Adjusting your trailer brake settings

[danrn]

In my truck, like many others, is the trailer brake adjustment. I have never used one of these brake adjustments before. I did read my trucks owners manual, but I still would like to ask how you guys decided on your settings.
Thanks

[travelin' texans]

Currently mine (with standard drum brakes) is set at 8-8.5. To set mine I drove 20-25mph & pinched brake controller til I could come to a comfortable stop quickly, without sliding tires or jerking too bad & adjusting controller til I was happy with the setting & feel.

[RAMN8TER]

I have mine set to 6.5 on my Ram. I performed the same procedure that Danny did.

[piper guy]

My F350 with Disks on the trailer is usually 7.5. Sometimes will go to 8-8.5 in hilly country if I want the trailer brakes doing more. The Disks on the trailer are really effective.

[mhs4771]

GM here with a Heavy RL with Disc Brakes and controller set at 7.5. Worked good for the last 17,000 miles across the Rockies and even got us stopped in time to avoid hitting some Mountain Goats that decided they wanted to cross the road in front of us.

[markw]

With my 36re I'm usually about 6.5. Up to 7.5 for big hills on the hwy. This with an 08 3500 GMC. I have the drum brakes.

Mark

[lwg]

I'm at 10 out of 10 with drum brakes . I figure the trailer brakes are cheaper than the Ford brakes.

[travelin' texans]

LWG, have you adjusted the trailer brakes(provided yours are drum), if you're controller is set at max you could probably tighten drums a bit & dial it down to get same results.

[TexasRver]

I agree with all of the above, but if I am traveling on rain slick roads, ice, etc. I back off on the setting a little to prevent the trailer tires from sliding. Everytime I get underway and going slowly, I squeeze the controller to test the brakes. I look for a smooth, controlled stop; nothing violent.

[Rick and Mindy]

My Ford integrated brake controller is currently set at 8 and seems to be doing a great job. I have the standard magnetic drum brakes.

[0nTheRoad]

We have drum/electric brakes, I usually have our controller set at 8.5 unless the roads are wet, then we back them down to 7.5

[atom ant]

6.5 for us with disk, and 7.5 over the Rockies.

Last year I converted our boat trailer to electric. 6.5 locks that baby up, so I have to pay attention to what I'm towing now. They empty trailer actually has to be set to zero or it starts hopping down the ramp.

[Dave&Ginny]

I keep mine between 9 and 9.5

[lwg]

Originally Posted by travelin' texans

LWG, have you adjusted the trailer brakes(provided yours are drum), if you're controller is set at max you could probably tighten drums a bit & dial it down to get same results.

I have not tightened them up, but they were serviced in May of last year when they removed excess grease and had to clean up the mess the factory made.

Best I can tell brake controller settings are somewhat personal. I'm not entirely sure you could lock up the brakes on a Redwood unless you had the Disc Brake option. I have always preferred the trailer to brake harder than the truck, less chance for a jacknife (rare with RV's I know). That way the trailer is stopping the trailer completely, with truck stopping truck.

[arcticman1957]

7-7.5 with the exhaust brake work great on the steep hills.

[lwg]

Had a braking issue today. Traveling east into Durango coming down a long but not terribly steep pass, had the top 3 gears locked out and was traveling about 50 MPH. Wanted to slow everything down to 45 as I felt it was a bit safer with more margin for error. In slowing down utilizing the brakes the truck started shaking violently. I determined this to be the truck brakes (overheating I'm guessing) as when I let off the brakes the shaking stopped. Also when I manually activated the trailer brakes you could feel a definite pull on everything and there was no vibration.

Now onto my question/observation. Once I got down the pass and things leveled out a bit I did a couple of tests. When utilizing the manual trailer brakes using only the controller the trailer seemed to stop the truck and trailer better or as good as using the brake pedal on the truck. Could this be due too poorly adjusted trailer brakes?

[travelin' texans]

Did you not use the exhaust brake on your truck? On mine if I use tow/haul & exhaust brake on the truck it seems it would almost stop without using brakes. I love that set up!!

[atom ant]

It could be LWG. I had the issue with my Montana for a while, but can't remember if it vibrated manually or not.

[markw]

Originally Posted by lwg

Had a braking issue today. Traveling east into Durango coming down a long but not terribly steep pass, had the top 3 gears locked out and was traveling about 50 MPH. Wanted to slow everything down to 45 as I felt it was a bit safer with more margin for error. In slowing down utilizing the brakes the truck started shaking violently. I determined this to be the truck brakes (overheating I'm guessing) as when I let off the brakes the shaking stopped. Also when I manually activated the trailer brakes you could feel a definite pull on everything and there was no vibration.

Now onto my question/observation. Once I got down the pass and things leveled out a bit I did a couple of tests. When utilizing the manual trailer brakes using only the controller the trailer seemed to stop the truck and trailer better or as good as using the brake pedal on the truck. Could this be due too poorly adjusted trailer brakes?

It could be poor adjustment, or the problem I had. All of my trailer brakes were contaminated with grease within 5k miles and without me greasing them. After replacement as long as they're adjusted correctly and proper control setting I rarely have that problem.

Also like was said, make sure you use tow/haul for the exhaust brake.

Mark

[lwg]

I always use tow/haul so I was utilizing the turbo brake on the Fords. About 6 months ago the dealer reworked all the brakes due to the aforementioned grease problem. Wondering if they forgot to adjust the brakes when they put everything back together?