Troubleshooting Trailer Brakes that Lock Up After Brakes are Applied for 10 Seconds

Published 08/08/2014

Question:

when the truck brakesbrakes are first applied, I can hear power running to the trailer brake magnets but the stoppage is weak. then after about 10 seconds of braking, the brakes lock up like they are supposed to when the gain is at 10. Could this delay issue be a ground issue as well? thank you in advance

asked by: Matt

Expert Reply:

When I first read your question I immediately thought that your brake controller must be setup wrong and that setting it up properly would fix your problem. It sounds like you have the gain set to high and the ramp up speed set too low on a time-delayed controller.

What you will need to do is find a flat parking lot while connected to your trailer and travel about 25 miles per hour and then fully apply the manual override of your brake controller, if the brakes lock up lower the gain setting and try again. The goal is to find the strongest gain setting you can use without locking the brakes up.

Now you will want to adjust the ramp up speed so that the brakes apply at a smooth speed, not too fast that when you touch the brakes you feel the trailer jerk and not so slow that they don't activate in time.

I attached an FAQ article on troubleshooting brake controller installs for you to check out as well.

expert reply by: Jameson C