Trailer Brake Issue
Printed From: R-pod Owners Forum
Category: R-pod Discussion Forums
Forum Name: Podmods, Maintenance, Tips and Tricks
Forum Discription: Ask maintenance questions, share your podmods (modifications) and helpful tips
URL: http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=11598
Printed Date: 24 May 2024 at 9:04pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 9.64 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Trailer Brake Issue
Posted By: GlibGuy
Subject: Trailer Brake Issue
Date Posted: 21 May 2018 at 6:59am
|
I have a 2015 178 and I'm towing with a 2011 Silverado. My RV dealer installed a Quest controller. I used to be able to almost stop just holding the button on the controller but lately something is going on and I barely feel the trailer brakes when I hold the controller button. So do I have a controller problem, connection problem or brake problem on the trailer? My RV dealer has gone out of business and I can't find a manual for the controller. I have tried to increase the number but the controller only shows "5" or "10" when the brakes are applied. This probably sounds confusing but just looking for some help if anyone knows anything. Thanks! ------------- MICK |
Replies:
Posted By: Olddawgsrule
Date Posted: 21 May 2018 at 7:12am
|
Do a Google search for your controller. Look for the manufacture's site. Should be able to get you manual there. I did a quick one and think it's made by Husky.. http:///www.huskytow.com/product-support/ - http:///www.huskytow.com/product-support/ Mine I can un-plug and remove. Curious if it's not seated completely in the receiver.. ------------- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJduGeZNFgtptH67leItRFQ - Byways no Highways 2017 Tacoma http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=72408 - Truck Camper Build 2004 F150 My Overlander |
Posted By: GlibGuy
Date Posted: 28 May 2018 at 8:34am
|
I didn't see any numbers; removed it from it's bracket under the dash and found "14217+" on the rear of the controller. Comes up "item not found" when I put that in the search box (with and without the +). The number is sort of stamped on the rear. And when you refer to being "seated completely to the receiver" do you mean the 7 point trailer plug? ------------- MICK |
Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 28 May 2018 at 8:38am
|
You may want to call Husky. I'm sure they'd be happy to help you figure out which manual applies to your model. ------------- Never leave footprints behind. Fred & Maria Kearney Sonoma 167RB Our Pod 172 2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost |
Posted By: GlibGuy
Date Posted: 28 May 2018 at 8:42am
Sorry for responding to my own post, but I decided to google Quest brake controller 14217+ and it comes up Husky 31899 which looks EXACTLY like mine except I don't have the flat connector! And here may be the problem; my wires are taped together. I'm going to pursue this unless someone has other thoughts. ------------- MICK |
Posted By: john in idaho
Date Posted: 28 May 2018 at 8:59am
| Maybe you need to start over with a new controller? Taped wires are a bad sign. Did you check that the trailer plug and truck socket is clean? That electronics cleaner in a spray can works well. |
Posted By: mcarter
Date Posted: 28 May 2018 at 9:14am
|
Personally I would go with a new controller and the right plug and play cable. Most newer vehicles have the wiring installed to add the brake controller, Ford and Chevy certainly do. I tow with a Silverado and I bought a Tekonsha P3 with the cable that plugs into my interface panel, no tapped wires and a secure fit all around. ------------- Mike Carter 2015 178 " I had the right to remain silent, I just didn't have the ability." |
Posted By: DavMar
Date Posted: 28 May 2018 at 10:53am
|
+1 to mcarter suggestion. If you TV doesn't have the wiring for plug and play with your break control already installed. You should be able to buy the wiring that plugs into your vehicle wiring harness and then into your controller. I had to do just that with my Tacoma it had the plug in the harness but I had to just buy the wiring that plug into that and then into my Tekinsha P3, no biggy to deal with. ------------- Dave & Marlene J with Zoey the wonder dog. 2017 Rpod 180 2016 Toyota Tacoma SR5 4x4 Lexington, NC |
Posted By: GlueGuy
Date Posted: 28 May 2018 at 12:37pm
|
our dealer installed a Teconsha brake controller as part of our "package". When they described it as "plug and play", I thought they meant it was integrated with the truck's electronics. What they actually meant was that it plugged directly into the pre-existing connector for the OEM controller. They also didn't mention that it had to be mounted under the dash, and that it would be bumping my right knee all the time. I didn't like that. So I un-installed the Teconsha, and installed the Ford OEM controller, which fits into a pre-existing slot in the lower part of the dashboard. Big plus is that it completely integrates with the truck electronics, and provides proportional braking automatically. It also doesn't bang my knee all the time. I like that. ------------- bp 2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River 2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost |
