Questionable Trailer Brake and Light Wiring

Thread starter Ciera2450
Start date May 20, 2011

Ciera2450

Lieutenant Junior Grade

May 20, 2011

#1

Hey guys,
Going thru the trailer and the boat...Waiting for parts now, so thought I'd tackle the trailer wiring. When I got the boat and trailer the brakes were not hooked up and I had a rather sketchy time getting this big boat home. Drove very slow and slowed down long before my stops....
anyways, there appears to be two seperate harness...one for brakes, one for lights.
I've never seen this before, how can I integrate this to my truck?
They are electric drum brakes on an old tri-axle trailer.
Also, whats this little black box? (red arrow in photos) something to do with a breakaway kit or something? the trailer does have a mount for a battery.
I don't even know if the brakes are any good at this point. I've taken the wheels off and inspected things and don't see anything obviously wrong with the brake system.
I do have a slight drag on one of the wheels, likely from rust on the drums or something as it's very very slight drag.

Thanks for the help! Definatly need brakes for this rig!!!!

Ciera2450

Lieutenant Junior Grade

May 20, 2011

#2

Re: Questionable Trailer Brake and Light Wiring

Ciera2450

Lieutenant Junior Grade

May 21, 2011

#3

Re: Questionable Trailer Brake and Light Wiring

Anybody have ideas?
Is the two seperate 4lead connectors common?
What about that black boxy looking thing?
Thanks guys. I know one of you knows!

Ciera2450

Lieutenant Junior Grade

May 21, 2011

#4

Re: Questionable Trailer Brake and Light Wiring

BTW, I have a trailer brake controller from my old truck to install in my new one. However, my previous truck and trailer had an RV type? round 7pole(i think) connector. NOT TWO SEPERATE plugs.
Current truck is wired just for lights only. But, will install brake controller when I sort out this wiring.

Bondo

Moderator

Staff member

May 21, 2011

#5

Re: Questionable Trailer Brake and Light Wiring

Is the two seperate 4lead connectors common?

Nope... With electric brakes ya need a 6 pin or 7 pin connector...
Looks like it's been Bubblegum engineered...

Yes, the little black box is the break-away activator...
It's missing the trigger though...

Ciera2450

Lieutenant Junior Grade

May 21, 2011

#6

Re: Questionable Trailer Brake and Light Wiring

I don't believe break away is required in GA. I'll double check tho, would be nice to have.
Thanks for reply Bond-O....I was thinking that was case (bubble gum engineering)
Can I test the brakes without the controller? Just with 12v battery?
I don't even know if they work.

Bondo

Moderator

Staff member

May 21, 2011

#7

Re: Questionable Trailer Brake and Light Wiring

Can I test the brakes without the controller? Just with 12v battery?
I don't even know if they work.

Ayuh,... Once ya figure out Which pin, apply 12vs, 'n the brake magnets will be Powered...

Ciera2450

Lieutenant Junior Grade

May 21, 2011

#8

Re: Questionable Trailer Brake and Light Wiring

Thank you sir...
Just finished up new keel bunks, but its hotter than hell outside. I'll dive into the brake wiring later this evening when it cools down!
I replaced my winch strap holding bolt with a grade8 (i thought was strong) and just winding up the damn strap bent it!!!! What do I need to look for? some type of hardened bolt?
I bought a bigger winch than what was on there, so i shouldn't be underpowered there. The factory one was bent but holding, although deforming the wheels a bit.

W

wifisher

Chief Petty Officer

May 21, 2011

#9

Re: Questionable Trailer Brake and Light Wiring

Ciera2450 said:
Thank you sir...
Just finished up new keel bunks, but its hotter than hell outside. I'll dive into the brake wiring later this evening when it cools down!
I replaced my winch strap holding bolt with a grade8 (i thought was strong) and just winding up the damn strap bent it!!!! What do I need to look for? some type of hardened bolt?
I bought a bigger winch than what was on there, so i shouldn't be underpowered there. The factory one was bent but holding, although deforming the wheels a bit.

A grade 8 bolt is more than strong enough. You have an issue somewhere that is causing something to bind. Pics would make it easier to see what is going on there.

