My truck (1999 Chevy Silverado) has the built in large round plug (I think it's 8 pins) for the trailer wires. I'm assuming it will run trailer lights and brakes. How do the brakes work? Do the trailer brakes get their power from this plug or is it just the activation signal? I've seen trailers with batteries mounted on them, which I assume is for the brakes, so do all trailers with brakes need a battery?
To my knowledge only trailers with electric brakes need a battery to provide emergency stopping power in the event of a "break away". I know our boat trailer has surge brakes and no battery is required on that. ( at least not on ours).
Danny, you'll need a trailer brake controller. There is probably a pigtail under the dash for this. Go to a trailer/RV store and they'll set you up.
The brake controller will sense braking (either by the presence of brake light signal or via vehicle decel) and will apply electrical current to the trailer brakes through the 8 way connector out back. Without the contoller you won't get any trailer brakes. The controller mounts in the dash area, you'd see it if it were present.
The battery on the trailer is for emergency break-away. There will also be a switch and a light cable. The cable attaches to the tow vehicle and if the trailer seperates it pulls the switch plunger out. This causes the trailer battery to apply full brakes to stop the trailer.
Hope this helps [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
I'll look under the dash for a trailer brake controller. What does it look like?
[/ QUOTE ]
If it's a new truck, it's not likely that a brake controller was included. They're a small box usually mounted with a couple of screws to the bottom edge of the dash. It you'll go to Tekonsha's website you can look at my favorite brand. The Prodigy seems to be quite popular.
I was thinking about this some more. For the trailers that have the battery that is used to stop the trailer in an emergency breakaway situtation, is it possible to use that battery for the trailer brakes also and have signal from the brake lights on a standard 4 pin flat connector activate the brakes? It seems like then any vehicle with a 4 pin flat connector could use the trailer brakes.
</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
seems like then any vehicle with a 4 pin flat connector could use the trailer brakes.
[/ QUOTE ]
Nope, won't work. It could certainly be wired to apply the trailer brakes all right, but that would mean simply "on" or "off" and I don't think you want to lock up the trailer brakes every time the truck's brake lights come on. [img]/forums/images/icons/smirk.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]
The brake controller is activated and trailer brakes applied whenever the truck's brake lights come on, but they are applied very lightly. Then as you press harder on the brake pedal and the truck decelerates faster, more amperage is sent to the trailer brakes and the more amperage that is sent to the trailer brakes, the harder they are applied. There is also a button to press (or lever to move) with you finger if you want to apply trailer brakes without using the truck brakes.
Thanks Bird. I suppose I knew deep down inside that it's never that easy! I see now that the controller has a fair amount of complexity. How expensive are they?
</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
How expensive are they?
[/ QUOTE ]
Camping World has the Prodigy listed at $143.10. And of course, you can buy a lot cheaper controllers at places like Pep Boys but I wouldn't recommend the cheap ones. My brother got one of the cheap ones and after his first trip, threw it away and we put a Tekonsha on in its place.
Bird is the Man!!! (I knew that ahead of time) I will second what he said about the cheap controllers. I have one and hate it. It's a Reese electronic unit which does not sense decel, only presence of brake lights. Then it ramps up the amperage to a user defined max. The ramp rate is adjustable as well but it just doesn't brake smoothly. I have to remember to adjust it for high speed driving versus low speed. I need to brake down (pun intended) and get a better unit [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote