Trailer Brakes Do Not Lock Up With Breakaway Pin Pulled On 5th Wheel Trailer

Updated 07/09/2019 | Published 07/08/2019

Question:

I have an 04 Dodge 2500 5.9 Cummins. It has an after market draw-tite activator II break controller. I have owned the truck for about 7 years but never pulled a trailer. I have now purchased an 04 32foot 5th wheel. Without anything hooked up, I get a decimal display . on the controller, and with the trailer hooked up, I get a reading 2.0-10.0 proportional to the position of the slider or the adjustment on the controller. While taking a short road trip with 50 or more brake applications and the controller set at a value of 10, the max, I was feeling very little brake action from the trailer. Also, I pulled the emergency brake switch on the king box with the same results-very little brake action. I felt each brake hub. They were all just warm to the touch. 3 were about the same. 1 was less warm. I have removed the brake drums and inspected the brakes. The mechanical condition of the brakes looked good. While the brake drum was disassembled, I held a metal plate over the coil controller with it set at 10.inch The magnet seems very weak. Sorry for the long post. Please give any other direction for further troubleshooting ideas.

asked by: Randy R

Expert Reply:

I first recommend that you check to make sure there is sufficient voltage reaching each braking assembly. There should be around 10-12 volts but if not you know there is a wiring issue, most likely on the trailer since you said the brakes were still weak with the breakaway pin pulled.

If you are getting sufficient voltage at each braking assembly then that means you either need to adjust the tension on the pads/shoes and or replace the magnets. If you jack one wheel up in the air, there should be a slight drag on the hub but if not you can increase tension until there is. If the tension is fine then odds are the magnets are too weak and need replaced. If you can give me the brand and capacity/size of your braking assemblies I can see if we have the correct replacements for you.

expert reply by: Conner L