Should Trailer Brakes Lock Up When Trailer Goes Over Bump with Proportional Brake Controller

Published 08/02/2016

Question:

Hello, I just recently took my travel trailer out for the 1st trip since I bought it used. For the most part is seems like the p3 brake controller worked great. The only time it didnt was when I was going about 45 mph and there was construction on the road and I hit a bump and when I hit that bump the trailer brakes locked up for a quick second I could hear the skid. About one minute later I hit another bump and it did it again. After that I for a couple of hours on the freeway and didnt encounter any other issues on the trip. Is it normal for trailer brakes to lockup when a bump is hit like that? I went over plently of speed bumps at a normal slow speed and they did not have the same effect. I wasnt sure if my trailer tires became airborne for a split second which caused the brake controller to lock up the brakes? Any help would be appreciated Im not sure if this is something I should worry about or if this is normal. Thanks

asked by: Brant S

Helpful Expert Reply:

If your foot was on the brake pedal and you hit a decent sized bump the deceleration sensed by the controller would be pretty intense and the brakes would end up applying pretty hard.

Now if your foot was not on the brakes (enough to light up the brake lights) and you had this happen that would indicate that the red wire of your controller is not connected to the correct circuit. It would need to be connected to a circuit that only sees voltage when the brakes are applied.

expert reply by: Jameson C