Posted By: mcarter
Date Posted: 28 May 2018 at 4:26pm
|
Well that would be good if the OP had a Ford. He doesn't he has a Chevy, God Bless you Ford owners , huh? ------------- Mike Carter 2015 178 " I had the right to remain silent, I just didn't have the ability." |
Posted By: mcarter
Date Posted: 28 May 2018 at 4:27pm
|
Well that would be good if the OP had a Ford. He doesn't he has a Chevy, God Bless you Ford owners , huh? ------------- Mike Carter 2015 178 " I had the right to remain silent, I just didn't have the ability." |
Posted By: Iceworm
Date Posted: 29 May 2018 at 9:18pm
| Was the controller the problem. I had a situation as you described and after checking voltages, tensioners at brake etc. Noticed a wire broke off of the crimped connector just a few inches outside of the brake housing. Fixed with butt splice connector and full brakes again. About a week later same thing happened to the second wire. Just got back from trip from Penna. to Alaska. I will cut the factory splices off the other brake and replace with butt splices sealed with silicone soon. |
Posted By: Leo B
Date Posted: 30 May 2018 at 5:51am
|
Iceworm, we had a similar problem with the broken wire. ------------- Leo & Melissa Bachand 2017 Ford F150 2021 Vista Cruiser 19 csk Previously owned 2015 Rpod 179 2010 Rpod 171 |
Posted By: GlibGuy
Date Posted: 30 May 2018 at 7:30am
I haven't completed my findings. I assumed it was the controller but sounds like I need to check for connections around the brake housing(s). I'll post results at some point. ------------- MICK |
Posted By: GlueGuy
Date Posted: 30 May 2018 at 10:46am
------------- bp 2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River 2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost |
Posted By: mcarter
Date Posted: 30 May 2018 at 11:14am
|
Adding the integrated controller is a good idea, I wish I could have done that. ------------- Mike Carter 2015 178 " I had the right to remain silent, I just didn't have the ability." |
Posted By: GlueGuy
Date Posted: 30 May 2018 at 1:48pm
------------- bp 2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River 2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost |
Posted By: mcarter
Date Posted: 30 May 2018 at 2:02pm
|
GM in my opinion is light years behind Ford. My 2016 had the brake controller wiring under the drivers floor pad and I had to hard wire in the P3 wiring to mate to the controller. My 2006 Silverado was plug and play with right interface cable. Neither was adaptable to an integrated controller. Which BTW is not offered. ------------- Mike Carter 2015 178 " I had the right to remain silent, I just didn't have the ability." |
Posted By: ChetC
Date Posted: 06 Jun 2018 at 12:15pm
|
Anytime you have a brake issue with your trailer, the first place you should check is the wiring coming at the axle/hub as it is prone to failure from vibration/debris. Most often, it is one of the lighter gauge green wires from the hub that breaks at the connector. To check (wire color is based on my rPod 180 but regardless of color, the setup should be the same on all rPods): There are two green wires coming out of the hub on each side. On the drivers side, there will also be two pairs of white/whiteblack (or white with a black tracer, if you prefer) and on the passenger side just one white/whiteblack pair. The white/whiteblack pairs are a postive (whiteblack) and a ground (white). On the driver's side, both white wires should be attached to one of the green wires from the hub. It does not matter which green wire as they are simply activating a magnet and it does not care which direction current is flowing. Both whiteblack wires should be attached to the other green wire. There are two pairs on the driver side because one white/whiteblack pair is what feeds the brake on the passenger side. On the passenger side, make sure the white is to one green wire and the whiteblack to the other. They will fail at some point, it's the nature of the beast. Once that happens, I, myself, eliminate all the crimp connectors and solder the connections which I then shrinkwrap and tape for good measure. Even that, however is not foolproof as all it takes is one random piece of debris to hit a wire just right and it's severed, not to mention the constant vibration as you travel down the road. ------------- Former 2017 rPod 180 owner Now in a 2019 Little Guy MAX Full timer who logs more than 35,000 miles per year. |
Posted By: DavMar
Date Posted: 06 Jun 2018 at 6:38pm
All very good information but it would be even better if you could point us all to a schematic (wiring diagram) of this information. It would be great to be able to print it out and have a hard copy to carry and help in troubleshooting. ------------- Dave & Marlene J with Zoey the wonder dog. 2017 Rpod 180 2016 Toyota Tacoma SR5 4x4 Lexington, NC |
Posted By: mcarter
Date Posted: 06 Jun 2018 at 7:06pm
|
