Brakes, dilemma.
I just had to have all new brakes put on my trailer at about 13K miles. 3 of the 4 were metal to metal. Usually run the controller 5/6. Has anyone heard of a brake test using a compass? It says with t...
Forum Discussion
JRscooby wrote:Sjm9911 wrote:
Lol, then just say its not a good test. Done. Personally, its the first time I ever heard of using a compass, pull the wheel and test the magnet with a metal tool, yes. Meter yes. I have had my share of weird brak problems. So sometimes the fix is evident, sometimes its not. I did learn, that with the harder stuff , its easier to rewire then to troubleshoot.
The most likely problem with e-brakes will be magnet not getting power. And used right, a compass will tell you this magnet is not working with no teardown, or even getting under the trailer. This is why LEOs will use it roadside on CMVs (in theory, a fish hook on a short line could work)
My problem with the "easier to re-wire" crowd is it is also easier to just leave the old wires there. And because they could not find a problem, likely the rewire job will have problems shortly. So they rewire again. Then when somebody does try to troubleshoot, bunch of extra wires to sort out.
Off topic but kinda funny. I decided to take Bobcat out to work with my '54 F5. No CB, so I was surprised by a roadside safety inspection. I watched the mirror, pumped the pedal while the kid in uniform waved his compass around the trailer wheels. He gets my Out Of Service paper all marked up, hands it to me to sign. "What makes you think my trailer brakes don't work?" loud for the senior inspector to hear. Senior, who had been inspecting my stuff for years, looked at the tongue of trailer, "Surge brakes are PITA. Scooby, do they work?" I asked if he wanted me to pull break-away. "Naw, we'll just mark this 1 as training."
Well you have to do what you have to do sometimes. I left my old wires there, caped and wound. They were run inside of the camper. No way was I removing them. And no way I could find the problem. It was a broken wire somewhere that caused an intermittent loss of power when I was driving only. I rewired the hubs and kept testing and found nothing. Pulled the camper away and it would read no power to the brakes, off and on. Should have just rewired it from the start, that took a few hours. I spent days troubleshooting. Grounds, wires, TV, and nada.
