Forum Discussion

mileshuff's avatar
mileshuff
Explorer
Sep 24, 2013

Poor brakes. TV & Trailer both tested good??

Have new trailer but braking seems rather poor. I have a prodigy P3. Using the manual control I can feel the trailer brakes come on but very little. Setting voltage from 5 to 12 volts makes no difference, brakes feel exactly the same no matter what the setting. Boost settings make no difference.

Shop tested trailer with their vehicle and said everything checks out ok, correct voltage at the brakes etc. Had a different shop check TV's connector and stated all looks good, at least with their plug in tester. It has an LED that gets brighter as the manual lever is increased indicating higher voltage. No idea if their tester puts a load on the controller to simulate brakes.

Any ideas or perhaps my controller is bad?

5 Replies

  • Ron3rd's avatar
    Ron3rd
    Explorer III
    Adjust the brakes then go from there. Confirm proper adjustment first as this will cause the symptoms you describe if the shoes are too far out.
  • Just because it's NEW doesn't mean that the trailer brakes where properly adjusted
    Could be they were just installed and not touched......

    Jack up each wheel and adjust brakes then set up brake controller.

    Properly adjusted you should be able to lock up trailer brakes with manual lever on controller when moving slowly.
  • I recommend having your TT brakes adjusted, then set the brake controller per the instructions and give it a try, perhaps the worn brakes are not engaging as much as when then had more meat on the pads.

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