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Old 04-17-2017, 11:40 AM   #1
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Brakes too sensitive?

Hello,

We were camping this weekend and on the way back I noticed that when coming to slow stop the trailer brakes would be very sensitive, i.e. the back of the tow vehicle was being forced to stop from the back by the trailer (hard braking by the trailer). I played with the Prodigy P2 boost, but it was happening even in the lower settings.

Anybody else experienced something like that?

Thanks!
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Old 04-17-2017, 11:51 AM   #2
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Not me. I have the opposite problem...not enough braking


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Old 04-17-2017, 03:24 PM   #3
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My Jayco is my first TT, and it took a bit of fiddling with the brake controller to get a smooth braking action where the TT is neutral in braking.
On my first outing, I was stopped on a hill and realized I was rolling backwards in spite of full braking on the TV. The TT was dragging me backwards.
I cranked up my brake gain and all appears to be normal now. I expect it will take a few more trips to get it dialed in perfectly, but I'm getting there.
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Old 04-17-2017, 04:25 PM   #4
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Had a similar problem, the P2 actually has two different setting you need to use to get proper braking. Depending on weight of your trailer vs tow vehicle weight, I used the parking lot at a local school after hours to test the settings. I started out with boost on 0 and power on 6, I had to increase power to 8 and got nutural braking. If I changed boost to 1 it got very jerky braking at any power setting. Its a trial and error process to get it right but start off by lowering the boost. Here is a link to the manual which spells out the process.

http://www.tekonsha.com/content/down...ion/N90885.pdf
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Old 04-17-2017, 04:27 PM   #5
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I was having kind of poor braking so I jacked up my TT and adjusted the brakes this morning. It is supposed to have self adjusting brakes, but that adjuster only works when backing up. On my last several trips, the motor home behind me in storage was gone so I just pulled straight through and unhooked. I hope I didn't go too tight. Geeeezz I need to go camping, but grand children's birthdays are coming, so I'm stuck at home until May...
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Old 04-17-2017, 05:01 PM   #6
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Thanks! The problem is that everything was OK until yesterday. Even with lower volts the brakes were grabby. Yesterday it was raining, maybe it was the problem with moisture...? Just hoping that the problem would solve itself

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sundancer330 View Post
Had a similar problem, the P2 actually has two different setting you need to use to get proper braking. Depending on weight of your trailer vs tow vehicle weight, I used the parking lot at a local school after hours to test the settings. I started out with boost on 0 and power on 6, I had to increase power to 8 and got nutural braking. If I changed boost to 1 it got very jerky braking at any power setting. Its a trial and error process to get it right but start off by lowering the boost. Here is a link to the manual which spells out the process.

http://www.tekonsha.com/content/down...ion/N90885.pdf
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Old 04-17-2017, 05:57 PM   #7
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Inhave driven Dodges for a while and several of them had grabby brakes in wet weather. It smoothed out in 10 min or so. You might try feathering the brakes in rainy weather till it dries out.
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Old 04-17-2017, 06:32 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by Magnolia Tom View Post
Not me. I have the opposite problem...not enough braking


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Hahaha....
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Old 04-17-2017, 06:32 PM   #9
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Sorry to hijack bono. Can you tell me about your batteries?
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Old 04-17-2017, 07:22 PM   #10
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Inhave driven Dodges for a while and several of them had grabby brakes in wet weather. It smoothed out in 10 min or so. You might try feathering the brakes in rainy weather till it dries out.
This ^^

My last Jayco was real touchy after a rain. Feathering the brakes generates the heat to dry them.
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Old 04-17-2017, 07:43 PM   #11
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Hahaha....

