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dpatt67's avatar
dpatt67
Explorer
May 25, 2017

Wheel bearing failure, now no trailer brakes

This last weekend I had a wheel bearing fail and get the whole area really hot. I've taken care of the bearing, but pulling it home I had no trailer brakes. My truck dash said "check trailer wiring", and I already knew that some of the insulation had melted and that brake wire. The fuses look good on the trailer, is there a fusible link or relay that is another "weak link" that I'm missing?
  • Community Alumni's avatar
    Community Alumni
    Make sure it's not the plug at the truck outlet. My 2014 Ram will give me a 'trailer not connected brake' message but if I play with the plug it is ok. I end up tie-wrapping the plug to the outlet cover to hold it in place.
  • Do what I did, jack up one side of the TT or each tire with a Tireaid and spin each tire while the wife steps on the brakes.

    My problem was two broken brakes magnet wires.
  • dpatt67 wrote:
    This last weekend I had a wheel bearing fail and get the whole area really hot. I've taken care of the bearing, but pulling it home I had no trailer brakes. My truck dash said "check trailer wiring", and I already knew that some of the insulation had melted and that brake wire. The fuses look good on the trailer, is there a fusible link or relay that is another "weak link" that I'm missing?


    I agree, check the 7 wire plug to make sure it has a good connection. If it does, then the burnt wire insulation may have touched on the + 12 volt wire to the brakes against the frame and grounded the system out and that can trip the "check trailer wiring" message.

    I myself have never seen a fusible link in a brake circuit on the trailer. The truck itself may have short circuit protection, but odds are no, not the trailer.

    Check the hot melted wire setup including the actual magnet.

    Hope this helps

    John
  • Duplicate thread
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