Quote:
Originally Posted by Yakherder
Hi Dustin, I installed the 10" Dexter Never-adjust Brakes and purchased the Tekonsha P2 brake controller.
I have had the trailer our on 5 short outings up and down the highway here and did the braking as described. I started out with the Gain set at 6 and increased to 9 with the Boost set at B2.
So far, I feel the brakes are starting to work somewhat. I used the manual lever during the braking and it does slow it down and hopefully with more use it will find it's sweet spot.
I have this feeling stuck in my head that when the brakes are working properly that the Gain should be set around 5 or 6 for my trailer weight.
What should the end Gain/Boost be for a 7000 lb trailer. I know the Gain may change due to terrain but on normal prairie lands, like around here, no adjusting need be done unless the weight changes.
Thanks for any help you can provide.
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Yakherder:
* I'm very sorry for the frustration you must have.* I agree with your expectations,*I would think a setting*of 6 on your Tundra controller should suffice.* I don't know how that compares to your Tekonsha P2 controller.* My TT and TV are very similar to yours.* *I read the user manual for your Tekonsha P2.* I would agree you should use the B2 setting.* This setting causes your controller to start at 28% braking power at brake application rather than 0% at B0 or 14% at B1 and progressively increase.* Assuming the controller isn't a contributing*component (which I doubt it is).**
* So, what can you do?* *Self adjusting brakes will adjust while stopping going forward, (not like the old days when your brakes adjusted*while backing up).* They do this very easily.* It only takes a few applications of the*brake for them to spin that adjusting star and self-adjust.* You might inspect the brake pads and lightly sand them if they are glazed.* Just enough to remove the glaze.* If they got hot, they may have small cracks in them.* That's ok, as long as they don't turn black AND start crumbling apart.* Brake pads that are heavily burnt will grab with even light brake pressure.* This is very noticable when driving on sand or gravel.* Inspect the drums for glazing, and if so, sand them with coarse emery cloth.* Check the flat inside surface of the drum where the*magnet drags and if it's glazed, rough it up.* Spin each wheel off the ground and have someone set the brake to make sure each magnet is actually working (wiring problems).* If you're alone, you can verify all 4 magnets are working by stopping hard on gravel and see if all 4 tires skid.* *Take a look at the magnets on the 10" brakes and see if they are the correct thickness.* My 12" Dexter magnets were 3/4" thick.* The new Southwest*Wheel magnets are about 1 3/16" thick.* Which doesn't mean they draw more amperage, it just means there's a stronger magnetic field generated at the same amperage.* Of course, clean the inside of the drum in case some grease got on it.
Hope something here was helpful.
Dustin
The following text is my experience with my trailer brakes.* I was kind of hoping you would say you switched to the 12" brakes.* Then the following would be more meaningful.* Someone is always telling me I*need to switch to disc brakes.* I could, but I'm an engineer and I'm still trying to fix it!* It's my nature.* I don't really have the excess space to install the hydraulic pump, not to mention the*$3000 expense.* *Bear with me.
When my TT was new I had 4400 lb axles and 10" manual adjust (MA) brakes.* The TT braking was perfect! My TV built in brake controller*setting was 6 and the trailer would brake and was very responsive.* No skidding, no frightening*experiences.* It was great.* After about 8,000 miles, the tires started wearing on the inside and I concluded the axles were undersized and upgraded to 6000 lb axles.* However, that automatically pushed me to 12" MA brakes.* I could not get the trailer to stop, even with my controller set at 10.* So, I manually adjusted the brakes tighter and tighter (many times I might add) until it acted like I thought it should.* That means, I adjusted the brakes until I could spin the tires and they would stop spinning after about two revolutions.* The brakes seemed acceptable, but my controller was still set at 8 and I did not feel the trailer was making much effort in stopping.* I drove 1100 miles for a two month stay, inspected the brakes and they were burned up.* Cooked.* These brakes only had about 1500 miles on them.* I contacted Dexter; they sent me new brake assemblies warranty.*** *I readjusted and set them to turn 4 revolutions.* On the trip home (1100 miles) I cooked them again.* Now I'm getting upset.* Dexter sent me another set under warranty and said they wouldn't do it again.* I read dozens of articles and found several that claimed Toyota brake controllers*prior to 2017 are limited to 10 amp output (by design). The brake magnets are supposed to draw about 3.2 amps each at heavy braking. So, technically, you might need a total of 12.8 amps to stop your trailer.*
* *I concluded my controller was insufficient.* I bought a new one. I considered the* Tekonsha P2, but ended up buying the Tuson Brake Controller.* It claims to have a 24 amp output and numerous other functions.* I couldn't really tell any difference, but I convinced myself I was in a better place.* 70 days later (and 2 weeks before we set out on a 4000 mile trip) the new brake controller started throwing*TV brake codes.* I spent days upon days trying to determine which of my TV wheel speed sensors were bad.* Finally I disconnected the new brake controller and the problems went away.* Eventually, I was able to get Tuson to give me a refund.* By now I had read enough articles about controllers and brakes to have a better understanding of what's going on.* One of the features I liked with the Tuson Controller, it had a built in amp meter.* You could actually read the amperage during braking.* No matter how hard I tried I couldn't get more than 9.5 amp reading on the controller, and that was at max setting.* The reason is, the controller adjusts the amperage (to the magnet) based on deceleration, which makes sense.
* I spent hours on the phone with Tuson trying to figure out what was happening.* During one of those calls I was put into contact with one of the controller designers.* He said (and I confirmed with Dexter) that years ago Dexter got tired of people complaining about the 12" brakes locking up and creating flat spots on tires, so they re-designed the 12" brake assemblies by making the magnets smaller.* Thereby, drastically reducing the effectiveness of the brakes (so the tires won't skid).* On the Dexter web site*you'll find this statement concerning 12" brakes:* "When loaded to capacity, you may not be able to lock your brakes as electric brakes are designed to slow the trailer at a controlled rate, and not designed to lock up the wheels on a fully loaded trailer. Our brakes are designed to meet all applicable safety standards."
* So, I ordered self adjusting, non Dexter brakes off Amazon:**Southwest Wheel 2-Pack 12" X 2" TruRyde Self-Adjusting Electric Brakes with Hardware (2 Right Hand + 2 Left Hand).* **The magnet on these new brakes is about 40% larger (thicker) than the 12" Dexter magnets.* I've adjusted them to spin about 4 revolutions and they are much better than the Dexter, but I'm still running my controller at 7.5 to 9.0, depending on how warm the brakes are.* The warmer they are, the lower I can adjust.* I'm still not happy, but it's an improvement.*
* I then ordered a voltmeter with clamp on ammeter and started testing amperage draw at the 7 pin plug and at each wheel.* You will likely never see over 7 amps being drawn by all your brakes even at full breaking.* As soon as the controller sees you slowing down it starts reducing the amperage.* You have to really hammer the brakes while moving to get full amperage,*even for a few seconds.* The Tundra controller and your Tekonsha P2 control the amperage based on deceleration*of the vehicle.**
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