two trailer questions

motosyco · 06-04-2009, 09:22 AM

i have a basic dual axle enclosed 7x14 trailer with electric brakes.

my must important question: when i got home from riding the other day i went to back it up and the front wheels of my trailer locked up. i back my trailer up on a grass hill next to my house and the grass was wet so i put it in 4hi so i wouldn't chew up my grass (i have done this twice before with no problems). and as soon as i took my foot off the brake to back up they locked. i unhooked to cable from my truck (both the electrical and and the brake away cable) to trailer and plugged it back in and it still was locked. so i took it out of 4hi and went forward still locked, turned off my truck off then back on still locked so i just was going to back it up into my drive way with the wheel locked to get it out of the street and then the front wheels unlocked them selves. i haven't took the wheel off yet to get a good look, will do that this weekend. any one every had this issue or have any idea why it did that.

my second question is i'm going to be getting 4 wheel chocks for my dirtbikes and just want some ideas of how to lay them out. i was thinking one up front in the middle two on each side in the center and the last one in the center further back of the trailer so the bikes would kind of give a dimond look. or should i just do two up front and to further back so the bikes would be behind each other.

thanks for any help on either question

**vipzach** · 06-04-2009, 09:49 AM

Is the wiring correct? There should be a wire that connects to your reverse lights that will disengage the brakes when in reverse.

On the bike setup, I would guess it would take a little experimenting. Do you also have tool boxes and fuel in the trailer?

motosyco · 06-04-2009, 10:01 AM

the wiring should be fine. i backed it up at least 20 times before this. the brakes were stuck on if i had my truck brakes on or not. i was thinking maybe some how when i put it into 4hi it sent a signal that shouldn't have and the trailer brakes looked up. but after they released i put it back into 4hi and didn't have any problems. i thought the wheel bearings maybe (going to check out this weekend)but it was both front wheels and they were locked not dragging. it was like the emergency brake away wire was pulled but it was only the front wheels and not the back.

as far as the wheel chokes, no tool box and i'll be putting a counter and one of those fold up beds/seats in the furture but not for a while. and shelves along the front top and one of the sides. but the shelves will be higher then the bars of my bikes. gas cans maybe 1 or 2. if anyone has any photos of there set up would be sweet to check out for ideas.

**walleeme** · 06-04-2009, 10:04 AM

Sounds like the emergency breakaway switch on the trailer gave a bad signal.
Look at that first.

mjw357 · 06-04-2009, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vipzach

Is the wiring correct? There should be a wire that connects to your reverse lights that will disengage the brakes when in reverse.

You are thinking of surge brakes. If his foot is not on the brake pedal, there should be zero braking.

What kind of controller do you have? How is it mounted?

Before you pull the wheel, do a little test. Try backing up again like you did with everything connected. If it locks, unplug your harness and leave it unplugged. Try backing or driving forwards. If it is still locked, you have a mechanical issue with the brakes. If it goes away, it may be an electrical issue.

Quote:

Originally Posted by walleeme

Sounds like the emergency breakaway switch on the trailer gave a bad signal.
Look at that first.

Yes. That switch is normally open until the cable pulls the pin.

motosyco · 06-04-2009, 10:59 AM

i have the prodigy controller and it mounted on my dash right above the gas pedal. it looks to be in the limits that prodigy gives out. i'm hoping that the emergency cable was just far enough out to cause the fronts to lock up and it took a little bit to reset itself. once they unlocked they have not locked up since. but it did only go about 50 feet in reverse after that. i was also thinking maybe i took a sharpe turn and it pull the cable out a little.

motosyco · 06-04-2009, 04:19 PM

i just realized that i left out that when i un-hooked the eletric hook up the trailer brakes were still locked.

HRTKD · 06-04-2009, 05:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by motosyco

i just realized that i left out that when i un-hooked the eletric hook up the trailer brakes were still locked.

That's odd. Sounds like an electrical problem. Until you said that I was going to say that your brake controller was probably mounted at too much of an angle and then you were on a slope and that made it worse. My Prodigy is also mounted at the bottom of the dash but I used some bushings to it would be almost level.

Pops · 06-04-2009, 06:02 PM

I'm very new to all of this and don't know much but my guess is that your Breakaway Switch or wiring is bad. The breakaway might possibly be connected to only one axle by design??? ... or the connection to that axle is faulty???

For the chocks, I've just been using 2 on the right and 2 on the left in between the tandems. I don't see why any more would be necessary.

For loading your bikes, I can only speak from experience as a former truck driver that I would park them all close to the walls to keep your load over the wheels. Think of it as a catamaran sail boat where you want weight as far out as possible to hold that side down while turning on road curves or initiating an emergency swurve to dodge an idiot on the road.

motosyco · 06-04-2009, 06:13 PM

that makes sense about loading the bikes on the sides. i think that's the way i'm going to go.

i think it has to be the emergency cable. hopefully it was just not in all the way or a one time freak problem. either way still going to take a look around under the trailer.

mjw357 · 06-05-2009, 05:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by motosyco

i think it has to be the emergency cable. hopefully it was just not in all the way or a one time freak problem. either way still going to take a look around under the trailer.

If it is just the breakaway switch, it's a very easy fix, and a cheap part too.

Breakaway Switch

If you are good with electrical stuff, just disconnect the two wires to the switch and check for continuity. Pin in should be open, pin out closed. I doubt the switch is bad, though, it's a pretty simple thing. The pin is probably getting pulled.

**vipzach** · 06-05-2009, 07:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mjw357

You are thinking of surge brakes.

Aww hell, you are right! Thanks for showing me the light!

motosyco · 06-28-2009, 10:14 AM

i finally looked at the trailer. no electrical checks just a once over and the wires coming out of the controller seemed very tight. so i gave them some slack. going to hook it up and do alittle driving later this week. so i hope it just was a freak one time thing. i think i'm still going to take it to the dealer. don't want it to happen in the middle of nowhere on the long drive back home in a few months.

motosyco · 07-02-2009, 06:53 PM

i talked to the axle company today, they said that the brakes could be adjusted too far out. does this make any sense to anyone, it doesn't to me. but i'm going to adjust them this weekend. i'm guessing they should be like a normal car drum brakes with just a little interference.

HRTKD · 07-02-2009, 10:39 PM

Adjustment could be the issue. It could also be a problem with how the brake shoes are installed. I had a Ford Aerostar van that the dealership royally screwed up. I think they installed the brake shoes backwards which caused the internal brake adjuster (normally activated only when when the brakes were applied driving in reverse) to be activated any time the brakes were applied when going forward. Eventually the brakes would just lock up and the only way to unlock them was to go in with a screwdriver and back off the adjusting start.