F-350/Seville Brake Issue

GaPete · 10-06-2010, 11:22 PM

Good Morning All,

I have an issue with the braking on my setup. I purchased my 2010 F350 and the 2011 Seville in July and August respectively. When I left the dealer after purchase, my built in brake controller was set at 6.0. I soon had to increase it to 6.5 and by the time I arrive home 160 miles later I was at 7 or maybe 7.5. I attributed it to the brakes seating etc.

On labor day weekend we drove ~300 miles to SC and back. By the time I got home I was at 10 on the controller and could have used more.

I took the camper in for some other warranty work (2+ hours from home)on a slide that wouldn't extend upon arrival in SC and the refrigerator issue I posed previously. I asked that they check/adjust the brakes also. I am now AWP on the slide but they have been unable to find anything wrong with the camper brakes. I took my truck to my local Ford dealer and he said the controller was functioning normally.

Ford nor the camper tech can go further without both TV and camper being in the same place which I hope to accomplish soon.

My question to the forumis has anyone else had the same problem and figured out the solution?

Sorry for being long winded.

Thanks in advanceEdited by: GaPete

Caledonia Jay · 10-07-2010, 01:14 AM

I have an F-250 and my Kingston is a little lighter than your Seville but I only run the controller at 7 to 8 and could probably go lower but I like strong brakes. Are you running with tow/haul on? I find that really helps with braking power. Either way you should not need to be at 10 on the controller. I wish I had the solutionbut I would stay after Ford and the RV dealer until it's right.

GaPete · 10-07-2010, 01:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caledonia Jay

I have an F-250 and my Kingston is a little lighter than your Seville but I only run the controller at 7 to 8 and could probably go lower but I like strong brakes. Are you running with tow/haul on? I find that really helps with braking power. Either way you should not need to be at 10 on the controller. I wish I had the solutionbut I would stay after Ford and the RV dealer until it's right.

I use the tow/haul when I need it. But like you say, I shouldn't be at the limit of my controller. I would have thought it would lock the brakes at 10.

The brakes hold good when I manually activate the controller after hooking up to test if the hitch is latched. But moving, a manual operation is no better than normal braking.

Stan · 10-07-2010, 02:13 AM

It sounds like you only have a few hundred miles on the rig. They could be just not broken in yet. Can you measure the voltage at the brake wires and connector? I know GM uses a pulse brake voltage (in the built in controller) so you have to use an analog meter (digitals are too slow to read pulsing voltage).

GaPete · 10-07-2010, 02:53 AM

The Ford place susposedly did that or some other way to verify it is not the controller. Hope this doesn't turn into each blaming it on the other. I have arranged to take the truck in on Tueday so they can put them together at Camping World Tallahassee to see if they can figure it out. Would have thought there would be a tester of some sort to test the brakes/magnets on the rig without the truck being attached.

fhenn · 10-07-2010, 02:54 AM

I think I read some where that Ford was having a little bit of a problem with some of their controllers. I would think that a Ford forum might have the answer to this one

calliopeguy · 10-07-2010, 05:07 AM

I had a problem very similar with almost the same set-up (see sig). This is a picture of the problem:

I believe I posted the whole story someplace but I don't know where. My Kingston trailer brakes did not work...required my 2010 F-350 brake controller set to 10 and still didn'e feel like they were helping. Took the rig to my dealer....brake system all ok....took the F-350 to the Ford dealer....all ok.Tthen I took my truck and camper to a pick-up truck/utility trailer specialty shop and they had the answer in about 1/2 hour. The picture above shows the thick film of grease found on all four pads. They pulled all four wheels, removed all grease, repacked the bearings with a higher grade/higher temp grease and now my brakes work like they should. The repair shop said the grease got hot and ran out and down to the pads. I had to pay the shop ($245) and submitted the bill to Lippert. I explained the situation and they refunded my money and we lived happily everafter.

GaPete · 10-07-2010, 06:10 AM

That could well be my problem. Since your camper is a 2011, I assume it happened soon after you bought it as mine did. I will certainly forward this to the dealer for their take on it.

Thanks calliopeguy.

jeb · 10-07-2010, 08:23 AM

If Lippert gave up that easily, you can bet your bippy that it was not the first time they heard about the problem.

gsxr · 10-07-2010, 09:05 AM

what are you feeling that tells you to increase the controller settings?
when I had my 2000 sunline trail i had my ford brake controller set at 5 and i never could feel the trailer when braking. Now that I have a 2010 sunset trail at setting 5 i feel a bucking when braking , is the controller wset to high or to low? I am new at towing , doing the controller test at any setting the trailer brakes do not lock up

Thanks

GaPete · 10-07-2010, 09:18 AM

For me it is the feeling that the trailer is pushing me. I just adjust it to where it feels comfortable when making a stop. I am not sure what you mean by bucking. Properly tuned and working braking should be smooth IMO.

gsxr · 10-07-2010, 09:47 AM

it seems to be much smoother when keeping the settings around 3
i guess i am trying to figure out if the trailer was pushing or pulling me while braking

WoodcarvingGypsy · 10-11-2010, 02:20 AM

Pete, we just did about 800 miles with our 2011 Seville. I need to check our brakes as well. I was running my controller on 9 going and coming. I didn't notice any issues with it not stopping as it should but you did have a problem I'd rather not have.

