DragStuff

does any body know wich wire is the ground wire for trailer brakes,i put new brakes in my car trailer,i have the lights/turn signal wires then i have a heavy black and white wire,i think the white is ground?? my brakes have two green wires on them as i believe the can go to either wires? i have a problem with brakes only working on 1 wheel,thanks nick.

This might help some

http://www.mcshc.com/Wiring/plugs.htm

thanks john, that tells me what i thought,the white wire is the ground,so my black wire must be to power the brakes,only problem now is that i gotta figure out why one side grabes and releases when i activate the brakes!

One thing I've learned about store bought trailers is the wiring is typically crap, they like to use those scotch lock connectors which after a while corrode. Strip them all out and solder all the wires up. Make sure you've got the grounding working right - don't try and ground through the ball, that don't work so hot.

I have worked on trailer brakes quite often, and alot of times (Iassume you have the typical electric drum brakes) The arm that the magnet swings on gets all gummy and gooey one the piviot end and therefore the brakes will not grab. so usually you can get them to work if you spray some WD-40 or what ever you like and work them back and forth by hand to free them up. Also I ave seen the magnets get week and not grab the drum hard enough. Just somethin to try.

Gus68 wrote:I have worked on trailer brakes quite often, and alot of times (Iassume you have the typical electric drum brakes) The arm that the magnet swings on gets all gummy and gooey one the piviot end and therefore the brakes will not grab. so usually you can get them to work if you spray some WD-40 or what ever you like and work them back and forth by hand to free them up. Also I ave seen the magnets get week and not grab the drum hard enough. Just somethin to try.

thanks gus will look into that, the weird part is i can hear the magnets humming when i apply the elec.brake controller,one tire locks solid,the other side,will spin with some drag on it, but not like the one that locks up?

Did you adjust your brakes after you put them on? They usually aren'd adjusted properly when you install new ones. Also, make sure that the magnet surface of the drum is smooth. If it has ridges or waves in it, the magnet won't be able to grab nearly as hard as one with a "mirror finish".

yes, after i ran the trailer a little,i readjusted the brakes up a bit,now they work pissa!the last 2-times out with the trailer no issues and grabbed even!!