Checking trailer brakes

[John Robinson II]

Other than hooking trailer to truck, is there anyway to test trailer brakes.

John

[-pru-]

Pull the Break-Away pin?

[Garey Guzman]

https://www.etrailer.com/question-302737.html

[EYERACE]

I hook up trailer to idling truck, jack up one side of trailer, spin trailer tires by hand, have friend hit brakes in truck, do other side, do not lather rinse or repeat. Maybe one can - while friend is pressing brake pedal - grab trailer tire in hands and attempt to turn as effort to test degree of power being delivered to trailer brake system. Be sure and give friend beer afterwards.

[DaveW]

I hook up trailer to idling truck, jack up one side of trailer, spin trailer tires by hand, have friend hit brakes in truck, do other side, do not lather rinse or repeat. Maybe one can - while friend is pressing brake pedal - grab trailer tire in hands and attempt to turn as effort to test degree of power being delivered to trailer brake system. Be sure and give friend beer afterwards.

I do something similar, but the tow vehicle does not need to be running. I have one of the old brake actuators that outputs voltage depending on the tow vehicle brake fluid pressure. It moves a lever attached to a finite-step rheostat that increases output in several stages.

So I shim the lever to progressively higher levels of output and check all wheels (trailer off the ground) to see if they have similar brake engagement. If they are all working and seem to have similar brake torque, I am pretty sure they are working properly.

[EYERACE]

Yes Dave.....but what brand of beer?

[DaveW]

Yes Dave.....but what brand of beer?

Yuengling light...

[LFFR]

Do check the adjustment:
https://youtu.be/waNWLWy7sDY

John Mihalich, Jr.

[DaveW]

Do check the adjustment:
https://youtu.be/waNWLWy7sDY

John Mihalich, Jr.

I used to have to do that regularly, at least once a year. But when I replaced my entire trailer electric brake system (drums, pucks, shoes, bearings, seals, etc.) a few years ago, I bought the self-adjusting setup from trailerparts.com .

[Jerry Kehoe]

From past experience I have found that checking for a strong ground connection is very important since often times the ground wires from the brakes can be bounced around or not quite long enough when the wheels are in droop or bump and manage to come loose. Of course the same is true with the positive connection so a quick check here may save you a lot of frustration and cost! I found that etrailer has all of the replacement kits at great prices and by experience as well it ends up much cheaper to simply replace the whole mess of linings,magnets, springs,etc at the same time. For only a small amount more you can get the self adjusting kits that Dave W talked about.

[DaveW]

Speaking about the magnet pucks, I have had issues in the distant past where the wires to the pucks fatigued off due to no or too little strain relief at the puck. Worth checking if one or 2 brakes won't work at all.

[Jim Edmonds]

It's worth the cost to replace the complete axle assemblies every ten to fifteen years. In a new axle assembly you get all new brakes along with the new springs or torsion bars. About five years ago I replaced my 5000 pound axles with 7000 pound axles, with the bonus being larger brakes and wheels.

YMMV

Have fun today.

Jim Edmonds
Phoenix, AZ