Trailer Brakes

[toebenders]

Question, I have a 2013 Chevrolet Duramax, When I picked my 2019 3901WB up at the dealer and started to leave, I discovered that I had no brakes on the trailer. I had them on my trade in that I dropped off at the dealer at the same time. The Service Manager connected something to the trailer that made the brakes lock up. So they said it was my truck. Upon getting home I took the truck to my local Chevy dealer to check the brakes. They found nothing wrong. Is there an issue with the GM integrated trailer braking system when connecting to a redwood? If so, does anybody know the fix?


The Service Manager at the RV dealer did add that if I put an after market brake controller on that it would probably fix the issue. Does this sound right?

[Rick and Mindy]

Does your new fifth wheel have electric brakes or disc brakes. If the brakes are different from your trade then you will probably have to go into your truck computer menus and change the type of brakes.

[mhs4771]

OK, been there, done that. If you have Disc Brakes you need a CAM Module installed prior to the Disc Brake Pump. If you have Electric Drum brakes there is either something funny with your 7 pin connector, or the Redwood is wired wrong.
GMs up until '16 or '17 would not work with Disc Brakes without the CAM Module because the Truck is looking for the low resistance of the Brake Magnets.

[xtasee]

Originally Posted by mhs4771

OK, been there, done that. If you have Disc Brakes you need a CAM Module installed prior to the Disc Brake Pump. If you have Electric Drum brakes there is either something funny with your 7 pin connector, or the Redwood is wired wrong.
GMs up until '16 or '17 would not work with Disc Brakes without the CAM Module because the Truck is looking for the low resistance of the Brake Magnets.

I have a two day story about this. Michelle is absolutely correct. The 2017 Redwood that I ordered the disc brakes from the factory had the CAM module installed from the factory. However, after tracing wires for a full day, I found the wiring in the junction box on the pin was wired wrong from the factory. On mine the CAM module was wired to the Break-away switch.

I would bet my last dollar that it is not the truck. However, Redwood may not have included a CAM module on your new trailer. Again this is assuming Disc brakes on the new one..

BTW the 2017 and newer GM trucks no longer need the module.

[5th_Time]

Redwood used to put these modules on all disk brake models. But if I remember correctly, if your unit is equipped with one, but the truck doesn’t require it, it works well anyway.

[par]

Originally Posted by xtasee

I have a two day story about this. Michelle is absolutely correct. The 2017 Redwood that I ordered the disc brakes from the factory had the CAM module installed from the factory. However, after tracing wires for a full day, I found the wiring in the junction box on the pin was wired wrong from the factory. On mine the CAM module was wired to the Break-away switch.

I would bet my last dollar that it is not the truck. However, Redwood may not have included a CAM module on your new trailer. Again this is assuming Disc brakes on the new one..

BTW the 2017 and newer GM trucks no longer need the module.

I would like to echo this exact story on my 2014 FL36. I had a 2013 Chevy. and took possession of a 2016 just a few days before leaving for our 6 month visit to the US and discovered no brakes on the trailer
Called everybody involved and the solution was to change out the CAM module and Brake Actuator. I went back to the Chevy dealer who was kind enough to change it out. After messing around with this for a few hours, changing these parts did NOT work. We decided to follow the wiring from the junction box to the inside of the trailer and discovered that the break-away switch was wired to the CAM and not the trucks brake signal (as described above). Keep in mind that all this worked like a charm with the 2013 Chevy so I could not help but put the blame on the truck!!!
So to this day I cannot be sure that changing these parts ($800 US) made any difference. By that time our trip departure was delayed by about 2 weeks and all we wanted to do was get on the road. In any case, the brakes are still working fine.

[bdsnook]

Toebender,
I have a 2012 GMC Duramax....same problem with my aftermarket disc brakes, I correct it by soldering a 10 ohm 50watt resistor across the brake wire to ground. This allows the Truck brake system recognize that there is a trailer attached and it will send the proper voltage to the disc brake hydraulic motor and modulate the brakes.