rear assist brakes gripping too quickly, need help understanding how to adjust them.

gkillmaster

Our rear assist brakes seem to be gripping extremely hard and quickly. The brake unit is set to a value of 14 and still seems to "grab" too quickly. It seems to have gotten worse.

After spending time on the manufacturer's site, we couldn't find any information about what the read out numbers mean or how to adjust the brakes optimally.

Any help on this is greatly appreciated. Last night, we had it set to 30 and the trailer locked up and squealed badly. It was pretty scary. But 30 was the default value that was set when we picked up our trailer from the RV place and seemed to work a lot better then.

The RV dealer didn't seem to be alarmed by the trailer locking up and just told us to set the number lower. But when we do this, it seems as though our truck takes too much of the braking load.

So we are very confused. Would love clarification on this.

Thanks in advance,

Greg K.

pthomas745

What brake controller are you using?

ScottG

I had a similar problem that I posted about here:

http://tab-rv.vanillaforums.com/discussion/2750/grabbing-brakes

I found this so frustrating (and potentially dangerous) that--given my relatively substantive tow vehicle--I ended up just leaving the brakes dialed down to the point where I don't even think they were engaging at all.

This season I decided to joust with this yet again. I did another brake shoe adjustment at the wheels, and fiddled with the controller; this time following my own intuitions rather than the exact directions in the manual.

Bottom line is now the trailer brakes seem to work fine. I wish I could say exactly what I did, but I can't other than to say there does seem to be a sweet spot in the adjustments that you have to hit just right.

Sharon_is_SAM

Gkillmaster, I believe it is recommend to have the Tab brakes adjusted after 150 miles use.  Have you done that yet?

gkillmaster

pthomas745 said:

What brake controller are you using?

Its an Escort Digital.

gkillmaster

ScottG said:

I had a similar problem that I posted about here:

http://tab-rv.vanillaforums.com/discussion/2750/grabbing-brakes

I found this so frustrating (and potentially dangerous) that--given my relatively substantive tow vehicle--I ended up just leaving the brakes dialed down to the point where I don't even think they were engaging at all.

This season I decided to joust with this yet again. I did another brake shoe adjustment at the wheels, and fiddled with the controller; this time following my own intuitions rather than the exact directions in the manual.

Bottom line is now the trailer brakes seem to work fine. I wish I could say exactly what I did, but I can't other than to say there does seem to be a sweet spot in the adjustments that you have to hit just right.

thank you Scott. I will look at this! much appreciated.

ericnliz

Agree with both @SAM & @ScottG. The brakes do need adjustment, as they are NOT self adjusting. Once the brake shoes settle in to the drums, it does change the adjustment considerably. Some of the brake controllers can be quite finicky, and even very small changes on the dial seem to have a much bigger effect in actual application. As @ScottG  indicated, I also had to fiddle with both mine as well. (Two different TVs, both Tekonsha controllers, different models)  I found a large empty, or mostly empty parking lot is a great place to "dial" these controllers in for the sweet spot. Like Scott, I read the manual, and found although it was somewhat helpful for the initial adjust, fine tuning was in fact required to get proper braking without the brakes locking up. Kinda like my fridge, turn it all the way up, it got warmer, down a little, colder! 

gkillmaster

SAM said:

Gkillmaster, I believe it is recommend to have the Tab brakes adjusted after 150 miles use.  Have you done that yet?

Thanks Sam. No I haven't. Something I totally forgot about! Aside from the RV dealer, where can I get this done?

ericnliz

@gkillmaster, Almost any place that does brakes should be able to adjust them for you. Just MAKE SURE they don't jack your trailer up under the axle, as it WILL damage the axle.

Photomom

gkillmaster said:

SAM said:

Gkillmaster, I believe it is recommend to have the Tab brakes adjusted after 150 miles use.  Have you done that yet?

Thanks Sam. No I haven't. Something I totally forgot about! Aside from the RV dealer, where can I get this done?

Any place that services utility trailers like horse trailers or the ones landscape companies use may be able to check and adjust your brakes. And you do need to get them adjusted. When we had ours done the guy said they were pretty loose.

One of the wonderful things about our T@Bs IMHO is that the parts that make it go - brakes, bearings, wheels, tires - are pretty basic things that lots of places can service so you don't need to rely on RV service shops.

We have a Tekonsha P3 controller and the manual has a detailed procedure for adjusting it. You will need to do this after having your T@B brakes adjusted. Check your manual or the controller manufacturer's web site.