Lost all trailer brakes

[apgambino]

Hi all,

So there I was earlier today towing my 355w down i5
in the middle of LA traffic on my way to take the fam to Disney when I slowly start to feel like my breaks are getting heavier and heavier. Eventually the EVIC on my ram says "check trailer wiring" a few times and and then "trailer disconnected." I tapped the breaks and felt nothing. I pulled the break controller and got nothing. I was in stop and got traffic basically the rest of the way to Anaheim and didn't really have a place to mess with it so I just pressed on. Over the next hour or so it tool me to get there the trailer breaks would go and come, kind of like a short in the wiring.

Once I got parked I started poking around and the only thing obvious i can see is what looked to be a spring hanging out of the left rear drum and the wiring cable had broke so the wire was riding in the drum. I'm guessing that is the problem. Now my question: What would cause the break controller to be ineffective? Would one of the wires have to be cut? Could I isolate that break so I can safely drive home? Any help is appreciated!

2017 Siesmic Wave 355w towed by 2015 Ram 3500

[Jdmcla]

Originally Posted by apgambino

Hi all,

So there I was earlier today towing my 355w down i5
in the middle of LA traffic on my way to take the fam to Disney when I slowly start to feel like my breaks are getting heavier and heavier. Eventually the EVIC on my ram says "check trailer wiring" a few times and and then "trailer disconnected." I tapped the breaks and felt nothing. I pulled the break controller and got nothing. I was in stop and got traffic basically the rest of the way to Anaheim and didn't really have a place to mess with it so I just pressed on. Over the next hour or so it tool me to get there the trailer breaks would go and come, kind of like a short in the wiring.

Once I got parked I started poking around and the only thing obvious i can see is what looked to be a spring hanging out of the left rear drum and the wiring cable had broke so the wire was riding in the drum. I'm guessing that is the problem. Now my question: What would cause the break controller to be ineffective? Would one of the wires have to be cut? Could I isolate that break so I can safely drive home? Any help is appreciated!

2017 Siesmic Wave 355w towed by 2015 Ram 3500

......thinking on this one...That's about the worst environment to get complications.

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[IAcowboy]

You can just cut the wire to that drum and the rest of the brakes will work but you have to make sure to put heatshrink and or electrical tape on the end of the exposed wire coming from the truck end of the wire. You are losing your trailer brakes intermittently because the sire is going straight to ground causing a short and instead of frying your brake control module it shuts it off to save it until it sees that it is safe to reengage it. That in itself will slowly cause the module to fail over time. Also have to add that the side of the trailer with only one brake will not have the braking power that the other side has, ie if you drive over ice or alot of gravel on a road surface the trailer might want to pull to the side of the trailer with full braking power.

[WeRJuliian]

Originally Posted by IAcowboy

You can just cut the wire to that drum

I'd suggest that it may be better to tie/tape the wire back out of the way (insulating the end to avoid accidental contact), rather than cutting it.
This will make it easier for whoever has to fix it.

Keep in mind that your trailer isn't legal, without correctly functioning brakes.

[Bassdogs]

Lost my TT brakes/lites and got similar warnings on my Silverado. In my case the problem was traced to a faulty 7-pin connector on the rear of the truck. Contamination inside the outlet had over time lead to a loose or intermittent connection. After an emergency stop on the way out of town last January at the local GM dealer fixed the problem by installing a new oem connector

[apgambino]

Originally Posted by IAcowboy

You can just cut the wire to that drum and the rest of the brakes will work but you have to make sure to put heatshrink and or electrical tape on the end of the exposed wire coming from the truck end of the wire. You are losing your trailer brakes intermittently because the sire is going straight to ground causing a short and instead of frying your brake control module it shuts it off to save it until it sees that it is safe to reengage it. That in itself will slowly cause the module to fail over time. Also have to add that the side of the trailer with only one brake will not have the braking power that the other side has, ie if you drive over ice or alot of gravel on a road surface the trailer might want to pull to the side of the trailer with full braking power.

If I cut the wire going to the bad drum, is there any way I can check the system's function before I get on the road? Like with a multimeter?

2017 Siesmic Wave 355w towed by 2015 Ram 3500

[apgambino]

Originally Posted by Bassdogs

Lost my TT brakes/lites and got similar warnings on my Silverado. In my case the problem was traced to a faulty 7-pin connector on the rear of the truck. Contamination inside the outlet had over time lead to a loose or intermittent connection. After an emergency stop on the way out of town last January at the local GM dealer fixed the problem by installing a new oem connector

I did Checked the bed plug I stall by swapping to the bumper plug and didn't have any improvemen, and checked the output in both with a multimeter and it was good.

2017 Siesmic Wave 355w towed by 2015 Ram 3500

[LiftedAWDAstro]

Easiest way to check the brakes is to hook up and roll ahead and then hit the manual brake controller slider. See if the brakes stop you. I am not sure if the factory Ram brake controller will activate with the truck in park. If it does, you can measure voltage at the cut wires and/or listen to each drum for the coils magnetized to the brake drum.

[SOMBATFAMILY]

Thank goodness you have enough truck to stop that trailer. I would disable the brakes with that is not working and also disable the brake on the opposite side of trailer. Your trailer will have 50% braking power but you have enough stopping power from your truck. I ran my trailer with 2 working brakes for more than 400 miles and didn’t even know it until I go home. I didn’t have enough truck but gave it enough stopping distance.


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[apgambino]

Well after some fumbling around I figured I would see what my dealer and jayco would do for me. I called my dealer, told them the problem and they went to work to found a mobile service guy. They were able to come out the next morning and basically did what I would have ended up doing; pulled the tire and drum and found the mess inside, see below. It looks like something chewed it up and spit it out. Since I am packing up to head home tomorrow they said they would try to get parts to replace the entire drum assembly overnighted to Anaheim. After calling around it seems the brakes on my 355w and probably other heavy twin axel rigs are much bigger than the majority on the road so it would be a special order.

So, since I can't wait all they can do is remove the mangled parts and cut the wire to that brake. So I'll have 3 out of 4 working at that point. Needless to say the next stop is my dealer for warranty work.

For those with the bigger axles like me keep this in mind when getting brake work done.

2017 Siesmic Wave 355w towed by 2015 Ram 3500