First 5th Wheel--Bad Braking???
Hi, I just got my first 5th wheel and am a bit concerned about the braking. It weighs 12,500 pounds and has a 2500 pound pin weight. I am pulling it with my Ram 3500 which has a 4,200 pound max pay...
Forum Discussion
Hi,
Thanks for all the replies. I hooked up the trailer yesterday and drove around with it for an hour or so to try to get the brakes burned in a bit. I did several iterations of starting at about 20mph and applying only the trailer brakes until the truck slowed / stopped. I did this enough times (giving time to cool as well) to where I think the brakes should be burned in fairly well.
They work better now, but here is what I found:
-I cannot get them to lock up or even come close to locking up at any speed when manually applying the brake. This is at the highest brake setting and set for "heavy electric"
-If I apply only the trailer brakes at about 20mph I can feel them come on but now very aggressively. It will take maybe 15 seconds or so to stop my rig from this speed (estimated--maybe even 20)
-If applying at 5-10 mph I can feel them come on and provide resistance but not enough to provide a jerk. Applied at 10mph it still takes probably 5 seconds or so to stop my entire rig
So based on the above does that sound normal? They definitely are coming on, but I think my truck brakes are doing a lot of the braking for both trailer and truck.
Matt
Thanks for all the replies. I hooked up the trailer yesterday and drove around with it for an hour or so to try to get the brakes burned in a bit. I did several iterations of starting at about 20mph and applying only the trailer brakes until the truck slowed / stopped. I did this enough times (giving time to cool as well) to where I think the brakes should be burned in fairly well.
They work better now, but here is what I found:
-I cannot get them to lock up or even come close to locking up at any speed when manually applying the brake. This is at the highest brake setting and set for "heavy electric"
-If I apply only the trailer brakes at about 20mph I can feel them come on but now very aggressively. It will take maybe 15 seconds or so to stop my rig from this speed (estimated--maybe even 20)
-If applying at 5-10 mph I can feel them come on and provide resistance but not enough to provide a jerk. Applied at 10mph it still takes probably 5 seconds or so to stop my entire rig
So based on the above does that sound normal? They definitely are coming on, but I think my truck brakes are doing a lot of the braking for both trailer and truck.
Matt