You can laugh now...your brakes are working! Lol
I'll be laughing soon too [emoji3]


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Old 04-18-2017, 07:54 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sundancer330 View Post
Had a similar problem, the P2 actually has two different setting you need to use to get proper braking. Depending on weight of your trailer vs tow vehicle weight, I used the parking lot at a local school after hours to test the settings. I started out with boost on 0 and power on 6, I had to increase power to 8 and got natural braking. If I changed boost to 1 it got very jerky braking at any power setting. Its a trial and error process to get it right but start off by lowering the boost. Here is a link to the manual which spells out the process.

http://www.tekonsha.com/content/down...ion/N90885.pdf
I have a Tekonsha controller and had the same problem as the OP. I followed the method above and they work perfectly now. When I got the controller installed I was a newbie, and the dealer said they set it up for me. They didn't.
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Old 04-18-2017, 08:05 AM   #13
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I had the same problem with my old toyhauler. It had 4 wheel electric brakes, and I couldn't seem to get them adjusted properly. They would drag a little bit, then at random times they would suddenly jam on harder and drag us to a stop. Turns out, one of the brakes had a bad connection that a service tech found in two minutes. This was after I installed a new brake controller on our way out to a camping trip. Once he found and fixed that in five minutes, the brakes were pretty consistent.

What I found out then was that my trailer brakes would work differently after they were warmed up from driving a few miles than when they were dead cold. If I adjusted them when full cold, they would get grabby once they got warm. So, I adjusted them warm, and put up with less braking for the first 10 miles or so. They were very consistent after that.

On many braking systems with legacy designs, the electrical actuation is not mean to apply all the braking force. Instead, the force of the drum will move the shoes against a cam mechanism, and use the force of wheel rotation to help apply some of the braking force. In older designs, this only works in the forward direction, not backward. Not sure of the current electric brake designs, or whether they work bi-directionally.
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Old 04-20-2017, 08:47 PM   #14
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I do, but I'm new to electric trailer brakes. I sold an '05 12hw popup and bought an slx213qbw with electric brakes. I've only been on 2 trips with it, but I've started checking the settings and the gain before I leave home. I still get jerked around some but I think (I hope) its just experience.
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Old 04-20-2017, 08:54 PM   #15
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I do, but I'm new to electric trailer brakes. I sold an '05 12hw popup and bought an slx213qbw with electric brakes. I've only been on 2 trips with it, but I've started checking the settings and the gain before I leave home. I still get jerked around some but I think (I hope) its just experience.
Which brake controller are you using.
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Old 04-21-2017, 05:37 PM   #16
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Which brake controller are you using.
A Tekonsha Primus iq. My popup had hydraulic surge brakes. Bought it from a Jayco dealer and when I needed to get work done on them they told me they didn't service surge brakes. We service what we sell didn't apply there.
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Old 04-21-2017, 05:54 PM   #17
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A Tekonsha Primus iq. My popup had hydraulic surge brakes. Bought it from a Jayco dealer and when I needed to get work done on them they told me they didn't service surge brakes. We service what we sell didn't apply there.
It looks like all the Tekonsha controllers have the same basic setup, Boost and Power. If your trailer is jerking when braking set the Boost to 0 and adjust the Power until you get even braking, start at 6. I found the jerking comes from the Boost setting, I have my Boost off set at 0.
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Old 04-21-2017, 06:56 PM   #18
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It looks like all the Tekonsha controllers have the same basic setup, Boost and Power. If your trailer is jerking when braking set the Boost to 0 and adjust the Power until you get even braking, start at 6. I found the jerking comes from the Boost setting, I have my Boost off set at 0.
Thanks, I'll try that.
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Old 04-21-2017, 07:19 PM   #19
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My lack of braking was solved by adjusting them. Now it's nice and smooth and the trailer brakes are doing their part. Working with a friend on his today and we came upon an idea for checking for bad seals. I used a bent piece of wire and poked it into the adjusting slot, making it go up around the seal area. On 3 it came back with brake dust on it. Sure enough, on one it came back greasy. Luckily the seal was failing but hadn't greased the brakes up yet... but it was getting there. Seals replaced and bearings repacked on all 4. Probably not an absolutely fail-safe way, but it worked this time. He (later over a beer) admitted that he hadn't done any bearing/brake maintenance in about 3 years... ...
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Old 04-21-2017, 08:04 PM   #20
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I had very sensitive braking at low speeds (city driving) when I first installed the P3 and found the boost feature was the problem. My boost was at 1 initially but the manual says if the trailer is lighter then the truck, the boost should be off. I leave the boost off most of the time.
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