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Yota Up

Dull man
Joined
May 20, 2020
Member Number
648
Messages
1,616
I need a forum for camper trailers that has a lot of traffic and activity to be able to ask questions and solicit advice on making repairs and upgrades on a travel trailer.
My other thread here is about a distribution hitch, but honestly having no brakes is killing this entire summer for my kids because we can't go anywhere good until it's fixed.
I'm at my wits end and furious at this point.

Background:
My truck + TT = "open ground, no brakes".
My truck + pop up trailer = brakes all good.
Other person's truck + TT = brakes all good.

What in the world could explain that?
Not sure you guys can help me with it, and I think I've done everything I can possibly do at this point so hoping a dedicated trailer forum might let me look at one or two more things.
And I'm sure things will come up in the future so might as well sign up to another place to bother those folks with my stupid questions.
Thanks.
 
Yota Up said:
I need a forum for camper trailers that has a lot of traffic and activity to be able to ask questions and solicit advice on making repairs and upgrades on a travel trailer.
My other thread here is about a distribution hitch, but honestly having no brakes is killing this entire summer for my kids because we can't go anywhere good until it's fixed.
I'm at my wits end and furious at this point.

Background:
My truck + TT = "open ground, no brakes".
My truck + pop up trailer = brakes all good.
Other person's truck + TT = brakes all good.

What in the world could explain that?
Not sure you guys can help me with it, and I think I've done everything I can possibly do at this point so hoping a dedicated trailer forum might let me look at one or two more things.
And I'm sure things will come up in the future so might as well sign up to another place to bother those folks with my stupid questions.
Thanks.
Click to expand...



That usually goes back to a crummy plug.

Almost any trailer light/brake woes I've ever had can be traced back to a crummy trailer plug or shit ass connection.
 
The first time I pulled my big trailer across the country I sat in the home Depot parking lot and pulled a poorly done splice out of my goose neck on the trailer.

My running lights were all over the place. Initially I thought it was the plug but it turned out to be a 24" stretch of wire someone had installed at some point, maybe to reach a plug somewhere. I dunno but it sucked.
 
Lilyota said:
That usually goes back to a crummy plug.

Almost any trailer light/brake woes I've ever had can be traced back to a crummy trailer plug or shit ass connection.
Click to expand...
X2 on this. Have you pulled the back off the plug? Pop up probably requires less current for brakes therefore no problem when hooked to the TT
 
I had the brakes acting up on my little trailer a while back. Turned out a wire had broke off in the plug housing and everytime I touched the brakes it would bypass the controller and just lock a wheel up.

Cost me a tire.

And a trailer plug. I bought a moulded plug to eliminate the housing on the normal plug. I also have a 2 gang junction box welded to my trailers for the plug cord and it all spreads out from there.

But it's easy to get to and trouble shoot.
 
Plug on trailer has been replaced carefully. Was hoping that was it but still same problem.

I'd love to hear any guesses on how this could be. Other truck can work brakes but I can't. Yet I can work brakes on different trailer.
 
Big trailer 2 axles vs pop up single?

Aftermarket brake controller?

Have you replaced the controller if it is an add on type unit?
 
Are you sure your truck is wired right? Is the truck OEM wiring or aftermarket? You say it works with pop up. Your pop up? Any chance your truck AND pop up are wired wrong but work together? Have you checked that all the truck outputs are correct?

Bigger brakes on the new TT causing more resistance? I'm in the bad ground camp with others.

RE your question about dedicated trailer forums, I've not had much luck with them. They tend to be more "let's decorate our new kitchen" and "best campground" than down to earth tech stuff.
 
TnTTT maybe (it's a forum for teardrops and tiny travel trailers) but has lots of DIY, builds and fixin stuff, but like white rhino said it's not always hardcore tech. Only mentioning it because I go there every now and then because it's interesting.

Have you tried running a second ground (for troubleshooting purposes)? I do more than half my mobile troubleshooting with nothing but a simple jumper. If you use a set of booster cables to connect the frame of the truck to the frame of the camper and the problem goes away, you can keep moving your jumper to different locations to pinpoint the failure (for example if frame to frame works, next would be to connect to the truck's ground pin on the plug to the trailer frame, if the problem is fixed then the truck side of things is good.
 
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It’s a pretty simple system. I’m going to assume you are using an in dash factory controller since that is becoming more of the stsndsrd

You need to pull all of your wheels and brakes and verify that the magnets are in decent looking shape and one isn’t totally jacked up inside of the drum

You need to put your own eyeballs over every inch of brake wiring and fix any splice that looks questionable

You probably need to run a designated ground to each brake.