DavMar, there is no such thing. Guys like ChetC and me learned this from crawling under our pods and doing some work. Your 7 pin connector is standard and I have added the diagram to this forum (just lately). The OP is right, Pods are very similar, he's right on the colors and BTW there isn't too many wires going into the brake hubs. The brake controller signal comes from position 7 on your connector as you look at it with the alignment lug at 12 o'clock position. BTW that wire is blue. If there was a good wiring diagram we'd all have it, until then we teach ourselves and we learn. Personally I have taken the time to find out what each of the 7 pins does and where it goes. Why - because the wiring color changes as it goes aft on Pod in some cases. Bottom line is the wiring diagram I have, I made. AND it is a valuable tool and it was a great lesson to learn how my RV is wired. ------------- Mike Carter 2015 178 " I had the right to remain silent, I just didn't have the ability." |
Posted By: ChetC
Date Posted: 06 Jun 2018 at 10:58pm
|
I’ll agree with mcarter on this. I was unable to find a wiring diagram for the rPod but I never really looked too hard as I know all electric brake systems are the same, just different colored wires. It’s extremely rare that the brake controller or socket connection fails but it’s also somewhat common that the connection at the hub does fail. I’ve fixed my brakes on this trailer twice in about 40,000 miles. My previous trailer, which was a tandem, I had to fix twice as well in about the same mileage. I am in the habit of occasionally locking up the trailer brakes in grassy areas or on wet pavement, using the controller, to verify both sides are functioning properly. ------------- Former 2017 rPod 180 owner Now in a 2019 Little Guy MAX Full timer who logs more than 35,000 miles per year. |
Posted By: mcarter
Date Posted: 07 Jun 2018 at 8:27am
|
Try this, there is some great info on here. Pods are wired to the 7 way RV standard, mine matches pin postion and wire color. There is also a representation of brake wiring and a trailer wiring image, but it doesn't match your Pod. Great reference I use.
https://www.etrailer.com/faq-wiring.aspx ------------- Mike Carter 2015 178 " I had the right to remain silent, I just didn't have the ability." |
Posted By: DavMar
Date Posted: 07 Jun 2018 at 4:09pm
Thanks, that all I need, once I get my printer working right. I guess the next step for me is spending some time under the Pod with paper and pencil! ------------- Dave & Marlene J with Zoey the wonder dog. 2017 Rpod 180 2016 Toyota Tacoma SR5 4x4 Lexington, NC |
Posted By: mcarter
Date Posted: 07 Jun 2018 at 7:14pm
|
DavMar, I like the little fused jumper I made with two 1/4" spade connectors. I can pick up 12V at the 11 position on trailer plug and use it to test different circuits, don't plug it into the ground at 5. I can light my lights and even send signal to brake controller and light my reverse lights I added. I added the faq wiring doc to my binder and it has my notes on it from different things I've looked at. ------------- Mike Carter 2015 178 " I had the right to remain silent, I just didn't have the ability." |
Posted By: DavMar
Date Posted: 07 Jun 2018 at 9:07pm
Mike, great idea you have with making up a spade test jumper, simple and quick, I like! I also try to avoid jumping 12vdc straight to ground to avoid letting the magic out in a big poof of smoke!  ------------- Dave & Marlene J with Zoey the wonder dog. 2017 Rpod 180 2016 Toyota Tacoma SR5 4x4 Lexington, NC |
Posted By: DavMar
Date Posted: 09 Jun 2018 at 5:46pm
|
I downloaded and printed out information on how a 7 pin connector is wired into a trailer. Then with these drawings I slid under the Rpod to see how the trailer brakes are wired and its left me with more questions then answers. I hope some of you here who have more knowledge of trailer wiring them me can help? First, I under stand that Forest River unfortunately didn’t follow the standard color code you’ll find on trailer schematics. That’s why instead of single blue and white wire going to the trailer brakes you see white, white/black, white/blue connected to what looks like green wires (to me at least) into the hubs. Here is where I need the help, on the driver side wheel
hub there are two wires, white and white/blue coming together and going into a
green wire into the hub and the trailer brake. There are also two additional
wires colored white and another white/black going into the other brake wire to
the hub. Over on the passenger side wheel hub I have a white/black wire going
into a green wire to the trailer brake and then a white wire going into the
other green wire going into the wheel hub to the brake. I’m perplexed with these two wires going into one and not
just a single blue (positive) wire and a white (ground) wire as shown in most
trailer schematics. Would I be correct in assuming that the white/black wires on
each side and white wires that are also located on both sides to each electric
brake are common and connected together, diver side white/black to passenger
side white/black. Are all the white wires common and tied together as the ground?
