dealer and have them install a factory brake controller.

asked by: Lou

Expert Reply:

L.1 is the lowest sensitivity that the Curt Tri-Flex part # C24VV can be adjusted down to. However, you can also adjust the overall brake output power with the output control. The output control thumbwheel can be adjusted from the lowest setting all the way up to the highest of 9.9.

If you have the controller adjusted all the way down on both of the mentioned settings and it is still locking up then I would assume you have the brake light circuit shorting out to the brake output circuit and that is causing the brakes to lock up as much as they are. Check the wiring of both the connector on your truck and on your trailer to see if the two circuits happen to be shorting out together and fix as necessary. Cut or exposed wire would most likely cause this, but corrosion can also be to blame.

I attached a help article on troubleshooting brake controllers for you to check out as well.

expert reply by: Jameson C