Is this all normal?

[lukenick1]

Ok took 2 maiden voyages with my new to me Jay Feather. Still learning the ropes with hitching, unhitching, brakes, etc. So my first question is this......my electric brakes make a humming noise when my brakes are pressed in the tow vehicle. Is this normal? Is it also normal for them to make a squealing/scraping noise when braking? Is it normal for my sway bar to make a very loud creeking noise when I make turns? Is it safe to lift the rear end of the tow vehicle that high to hitch up the weight bars? I worry I will break something on the truck. Is it necessary to raise the tow vehicle up so high when releasing the weight bars? That is all for now.....I am sure I will think of more. Ha ha

[Chrislorl]

HI, Let me see if I can answer a few of these for you as I have been doing a lot of learning as well.

1:my electric brakes make a humming noise when my brakes are pressed in the tow vehicle. Is this normal?

A: I do not have any humming from my brake controller. What make, mode, and year is your TV (Tow Vehicle) and what Brake controller are you using?

2: Is it also normal for them to make a squealing/scraping noise when braking?

A: If you have not pulled it in a while there may be rust built up. If your brakes are adjusted correctly they should not be locking up but should be slowing you down. Do you believe they are working correctly, just noisy?

3: Is it normal for my sway bar to make a very loud creeking noise when I make turns?

A:I have an Equalizer brand WEH and it is noisy but I have found that lubricating the sway bars per the instructions makes a big difference, have you done this? On tight turns mine can be very noisy.

With that said there also may be too much weight on the sway bars, are you sure it is setup correctly?

4: Is it safe to lift the rear end of the tow vehicle that high to hitch up the weight bars? I worry I will break something on the truck.

A: How high is that high? You should be raising it up some to slide the bars into place, but without seeing your setup it is tough to say. Can you post a picture of your TT and TV connected on a flat surface? You may need to lower your ball slightly if it is not level at rest.

5: Is it necessary to raise the tow vehicle up so high when releasing the weight bars?

A: You have to take the weight off the bars to swing then off the mounts, so again it comes down to proper adjustment and setup. You should need to take some weight off, but it should not be excessive.


Who setup your hitch?


Hope this helps.

[Grumpy]

So far, YES, YES to a point, YES & YES & NO.

The brakes are magnets so the hum you hear is normal, also since the magnets drag on the inside of the drum to apply the brakes you will hear some squealing at times. If it is extremely loud and all the time I would have them check. Since the sway bar is just controlled by friction you will also get squeeks and squeels when turning.

As to lifting the tow vehicle, you won't hurt anything on the truck and is not an unusual practice, a lot depends on the vehicle and trailer. No you really don't need to raise it that high to release the bars, but they are under tension so you could get hurt if there is too much pressure still on them and you aren't careful.

Chrislorl posted while I was typing "he wins"

[lukenick1]

I bought the camper at Van's RV so they set up my hitch. They had to sell me a bigger drop and I wonder if it was really necessary or just another sales tactic to make more money. The drop with ball weighs a ton too and can carry 14,000 pounds. Double the limit of my tow vehicle which also doesn't make sense but I had to trust what they were telling me. My tow vehicle is a 2001 Tundra Limited V8. My brake controller is a Curt.

Beacause I bought my camper from the Dealer I would hope they would be true to what they say when they tell you they give it a thorough inspection.