trailer brake gain tips

[henrypbui]

I have a 20ft wood deck dove tail and will be towing a 94 toyota supra that should weigh right around 5000lbs or less with my 5.3 crew regular bed. How much gain should i put on the trailer brake controller?

 

With the empty trailer running a +2 does that sound right or should i drop it down to 0? I am going from Oklahoma City, OK to Charlotte, NC.

 

Thanks in advanced.

[z71 chevy]

I have a 20ft wood deck dove tail and will be towing a 94 toyota supra that should weigh right around 5000lbs or less with my 5.3 crew regular bed. How much gain should i put on the trailer brake controller?

 

With the empty trailer running a +2 does that sound right or should i drop it down to 0? I am going from Oklahoma City, OK to Charlotte, NC.

 

Thanks in advanced.

I normally hook everything up and go a few mph down the driveway or empty road and apply just the trailer brakes until it pretty much stops the truck just make sure it isn't locking up the trailer tires you will need more gain with the loaded trailer so readjust once loaded

[bboyce536]

Read up on how to do a pinch test. Do one when your empty then again once you're loaded.

[OmniGLH]

I followed a youtube video on how to set the gain. It resulted in pretty might right on the same setting as I did initially by feel (before I discovered the YT video).

 

 

 

For reference... I have the gain set to 0.5 when my trailer is empty. When I've got my car on it, it's set to 6.5. Trailer is a ~1200# RnR 18' open. Car is a ~3000lb Porsche 944 Turbo. Note that each trailer will also be a little more or less sensitive. Don't take my settings for gold.

[hurricanoday]

Great info, gonna be using it when I tow this weekend. Haven't researched yet, but have zero idea how to adjust the trailer brake.

 

Should help a lot

[thewhitestallion]

everyone else has hinted or indirectly said it but all you have to do is hook the trailer up and go to a parking lot or empty road and get your speed to about 10-15 mph, does not have to be very fast and apply full brakes to the trailer (by full brakes I mean squeeze the trailer brake controller controls together) until you fell the trailer stopping the truck. if the tires lock up you have the gain too high. you want as much braking power from the trailer as you can get without locking up the tires. with a 5000# trailer set up I would imagine your brake gain will prob be around 7-8, but that really just depends on the trailer brakes.

 

it's not hard, don't think too much about it.

[volrus]

Looking for some help. When pulling my 6k lb unloaded camper I have it set to a gain of 10 (max) and the tires still won't lock up. Is something wrong?

[mjoekingz28]

Thanks for the video OmniGLH!

 

 

 

 

volrus, according to the video, what you describe sounds normal.

[redwngr]

Looking for some help. When pulling my 6k lb unloaded camper I have it set to a gain of 10 (max) and the tires still won't lock up. Is something wrong?

Are the connections in the truck and trailer plug clean?

 

Are you trying the brakes by using the hand operated control? (if not, try it)

 

Might be time to check the brakes on the trailer.

[HawkeyeSierra]

Looking for some help. When pulling my 6k lb unloaded camper I have it set to a gain of 10 (max) and the tires still won't lock up. Is something wrong?

Not a towing expert by any means, I don't think a 10,000 lb trailer needs to be able to lock the brakes.

[HawkeyeSierra]

x2 post. delete, nvm

[1300c]

It's also important to make sure that your trailer brakes are adjusted properly on your trailer too.

[volrus]

It isn't a 10,000 pound trailer, 6100 dry weight. 7700 max loaded. The camper is brand new, just picked it up yesterday. Doesn't mean it's adjusted properly, but just saying that I doubt that's the issue. I had a 3,000 pound pop up camper and I had to have it on 8 gain to get it to lock up. When we pulled it with my wife's minivan, I could easily get them to lock up. Yes, using the hand operated control to test it at about 20 mph.

[SouthpawHD]

Looking for some help. When pulling my 6k lb unloaded camper I have it set to a gain of 10 (max) and the tires still won't lock up. Is something wrong?

Sounds like you need to adjust your trailer brakes. Perhaps the pads are worn or something.

[Jon A]

It isn't a 10,000 pound trailer, 6100 dry weight. 7700 max loaded. The camper is brand new, just picked it up yesterday. Doesn't mean it's adjusted properly, but just saying that I doubt that's the issue. I had a 3,000 pound pop up camper and I had to have it on 8 gain to get it to lock up. When we pulled it with my wife's minivan, I could easily get them to lock up. Yes, using the hand operated control to test it at about 20 mph.

Are you saying you pulled this trailer with your minivan and it would lock them up? If so, there may be an issue. You might want to check the voltage going to the brakes to make sure they're getting full power.