Just cover the basic work that you have to do with any brand new trailer, and it should start working.
 
Yota Up said:
Plug on trailer has been replaced carefully. Was hoping that was it but still same problem.

I'd love to hear any guesses on how this could be. Other truck can work brakes but I can't. Yet I can work brakes on different trailer.
Click to expand...
I’ve not seen where you’ve confirmed truck side wiring. Pinout and condition of wiring where it attaches to plug on truck. As dirtroads said, it’s a pretty simple system. If you are working under the assumption the TT wiring and systems are good based on buddy’s truck, the problem must be on your truck.
 
DirtRoads said:
It’s a pretty simple system. I’m going to assume you are using an in dash factory controller since that is becoming more of the stsndsrd

You need to pull all of your wheels and brakes and verify that the magnets are in decent looking shape and one isn’t totally jacked up inside of the drum

You need to put your own eyeballs over every inch of brake wiring and fix any splice that looks questionable

You probably need to run a designated ground to each brake.


Just cover the basic work that you have to do with any brand new trailer, and it should start working.
Click to expand...

He's got a 25 year old 4 runner. I'm guessing it's hacked in as that probably came stock with a 4 or 6 pin connector.
 
I know everyone likes to fix everything on their own, but in my world anymore, time is money. In the OPs case, he's losing time with his family and spending time trying to fix the problem.

Run that bitch to a competent trailer repair shop and have them diagnose it. Whats $50-$100 and an hour in the long run when its diagnosed and fixed.
 
Yota Up said:
Background:
My truck + TT = "open ground, no brakes".
My truck + pop up trailer = brakes all good.
Other person's truck + TT = brakes all good.
Click to expand...
Like someone else mentioned:

Other person's truck + pop up trailer?
 
HillbillyDeluxe said:
I know everyone likes to fix everything on their own, but in my world anymore, time is money. In the OPs case, he's losing time with his family and spending time trying to fix the problem.

Run that bitch to a competent trailer repair shop and have them diagnose it. Whats $50-$100 and an hour in the long run when its diagnosed and fixed.
Click to expand...

The hardest part about that is the competent part. :laughing:

My buddy used to run a Fab and trailer place. They had simple trailer stuff down. They charged me I think $180 to replace every wire on my car trailer and check over the brakes. They also have every part right there if something is bad. Where I would have spent half the day cussing and rolling around in gravel, and the other half running to town to get the wrong parts.

To the op, I would definitely start by checking the wire between the drums. They usually either run side to side on top of the tube or through it. Either way can leave them vulnerable to getting pinched, snagged, cut, ect. If that all looks good follow that wire up to the tongue, if that looks good, pull the drums off and check the magnets.

A trick the aforementioned buddy taught me that you can try before anything, is to take an old battery, ground it to the trailer and shove a wire in the brake circuit of the plug. Touch thay wire to the positive terminal. It should make a decent spark and hear a click at each brake. If it sparks like you're touching positive to negative, then you're grounded out :laughing:
 
HillbillyDeluxe said:
I know everyone likes to fix everything on their own, but in my world anymore, time is money. In the OPs case, he's losing time with his family and spending time trying to fix the problem.

Run that bitch to a competent trailer repair shop and have them diagnose it. Whats $50-$100 and an hour in the long run when its diagnosed and fixed.
Click to expand...
50 to 100 an hour for trailer work? :lmao:

anybody anywhere for almost anything starts at 125 an hour and the go up from there.
I recently bought a diesel pusher.
Hourly fees from 175 to 225 depending on what system you need to have work done on. (But 225 an Hour in Hobbs New Mexico at the Cummins shop got me back on the road in an hour and a half instead f who knows how long)

Trailer brakes.
Someone else posted, power the brakes up on the trailer directly from a battery. You should be able to hear them click.
Work toward the drums until you get them to operate.
This will help to locate where in the wiring the break is.
 
CJF said:
Like someone else mentioned:

Other person's truck + pop up trailer?
Click to expand...
Yes, when I bought the pop up, the prior owner's truck worked with the brakes on it.

My truck is 25 year old 4runner. Came with 4 pin. I bought a 7 pin that had a 4 pin input + I wired the rest.
I check the ground at the bumper, all good. I check the ground at the controller, all good.

I had already taken the trailer to a place and they checked the trailer/brakes/wiring/etc and said trailer is good, shop guy hooked up his truck to it and got brakes. I don't have an old battery but could use jumper cables to check things further.

