I recently bought a 28' enclosed car hauler and also purchased a Prodigy controller. Set everything up like the directions said. But I dont get much stopping power from the trailer. The directions say to " set power on 6, go 25 mph on flat surface, and use manual control. If brakes lock-up reduce power, if not increase power til brakes lock-up and then reduce power a notch or 2." Well I cant get the brakes to lock-up on 13, which is the highest. Actually on 13, it BARELY makes any noticably reduction in speed. I have adjusted the trailer brakes up to where I can barely turn the wheel, then backed them off slightly.

Any ideas on what my problem is? No codes on the Prodigy. Power set at 13, and B3, and it basically does very little. Thanks Bret

 

Do I need to have the aux. 12v power from the truck to the trailer working for the brakes to work properly? Because I dont have 12v power coming out of the truck either. Bret

 

is it a used trailer? i've pulled a 30' dual wheel tandom axle flat bed that we had wore the brakes out on. you could turn your brake controller all the way up and not get squat out of the brakes at any speed. got the brakes adjusted and it got better but still not great.

 

If the axle seals in the trailer are shot, the brake shoes will have an excellent lube job and will be on permanent vacation.

 

Did you use an adapter plug to connect the brake controller? I don't have a prodigy, but the wire colors on the adapter do not match lead colors on on my controler (Jordan).

Make sure the trailer plug matches your truck wiring. I've seen this a lot in 6 pin witing.
This might also be your 12 volt power problem

 

make sure your getting voltage back to your trailer connector. if so then apply trailer brakes and see if you can turn the wheels. if not, remove wheels and drums to inspect brakes. make sure the actuators are working and not froze up.

 

From what I gather, you are getting some trailer braking, but not very powerful?

Anyway, since you already checked adjustment, I'd be thinking either warn, greased, or dirty brakes, or quite a bit of voltage loss from the controller to the magnets.

If it were mine, I'd pull a drum off and see how things look, and also take a good look at the wiring and plug/socket. You could also take voltage readings at the magnet, and at the truck.

 

From past experience, and before you go pulling things apart, check to see that you have a good ground from the truck to the trailer. You should have a dedicated ground wire directly from your truck battery to the trailer plug. And one of the two brake wires on the trailer should tie directly into the ground connection. A lot of trailer manufacturers will take the ground wire coming from the trailer plug and attach it to a screw that's simply screwed into the trailer frame. After a period of time, this will no longer conduct a decent ground for heavy voltage draw things like brakes.

chaikwa.

 

I guess I was assuming it was a used trailer, and he'd likely want to take a look at the brakes and bearings, and repack anyway.

If is a new trailer, it may take a few stops for the brakes to seat and break in before they deliver full stopping power.

Making sure the ground is good is also an excellent idea.

 

Check the fuse in the box under the hood on drivers side.

 

Yes I am getting some braking just not nearly enough. I have had one off the drums off to inspect and just curious cuz I have never seen trailer brakes before. The pads were wore but not down to metal yet.
I will check the ground and try adjusting more. Thanks all and I will let ya'll know how it turns out. Bret

 

Update: Ok I have narrowed it down to why the brakes dont stop good. Only one wheel is braking. The other 3 do not. I checked and I have a ground from truck to trailer via the 7 pin plug. I checked with a test light, so I dont know how good the ground is as far as for volts. I dont have a fluke meter or anything like that and prolly wouldnt know how to use it anyway
I adjusted the brakes up even more, they are now kinda hard to turn without brakes applied. Took it out for a test run and still no good. Checked the hubs for heat when I got back and only one hub had heat in it. The others had no heat whatsoever. One wheel I know isnt working because the wires are cut, and I have yet to dig into that problem. But what gives on the others? Bad magnets? Or? What should I look for when I tear it apart? Any and all ideas are greatly appreciated! Bret

P.S. Also I found no evidence of grease in the brake drum when I adjusted brakes.

 

When I bought my 28' GN in May the guys said the brakes were almost new on it. They didn't work though because the ground did not exist. The guy said he just let it ground through the ball. I insisted he fix that before I would buy the trailer. After he fixed the ground, and wired it inot the trailer plug, they would engage enough that you know the brakes were "working", and I paid the guy.
Well, turns out I should have been much more a stickler for checking out those brakes because they sucked really bad. I adjusted and adjusted but they were still awful. The trailer would push the truck in a panic stop.
So I started pulling wheels. I found the following:
1. drum face, where the magent contacts the drum, GROOVY, and not in a good way. Took some creative setup on Dad's brake lathe to fix this.
2. at least 2 of the magnets were not working at all, on a 4 magnet system (tandem axle). 4 new magnets to fix. Oh, and the spring behind one of the magnets was a piece of coat hanger.
3. The actuator arms on 3 of the 4 brakes had little to no travel because they were seized up. Wire brush, PB Blaster, pry bar, and anti-seize to fix.
4. Brake adjuster cable and adjuster lever MIA on one brake.
5. Brake wiring was under sized for what Dexter Axles recommended. This looked factory, but I replaced it anyway, to Dexter spcs, 12 gauge.
I also had to replace one wheel seal, not because any oil got on the brakes, but because I messed it up removing the 70+ lb drum.

Even after fixing all of that the brakes were still awful. I called Dexter. Dexter said I needed to burnish the brakes in (note I did not turn any drums, the brake face, or replace any shoes because they were like the guy said, practically new).

So, I went out and starting cruising up and down the road, manually engaging the brakes with the Prodigy. Sure enough, the brakes started grabbing better and I finally got them good enough to where I feel confident pulling a 14K JD back hoe on it.

So, to answer your question, there are a few steps involved in this. Pull whe wheels and see what you are dealing with in there. Report back and we'll advise you further is needed.
One of the first tests would be to jack up the trailer and spin the wheels while someone engages the brake controller manually, slowly. Note what voltage the wheel stops at, see if it's the same for the other wheels. If any do not stop, look for a bad magnet or wiring. Look harder at the wheels that take more voltage than the others.

Chris

 

New Magnets?

 

A few things spring to mind...

First, if you don't have an ohm meter, might as well pick one up. These days a basic multi-meter is cheap.

You could then take an ohm meter reading across the magnet's leads (with the wires unhooked). Expect between 3-4 ohms. You can also check for continuity between each lead and the magnet housing.

If the shoes and drums aren't clean, clean them up with some spray brake cleaner and a rag. If they are older brakes, it would be good to avoid blowing them off and breathing the dust.

For adjustment, generally you turn the star wheel until the trailer brake (with the tire on) won't turn by hand, then back the star wheel off 3/4 of a turn past when the tire starts to rotate freely. You will still hear the magnet skiff along the armature.

With regard to the wiring, many trailers come with wires that have two layers of insulation on each wire, and the inner layer is translucent and if you didn't know it was there you could think it was stripped when it wasn't.

Go to Dexter's product info page, and select Complete Manual for a free PDF...

http://www.dexteraxle.com/products___literature

Al-Ko also has a good free manual...

http://www.al-kousa.com/index.htm

Finally, if the pads and magnets are worn out and you decide to replace parts, you can buy the backing plate with everything already installed. You basically just bolt them onto the axle and hook the wires up, so it really saves time, just make sure you get them on the correct side.

As long as you are messing with it, I would highly recommend repacking with some quality grease, and replacing the seals.