Chev brake controller

[Chapitre]

Been having problems with the brakes on the 17b and the chev silverado, looking for some ideas....had the brakes on the trailer checked out by an RV place, had the plug and power connection checked out by a trailer place as well.
The issue- brakes are fine on the trailer, they work some but not enough to squeal the tires on the trailer, when the truck is moving at 20-30mph and I try the controller manually it really doesn't stop the truck and trailer it just slows down a bit. It doesn't seem to matter if it is on 7 pr so or 10. The RV guy says that it must be the integrated brake controller - chev says the computer on the truck would detect if there was a problem- must be the brakes on the trailer.
Everything worked fine up until now.

Any thoughts?

[ChuckS]

Antilock brakes might not let you squeal the brakes.

[Brian B-P]

Trailer brakes are often unable to lock up the wheels (and thus squeal the tires). My Boler's brakes provide the trailer's share of braking with a moderate controller setting (about 7) so they clearly work properly... but they can't lock the tires even at the maximum setting.

If the trailer brakes are strong enough to do their share of braking, then with the manual lever fully applied they should be able to provide braking force equal to a large fraction of the trailer's weight. If the trailer weighs (for instance) half of the loaded truck weight, then the trailer brakes (fully manually applied) would slow down the truck plus trailer at one-third of the deceleration of a normal hard stop... that's significant braking, but not slam-you-into-the-seatbelt stuff.

Originally Posted by ChuckS

Antilock brakes might not let you squeal the brakes.

The anti-lock brake control system in the truck has no way to know the speed of the trailer wheels, so it can't control lockup of the trailer wheels. I have no idea why GM would program the integrated trailer brake controller to limit the power to the trailer brakes when the manual control is applied, and certainly not when there is lockup or control issue with the truck's brakes.


The way to objectively assess the controller's behaviour is to check the voltage supplied to the trailer brakes when the lever is applied. I would try this while safely parked, at least to start.

[padlin]

FWIW... I get the same results with my stick trailer, neither my old Prodigy P3 controller or the new Fords built in controller will lockup the trailers brakes, and yes I've had the brakes checked and adjusted. While they won't lock up, I can certainly feel the drag when I put them on manually. It's never proven to be an issue, so far.

[gbaglo]

The Prodigy instructions for set up tell you to back off lock-up. I don't think I ever observed lock-up when trying to adjust the controller.

[Ray N]

Yup, same here. The directions that came with the controller said to back off the lock-up but I never could make it happen. It seemed to stop well, so I didn't worry about it.

[Dave Walter]

My controller (Tekonsha Prodigy RF) will allow the brakes to lock up. I have inadvertently done so a few times when the controller was not adjusted quite right. Last summer I startled the girls at the entrance gate to Greenpoint Campground in Pacific Rim National Park as I came squealing to a stop in front of them at checkout time.

[ruscal]

My Prodigy RF will lock the brakes on the Scamp if adjusted too high.
I would do a voltage check like Brian suggested. If you have a break away switch you could pull out the cable and see if the trailer could skid the wheels when pulled. That would give you full voltage. Do that test quickly, as you don't want to leave full voltage on the brakes for more than a half minute or so. The wires could get warm.
Russ