Trailer brake question

Danarch

Danarch

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A lot of smart people on the forum. I don’t know a lot about electric trailer brakes. On our last trip one wheel was making a “clicking noise”. Looked at this weekend spun it by hand but no noise. I am wondering though if the electric brake component is suppose to wiggle like this. Hopefully the link to YouTube will work. Never used YouTube to share a video.

 
The video worked.

If the function is the same concept as a regular drum brake, that whole assembly should be under tension. However I'd wait for someone who actually knows something to reply, that's just my 0.02
 
Ok, little refresher complete. Think of it this way, when the signal hits, the magnet grabs the drum and is pulled by the drum. That movement should "activate" the brakes through the "actuating arm" in the picture.

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Looking at your video, it's not actuating the shoes like it should, are they stuck "out" or "in"?
 
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Thank you everyone for the input.

It also dawned on me I didn’t have power to the brakes when I spun the wheel which may be why there wasn’t a clicking noise.
 
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Make sure your brake controller is adjusted correctly. I loaned my dump trailer to a buddy of mine and he complained that the brakes kept locking up. We both have the same yr F250 with the factory brake controller. I set my controller at 1.5 when empty and 4 when loaded with 6 tons on that trailer. He had no clue that he had to change the controller and when I looked he had it set a 4”. Got the trailer back with several flat spots on all 4 wheels. Luckily for him his Friend Value is worth more than the cost of replacing 4 tires.
 
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bucky said:
Make sure your brake controller is adjusted correctly. I loaned my dump trailer to a buddy of mine and he complained that the brakes kept locking up. We both have the same yr F250 with the factory brake controller. I set my controller at 1.5 when empty and 4 when loaded with 6 tons on that trailer. He had no clue that he had to change the controller and when I looked he had it set a 4”. Got the trailer back with several flat spots on all 4 wheels. Luckily for him his Friend Value is worth more than the cost of replacing 4 tires.
Click to expand...

Same setup and no change in the settings. Actually might be something to check as I suppose a setting could get changed but they seemed to work like they normally have, we just noticed a clicking noise. And the drum seemed warmer than normal but still able to touch it.
 
Danarch said:
A lot of smart people on the forum. I don’t know a lot about electric trailer brakes. On our last trip one wheel was making a “clicking noise”. Looked at this weekend spun it by hand but no noise. I am wondering though if the electric brake component is suppose to wiggle like this. Hopefully the link to YouTube will work. Never used YouTube to share a video.

Click to expand...
Yes, it is supposed to wiggle like that. You can't tell anything until the drum is on and adjusted properly like all drum brakes. As stated, the magnet is attached to the brake shoe and rides in close contact to the flat face inside the drum. When current is applied, the electromagnet is attracted to the drum face, the friction moves the lower end of that shoe and actuates the brakes. The higher the current, the stronger the magnetic force, the higher the friction is.
 
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mrblaine said:
Yes, it is supposed to wiggle like that. You can't tell anything until the drum is on and adjusted properly like all drum brakes. As stated, the magnet is attached to the brake shoe and rides in close contact to the flat face inside the drum. When current is applied, the electromagnet is attracted to the drum face, the friction moves the lower end of that shoe and actuates the brakes. The higher the current, the stronger the magnetic force, the higher the friction is.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the advice. I removed the drum to see if something was loose as on rotation there is “clicking” noise when we came back from a trip. This weekend I spun the wheel and there wasn’t any noise, but I wanted to check inside so I removed the drum to see if something was loose. One thing that occured to me afterwards is I didn’t have power to the brakes which maybe could trigger the clicking noise.

My daughter bought a 2004 TJ this last weekend with your big brake kit on the front. Nice setup and stopping power.
 
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