I was towing the other day, I'm guessing I was #30,000. I had round bales on the goose neck that were wet. Anyway, I go to stop, and with the trailier brakes wide open and my foot to the floor, everything just costed to a stop. I was definatley over weight! As far as pulling, it was hollering for more ;D Does anybody know if we can put bigger brakes on these trucks? See sig for my truck. <br><br>Thanks, Kimrey

 

An exhaust brake is only good for slowly coming to a stop, or long grades. If have to stop quick, you can only rely on your service brakes for stopping. I drive fire trucks and tractor trailers, I know. When you mash the brakes with the exhuast or Jake it will only kick in for a sec. then its all on your service brakes. I need something to stop the load. Thanks for the help all.<br><br>Kirmey

 

Kimrey, the only way you can put bigger brakes on your Ram is to trade it in for a 2003. The new Ram has dual calipers on each wheel. The wheel size had to be increased to 17&quot; to accommodate the larger rotors and pads. The Ram's pad surface and rotor are larger than either GM or Ferd.

Short of a trade-in you will have to settle for an exhaust brake. Being overloaded is no way to be if you have an accident. You'll never end up paying for it.
:'( :'(

 

You might want to check out those trailer brakes. <br><br>With are 24' gooseneck the trailer brakes will stall out the truck in first gear. It sounds like you need new brakes on the trailer or maybe you have a short in the wiring or something.<br><br>DB

 

You can do a trailer brake check like I do occasionaly that will give you some indication that they are at least trying to work. With the trailer empty, lock the trailer brakes (talking electric brakes here) with the controller and move the truck about three feet to see how many tires are skidding. I usually try it in the driveway before I load up on both the gooeseneck and the dump trailer. If you move ten feet and those brakes don't lock up, there is a problem somewhere. I haul up to 26000 when I have two tractors on and it will stop pretty quick.

Another thing I found out is that the adjusters on the rear brakes on these trucks do not work worth a (chose your own word here). Mine was nose diving real bad during a hard stop, on the few I've had to make, and didn't stop like a truck with brakes this size should have. I checked the back brakes and they hardly had wear on them at all. I had to crank the adjuster on the right side 32 clicks to even get the shoes out close the drum and 28 clicks on the other side. I turned the adjuster till the shoe rubbed, pumped the brake pedal several times to center and cranked it again till I got the slightest rub on both sides. It made a world of difference, this thing will stop on a dime and give me back nine cents change now. I have done the same thing on two other trucks, friends at work, and they noticed a big difference. Being a truck driver, you probably know this but some people may not so I thought I'd post anyway on what I found.

I keep the trailer brakes adjusted the same way. If you have electric brakes, the magnets may be getting weak or not pulling like thay should. The adjuster wheel fell off one of my trailer brakes coming home from Iowa last year and I had to stop along the interstate, pull the wheel and drum, cut the magnet wiring and remove the whole brake assembly on that wheel. I was real nervous the rest of the way home but drove accordingly. Nothing else I could do at the time.

Hope this helps you out. See you next week end I hope.

Joel

 

You may want to consider dumping the factory brake pads on the truck for some good aftermarket pads. Dodge is not known for great brakes

 

[quote author=dieseldude4x4 link=board=11;threadid=7573;start=0#72958 date=1038401186]<br>Another thing I found out is that the adjusters on the rear brakes on these trucks do not work worth a (chose your own word here).<br>[/quote]<br><br>This has been talked about on a Ram-related mailing list I'm on, and on the trucks with rear drums, it does seem to be a common complaint. One of the things that we noticed after comparing notes was that those who use the parking brake very consistently had far fewer problems with the self-adjusters on those rear drums &quot;self-adjusting.&quot; Not necessarily a guaranteed solution in all cases, but it did seem to help keep them adjusted. <br><br>Or you can do it the fun way: back up really fast and slam on the brakes, five or six times.

 

On electric braked trailers I tie the grounds together off the magnets and run an additional wire back to the batteries about a 300% improvement on braking. On surge brakes there is a disc on some in the hydraulic line or a metered fitting using a micrometer drill bit make a pass through the opening making it bigger in small increments until it brakes the way you want it to. Do not remove these restrictors completely or your trailer will lock up everytime you slow down. ;D

 

I too ran a seperate ground for my electrical brakes, works very well. I usually forget to turn them back down after unloading the trailers and end up smoking the tires at the next stop. OH well, it's only money.

 

Thanks for all the input. I will try the double ground thing. Dieseldude4x4 I will talk to you about that when we go camping. The brakes stop fine when I'm empty, just when I'm loaded. Thanks again for the input!!!<br><br>Kimrey

 

The responsibility for stopping a loaded trailer falls on the trailer brakes. The design of trailer brakes is to be designed to allow for stopping the trailer loaded to its GVWR not exceeding a maximum distance when traveling a specified mph. Some manufacturers do not allow for deterioration of braking efficience when in service. This puts an unnecessary load and wear of tow vehicle's brakes