Trailer Brakes Get Hot on Just One Side of a Horse Trailer

Published 10/09/2015

Question:

I have a 2004 delta horse trailer, electric brakes. have replaced all magnets and one complete hub assembly that was burnt to bad to leave on. they only get hot on the passenger side the other side is cool to touch. have replaced the old plug in also and new ground wire. so far nothing has worked any suggestions

asked by: Janet

Expert Reply:

The problem you are having could be in how the brakes are wired. Basically you will have one power wire coming back from the trailer connector. Once it reaches the nearest axle the wire will tee off with one end going to the right side of the trailer and the other going to the left.

The wiring on each side will go to the nearest magnet. If there are 2 axles it will tee off a second time on each side with one wire going to the front magnet and one to the rear magnet on each side. I have included a picture that illustrates this.

Also make sure that the magnets are grounded to clean and corrosion free bare metal surfaces near the magnets.

If something such as the spindle is bend or if the brake mounting flange on the trouble side is not straight and concentric it can cause the drum to make contact with the brakes all the time and that would cause them to heat up. You may also need to adjust the trouble side differently to account for manufacturing tolerances.

expert reply by: Michael H