Trailer towing issue

[madmanhemi]

Hi everyone,

I'm new here so be kind, lol. I've read several threads, but nothing completely on point. As a way of background I have a 2020 diesel 2500. I previously towed a ten year old dual axle car trailer with this truck, never had any issue, it always braked and would lock up the brakes at 100% braking. I recently acquired a slightly used (year old) three axle car trailer, about 2klbs heavier then the two axle, but I went from 24 feet to 36 feet long. It initially felt like it had slightly worn/weak brakes, I brought it in to get adjusted after two trips of about 1000 miles as it felt like it had zero brakes on second trip. All six brakes had to be replaced, blown seals and pads worn to nothing, no root cause identified, a pricey repair. It now has new everything as it relates to the brakes. I've tried the controller with light & heavy electric brake on the OEM/RAM brake controller, I've set the gain as high as 10 and the brakes never fully lockup at full braking, still very soft, they definately engage and grab, but rather soft and nowhere near my old two axle lockup. As for testing I've used the manual brake controller slider to engage trailer only brakes at various speeds from 20-40mph and no real difference. I then had a friend who tows alot with his 2018 Ram hook up and he also said it was very soft braking, again oem controller. I also know that the current controllers are proportional via a pwm relay if memory serves correctly so proper Volts must be getting sent. I'm going to have the trailer shop adjust the brakes since they now have 200 miles on them, but even they are a bit baffled, however they did mention something about the gauge wire on the newer rams perhaps being insufficient to carry the required amps? I'm a bit baffled as to where to look for a solution, the brakes clearly engage, but not enough. If anyone has ideas or has been down this route I'm all ears.

I also know that my truck's ok, just had to have Brake booster replaced, that was after my CP4 pump blew, which was preceded with my entire wire harness being replaced as it was bad from factory...so i'm used to trouble shooting on this truck lol...still love it tho and I'm patient w/Dodge, and this isn't my first ram.
This is what I haul btw...I'm almost done building it...so I know my way around cars/fabricating..2010 challenger six second pro mod/npk car,

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

My truck can lock up the 30 ft triaxle empty with 3.5 gain loaded at 20k at about 7 gain. Id be willing to bet they did not set the brakes right

 

[Darkside]

Check the wires going to the brakes on the trailer, I just had to completely re-wire my dump trailer brakes… they worked, but were very weak. While doing the wiring I noticed 2 spot that were shorted out and a couple of the factory splices full of corrosion. Now the brakes will lock up with 10K on the trailer.

 

[reese917]

I don’t have an “expert” answer, but here’s my 2 takeaways coming from the travel trailer world.

-I was always under the impression trailer brakes shouldn’t lock up, isn’t that more dangerous? My travel trailer has only locked up a tire going slowly downhill in an off-camber turn.

-I had brand new axles put under my travel trailer (not because of brakes, different reason) and the new brakes took a long time to “burn-in” they barely did anything at first and have gotten stronger and stronger the more miles I put on them.

 

[sanda]

If you don't want to skid all the rubber off your trailer tires you will set the gain down. On pavement I have one set gain and when on gravel I turn it down to avoid wheel lock. Difference in trailer weights also requires different settings. I have never found just one setting for all road conditions.

 

[Moochie6903]

I am having the same problem. With 2007 2500 , I could feel good braking on the trailer with about 5-7 gain on aftermarket controller. With my 2020 3500 with the ITBM, I have the gain at 10 with heavy electric, and I can barely feel any trailer brake input. Sounds like I’m not the only one with this problem.

 

[tj53152]

Hi everyone,

I'm new here so be kind, lol. I've read several threads, but nothing completely on point. As a way of background I have a 2020 diesel 2500. I previously towed a ten year old dual axle car trailer with this truck, never had any issue, it always braked and would lock up the brakes at 100% braking. I recently acquired a slightly used (year old) three axle car trailer, about 2klbs heavier then the two axle, but I went from 24 feet to 36 feet long. It initially felt like it had slightly worn/weak brakes, I brought it in to get adjusted after two trips of about 1000 miles as it felt like it had zero brakes on second trip. All six brakes had to be replaced, blown seals and pads worn to nothing, no root cause identified, a pricey repair. It now has new everything as it relates to the brakes. I've tried the controller with light & heavy electric brake on the OEM/RAM brake controller, I've set the gain as high as 10 and the brakes never fully lockup at full braking, still very soft, they definately engage and grab, but rather soft and nowhere near my old two axle lockup. As for testing I've used the manual brake controller slider to engage trailer only brakes at various speeds from 20-40mph and no real difference. I then had a friend who tows alot with his 2018 Ram hook up and he also said it was very soft braking, again oem controller. I also know that the current controllers are proportional via a pwm relay if memory serves correctly so proper Volts must be getting sent. I'm going to have the trailer shop adjust the brakes since they now have 200 miles on them, but even they are a bit baffled, however they did mention something about the gauge wire on the newer rams perhaps being insufficient to carry the required amps? I'm a bit baffled as to where to look for a solution, the brakes clearly engage, but not enough. If anyone has ideas or has been down this route I'm all ears.

I also know that my truck's ok, just had to have Brake booster replaced, that was after my CP4 pump blew, which was preceded with my entire wire harness being replaced as it was bad from factory...so i'm used to trouble shooting on this truck lol...still love it tho and I'm patient w/Dodge, and this isn't my first ram.
This is what I haul btw...I'm almost done building it...so I know my way around cars/fabricating..2010 challenger six second pro mod/npk car,
View attachment 42712

I had a similar issue on my 2020 Ram 5500. When I checked the voltage on the brake control wire at the hitch - max was 7.49V. A friend has the same truck by 2018 and his would measure 9 volts with max brake pressure and 10.5V when manual override was squeezed. I finally got behind the dash and check the voltage coming out of the brake controller - it was 11.49V at max brake pressure / max manual override. Somewhere in the wiring, I must have a short or something pulling the voltage down. I ran a new brake control wire from the controller connector back to both 7 pin connectors and bam! 11.49V at the 7 pin, problem solved.