Our previous camper I ran on a 6.5 setting and it was fine. 6.5 on the Seville seemed to be a little light and caused what I'd term "catch & grab" or pulsing when stopping as if the magnets and shoes didn't fully engage or that they were slipping. It could be that I have grease as well. One more thing to add to the list when it goes back to the dealer on the 28th.

GaPete · 10-11-2010, 02:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WoodcarvingGypsy

Pete, we just did about 800 miles with our 2011 Seville. I need to check our brakes as well. I was running my controller on 9 going and coming. I didn't notice any issues with it not stopping as it should but you did have a problem I'd rather not have.

Our previous camper I ran on a 6.5 setting and it was fine. 6.5 on the Seville seemed to be a little light and caused what I'd term "catch & grab" or pulsing when stopping as if the magnets and shoes didn't fully engage or that they were slipping. It could be that I have grease as well. One more thing to add to the list when it goes back to the dealer on the 28th.

Thanks for the input. My wife is driving the 2 hours tomorrow so they can couple up and test further. Seems to me that even your 9 is too high for a new trailer, doesnt leave much room for brake/magnet wear.

WoodcarvingGypsy · 10-11-2010, 04:23 AM

I agree which is why I think that this becomes a thing for the dealer to check. We have a total of about 900 tow miles on the Seville. The other camper had maybe 3000 and never had a brake issue. The one previous (with a different truck) had 10,000 but used a entirely different controller.

salda01 · 10-11-2010, 06:37 AM

My TV is an '07 F250 with 80k on the truck brakes, the 5r is an '08 with about 12,000 towing miles, I typically run my Ford Integrated BC at 5 -> 5.5. On longer journey with a more loaded trailer I'll increase to 6.0. At these setting I'll get the trailer slowing stronger than the truck, but not locking up.

IMO having the setting at 10 is way to high for a brand new set up.

GaPete · 10-11-2010, 06:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by salda01

IMO having the setting at 10 is way to high for a brand new set up.

Obviously I am of a like mind. Had hoped to hear of some others having solved similiar situations.

Hopefully tomorrow will shed some light on the problembut I am not holding my breath. I see a pass the blame game coming on.

GaPete · 10-13-2010, 09:43 AM

Update: The wife took the TV to the dealer yesterday and just as expected they found nothing wrong. In fact the tech said he set the controller on 6.0 and took it for a cruise and had no problem braking downhill.

Made me more determined to find the answer and I may well have. I reread the F350 Owners Manual and may have discovered the reason I am thinking the braking is weak.

According to the manual, the built in controller uses actual TV brake pressure to determine how much braking to send to the camper. None of my "testing" was hard braking. It was somewhat timid I guess.

The adjustmentprocedure is basically the same as I was used to. Parking lot, test it and increase until it is just short of locking the brakes of the camper. However, it also states a heavier camper may never get near to locking the brakes.

Who knows, I am going to give it another go. I may also ask a friend to pull it with his Dodge and see how it brakes on his controller.

What do you fellow campers think? Could it just be the operator?

Thanks

salda01 · 10-14-2010, 01:44 PM

GaPete -

The little that I know about the Factory BC is: they are completely different than the off the shelf units. ABS / Brake Pressure / Trans all come into play unlike the inertia based units like Prodigy or the older pendulum units. My understanding is even if your truck doesn't come with a factory installed, one can't be added easily.

GaPete · 11-04-2010, 12:22 AM

Update:

Picked up my unit last Friday after 6 weeks in the shop for this and slide issues. After 6 weeks, they decided the day before I was to pick it up that it needed a brake adjustment.

This after I took it in complaining of weak braking in the first place only to have them say the brakes were fine. Ithenhad my truck's built in controllerchecked at the Ford dealer and it was good. I then took my truck back (2 hrs 1 way) to them so they could test drive the truck and camper and guess what......they still said the brakes were fine.... No adjustment needed unless I wanted to pay for having them adjusted to my personal taste. I told them no, if they were adjusted to specs I was fine with that.

So I still dont understand why they suddenly discovered the need to adjust them but am thankful they did. It now stops just fine with the controller set on 6.5 as I said it should all along. When I repeated the above to them and asked why they decided they needed adjustment the response was the mfg recommends adjustment after 300 miles. Duh, I brought that to their attention when they first told me the brakes didnt need adjustment!!

Guess it is obvious from all this rant that I would not recommend Camping World Tallahassee (Midway) for any service work

!

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