Severe Brake Shudder when Towing 5th Wheel Trailers with a 2011 Chevy Silverado 3500

Updated 05/09/2016 | Published 05/08/2016

Question:

I have a 2011 Silverado 3500HD LTZ, dually crew with the Duramax engine. With two different 5th wheel trailers I have experienced severe shuddering during braking, mostly occuring in downhill situations. GM issued a bulletin in June of 2015 regarding this issue. The bulletin advised owners to check for a few conditions that might cause the issue, one of which is trailer level when attached to the truck. Our old 5th wheel toy hauler was indeed not level but the new 2015 Fuzion Chrome is a 40 foot unit that sits very level. Overloading was another issue mentioned as a potential problem. This trailer weighs in at around 15k lbs empty. Have you any information regarding brake shudder on these GM models? The dealer isnt much help.

asked by: Don D

Expert Reply:

Is the issue related to a factory brake controller in your 2011 Chevy Silverado? If so then there is one fix that will take care of this issue for sure and that is to bypass the factory controller and install an aftermarket one.

This is the first time I have heard about this specific problem but I have heard of other issues with factory brake controllers. I have included a link to a help article that explains bypassing the factory controller and installing a new aftermarket controller.

For a controller I recommend the P2 # 90885 because it is easy to set up and use and it's reliable.

expert reply by: Michael H