This doesn’t make sense to me because you wouldn’t tie what might be a positive
wire such as the white/blue or white/black to a negative white wire? So are the
white/blue and white wire that come together on the driver side positive and
the white/black and white that also come together on the driver side the negative
side going to the trailer brake? Is this same white/black on the driver side
carried over to the passenger’s side white/black as its negative and the white
wire on the passenger side going into the trailer brake the positive that on
most schematics would be shown as a blue wire? Maybe someone here has already solved this mystery of
Rpod wiring or am I going to have to hook up the trailer connector to my TV and
crawl around with a probe and my volt/ohm meter? Help!!!
------------- Dave & Marlene J with Zoey the wonder dog. 2017 Rpod 180 2016 Toyota Tacoma SR5 4x4 Lexington, NC |
Posted By: mcarter
Date Posted: 09 Jun 2018 at 6:11pm
|
DavMar - go back and read ChetC's post. Take some time. Make your own notes, don't expect a wiring diagram until after you have made it. ------------- Mike Carter 2015 178 " I had the right to remain silent, I just didn't have the ability." |
Posted By: DavMar
Date Posted: 12 Jun 2018 at 5:24pm
|
Okay, Okay, Okay! Since I’m curious and wanted to figure out how the trailer brake wiring on my Pod is wired and I don’t have a secret decoder ring. I made up a jumper, got my magical Fluke meter out, along with a probe and a better flash light to see when under the Pod today. If I’m right from the trailer seven-pin connector plug the (+) positive power for the Brake control runs on a White/Blue wire to one side of the electro brake magnet in the wheel hub on the driver’s side of the camper. Before going into the wheel hub this same wire splits, one wire going into the driver side electro brake magnet and the other Blue/White to the passenger side (+) electro brake magnet. On the (-) negative ground side a White wire goes from the seven-pin connector to the driver side wheel hub where it connects to the other side of the electro magnet. It also goes into a connector before the wheel hub and splits with one wire running into the driver side (-) negative brake electro magnet and the other traveling over to the passenger side (-) negative electro magnet. Now I think I have this correct and please do point it out if I’m wrong. What made it a bit confusing for me is that when you put the one lead of an ohm meter on an electro magnet lead and the other lead of the meter on the other magnet lead and it will read a short unless you have a precision ohm meter able to read very high resistance sensitivity. There for it showed, on the meter, an electrical short between the (+) positive side and the (-) negative side wiring because it’s connected to each other through the electro magnets. I could easily confirm the wiring if I wanted to cut one lead of the brake magnet off (positive Blue /White or the negative White wire) but I’m of the opinion its best not to unless somehow, I’m totally wrong on how the trailer brake are wired in our campers? ------------- Dave & Marlene J with Zoey the wonder dog. 2017 Rpod 180 2016 Toyota Tacoma SR5 4x4 Lexington, NC |
Posted By: GlueGuy
Date Posted: 12 Jun 2018 at 6:40pm
Electromagnets are in essence just a coil wrapped around "the magnet". Because the coils are copper, there just isn't a lot of resistance there. It will take a pretty good meter to register much more than 0 ohms. It will be a tiny amount of ohms.More likely milli-ohms. ------------- bp 2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River 2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost |
Posted By: DavMar
Date Posted: 12 Jun 2018 at 7:27pm
|
GlueGuy your absolutely correct, my bad sorry. Why I wrote HIGH resistance when I was writing my post and thinking LOW is beyond me? They make specific meter for reading very low resistance and they are great when trying to trace out a short, wish I owned one.
------------- Dave & Marlene J with Zoey the wonder dog. 2017 Rpod 180 2016 Toyota Tacoma SR5 4x4 Lexington, NC |
Posted By: GlibGuy
Date Posted: 29 Jul 2018 at 7:48am
Well I ended up with a broken wire and more. I tried to repair the wire but ended up having to have a new wire run AND the electric brake assembly replaced on one side! I just returned from a 3600 mile trip and the brakes* worked perfectly. *And everything else - almost two weeks of dry camping. ------------- MICK |