Maybe the next easiest thing is to take my truck and try to hook up to a different TT? That might confirm if it's my controller that shit the bed.
Would also be nice to have someone with a truck with a Tekonsha controller hook up to this TT and look at their screen to see it good myself.
 
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Yota Up said:
Yes, when I bought the pop up, the prior owner's truck worked with the brakes on it.

My truck is 25 year old 4runner. Came with 4 pin. I bought a 7 pin that had a 4 pin input + I wired the rest.
I check the ground at the bumper, all good. I check the ground at the controller, all good.

I had already taken the trailer to a place and they checked the trailer/brakes/wiring/etc and said trailer is good, shop guy hooked up his truck to it and got brakes. I don't have an old battery but could use jumper cables to check things further.

Maybe the next easiest thing is to take my truck and try to hook up to a different TT? That might confirm if it's my controller that shit the bed.
Would also be nice to have someone with a truck with a Tekonsha controller hook up to this TT and look at their screen to see it good myself.
Click to expand...


Which brake controller do you have?

I had a tekonsha voyager that quit working on me one day. Wire broke off the solder joint on the board. Was a 10 minute fix once I located it, but being an electrician that was simple and I always have a fluke handy.


It got replaced with a tekonsha prodigy P3. Hands down the best controller on the market. The boost function is awesome for trailers heavier than the tow rig, and you can set memory functions to remember different trailers.

If your current controller is the problem I'd go with a P2 or P3.


Make sure it's fairly close to level and that the manual override is within easy reach. The number 1 thing I see with wrecked trailers is the driver not knowing they can keep their foot on the gas and grab the trailer brakes to straighten it up if it starts wagging. Once it straightens out you can lift and start with vehicle braking while still manually applying heavy trailer brakes to slow it all down safely.


I have had some that were mounted wrong in work trucks, especially old voyagers that ran on a pendulum. They would have erratic and heavy braking performance that was impossible to adjust smoothly.

The reason everyone is telling you to get a decent truck or SUV is the new ones with built in controllers are seamless and work perfectly, along with a decent drivetrain and suspension.
 
Have someone move the slider on your brake controller while you put a test light on the blue wire. If it works, have them try it with the brake pedal.





7-Way-RV-Style-Trailer-Plug-Wiring-Diagram-1.png
 
deadmeat said:
50 to 100 an hour for trailer work? :lmao:

anybody anywhere for almost anything starts at 125 an hour and the go up from there.
I recently bought a diesel pusher.
Hourly fees from 175 to 225 depending on what system you need to have work done on. (But 225 an Hour in Hobbs New Mexico at the Cummins shop got me back on the road in an hour and a half instead f who knows how long)

Trailer brakes.
Someone else posted, power the brakes up on the trailer directly from a battery. You should be able to hear them click.
Work toward the drums until you get them to operate.
This will help to locate where in the wiring the break is.
Click to expand...

Sorry you get ripped off. Also I said diagnose. I did not say fix/repair.

I own and operate a semi truck and flatbed, hence my reference to time is money in my world. I dont even pay $125/hr for labor. I also have mechanics and shops I use exclusively for repairs and or diagnosis. I can also articulate what I need done specifically and if Im having an issue, I can explain what Ive done that hasnt worked to fix the issue. This allows the mechanic to not waste time looking at stuff its not.
 
HillbillyDeluxe said:
I can also articulate what I need done specifically and if Im having an issue, I can explain what Ive done that hasnt worked to fix the issue. This allows the mechanic to not waste time looking at stuff its not.
Click to expand...

That makes a big difference sometimes. Still cant see how a shop is working for under $125 labor
 
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Yota Up said:
I need a forum for camper trailers that has a lot of traffic and activity to be able to ask questions and solicit advice on making repairs and upgrades on a travel trailer.
My other thread here is about a distribution hitch, but honestly having no brakes is killing this entire summer for my kids because we can't go anywhere good until it's fixed.
I'm at my wits end and furious at this point.

Background:
My truck + TT = "open ground, no brakes".
My truck + pop up trailer = brakes all good.
Other person's truck + TT = brakes all good.

What in the world could explain that?
Not sure you guys can help me with it, and I think I've done everything I can possibly do at this point so hoping a dedicated trailer forum might let me look at one or two more things.
And I'm sure things will come up in the future so might as well sign up to another place to bother those folks with my stupid questions.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
If we can't fix your brake problem a RV forum won't do much better.

Brakes are simple as fuck, power and ground....
Apply brakes manually (may need helper)
Measure voltage at brake magnet wires.
Ideally check current of said magnets, each or all together.

In the other thread I couldn't keep up for all the different shit.
 
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