Ciera2450

Lieutenant Junior Grade

May 21, 2011

#10

Re: Questionable Trailer Brake and Light Wiring

I'll get a pic up in just a few....
The winch is nearly brand new! I was using my own weight to keep tension on the strap as I wound it up, When it started winding tighter on the drum, I watched as the new bolt bent worse than the old one....The boat wasn't even hooked up, I was cranking with one hand and not a whole lot of force...
Thanks for the reply, I'll have a pic up in no time. Perhaps I'm winding the thing wrong or something...I'm lost here.

Ciera2450

Lieutenant Junior Grade

May 21, 2011

#11

Re: Questionable Trailer Brake and Light Wiring

W

wifisher

Chief Petty Officer

May 21, 2011

#12

Re: Questionable Trailer Brake and Light Wiring

Well, now I can see the bolt you are talking about, but seems odd that it would bend without a huge stress on it. Does it go through both sides of the winch? If it is cantilevered off of one side, it would have a lot of stress on it, but I would expect it to go through the entire spool. Also, is the strap distributed over the entire bolt, or is it only loaded in the center?

Ciera2450

Lieutenant Junior Grade

May 21, 2011

#13

Re: Questionable Trailer Brake and Light Wiring

The bolt does go thru both spools.
I put the bolt thru the eyelet on the end of the strap.... and kept tension with my weight as a wound it up...
Not sure whats going on here....
The strap leaves about 1/8" space on either side of the bolt, between the spools
As the bolt was winding around, tightening the strap on the drum..., it slowly just bent the bolt inward......ONLY my weight leaning against the thing!
Perhaps drill larger holes and go with a larger diameter grade8? Or a sleeve over the bolt inbetween the spools....

Ciera2450

Lieutenant Junior Grade

May 21, 2011

#14

Re: Questionable Trailer Brake and Light Wiring

Perhaps I got a faulty bolt????? If thats possible. lol
It bent without much effort.
Its only 5/16". Seems small to me.

W

wifisher

Chief Petty Officer

May 21, 2011

#15

Re: Questionable Trailer Brake and Light Wiring

If the bolt is through both sides of the spool, and the nut is tight, it should not bend. It sounds like you have everything rigged the right way. Hopefully somebody else will have a better answer for you than I do.

Ciera2450

Lieutenant Junior Grade

May 21, 2011

#16

Re: Questionable Trailer Brake and Light Wiring

Thanks wifisher! I'm stumped on this too, I was all excited that I fixed my winch....until the bent bolt.
The original bolt bent the first time I cranked the boat on.....I float the boat within 3" of the bow stop, so I'm not cranking very far.
Maybe just a cheapo winch. However, everything else about it works great... I like the dual cranking speeds and the reverse brake feature.
I paid $80 for the darn thing and oversized it for my application, so as to avoid any problems. That really worked out! lol

I think I'm gonna up the size of the bolt and give it another shot. 1/2" grade8 bolt should be a little stronger.

Ciera2450

Lieutenant Junior Grade

May 22, 2011

#17

Re: Questionable Trailer Brake and Light Wiring

I upsized to 3/8" bolt, Grade8. That did the trick....NO bending anymore! Sweet!
Now, on to sorting out these brakes.....

R

rbh

Fleet Admiral

May 22, 2011

#18

Re: Questionable Trailer Brake and Light Wiring

HI-
just a little more information on a break away switch.
When/if you trailer comes unattached from the vehicle the small wire (you are missing) pulls a pin out of the little box thingy, when this happens it automatically applies trailer brakes, but you need a 12VDC source IE a battery.
They make a small unit that you attaches to the frame that has 12VDC, just for this purpose.

Ciera2450

Lieutenant Junior Grade

May 22, 2011

#19

Re: Questionable Trailer Brake and Light Wiring

Thank you rbh!
I'm gonna get the break away fixed eventually. The trailer has a location for a battery and I plan to address that issue, once I see if the brakes even work or not.
Thank you again, I'll update when I get into the braking system.
Its been hotter than heck here in Georgia, too hot to work outside!

Ciera2450

Lieutenant Junior Grade

May 28, 2011

#20

Re: Questionable Trailer Brake and Light Wiring

started working on brakes today....
this is what I have...

I have a black and a white wire coming off of each brake.
What do i need to do make these work? or test them in some way?

You must log in or register to reply here.

Share:

Facebook Twitter Reddit Pinterest Tumblr WhatsApp Email Link

Top