Paul
Newbie RV’er
Posts: 3
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Post by Paul on May 6, 2022 16:31:59 GMT -5
We have a new KZ Connect 241RLK. It's only been on 3 drives of about 30 miles, each: home from the dealer, and to/from a nearby state park. I feel like the brakes on our Expedition are taking up all the load. This is my data gathered so far: - Our Expedition has the trailer tow package, so it has an integrated brake controller. Even with the gain turned all the way to 10 (sorry, it doesn't go to 11), when I activate the brakes, there is very little braking action by the trailer. It can barely hold the combined truck/trailer stopped at an intersection, with my foot off the brake pedal.
- I wondered if the brake controller was generating the proper voltage, so I bought a 7-pin connector, and ran the ground + brake circuits into the cab. I attached a multi-meter so I could measure the voltage in real-time.
- When sitting idle WITHOUT THE TRAILER, if I activate the brake controller (and squeeze it completely "closed"), the voltage goes all the way to maximum: about 13.8 V. In a short driving test, the voltage varied as I expected, increasing with more braking effort.
I'm not getting any warnings from the trailer brake controller. I just get hardly any braking effect.
Do I need to take it in for service? Or am I overlooking something obvious in my testing? |
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Post by lynnmor on May 6, 2022 19:31:59 GMT -5
Do I need to take it in for service? Or am I overlooking something obvious in my testing? The Ford factory brake controllers put out very little below 11 MPH to prevent jerking when coming to a stop. If you want to measure voltage, you will need to somehow connect to the brake wire at the trailer and run leads into the cab, then go for a drive at highway speeds. |
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Post by nvguy on May 6, 2022 21:40:50 GMT -5
Check the adjustment of the trailer brakes, then, as you probably have Lippert brakes follow the instructions here: link |
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Post by rvcouple on May 8, 2022 9:54:53 GMT -5
Your brakes are probably "working", they just weren't broken in correctly. They usually get broken in when towed to the dealer by using a brake controller on the way. Yours sound like they are doing the same thing were on our C261RB when we picked it up. I could be moving at idle at a couple mph and hit the brake controller manual lever to full on and it wouldn't even slow us down, we just kept rolling.
I had it back at the dealer and they went through everything, adjusted it and had a long talk with the axle/brake manufacturer. Bottom line, I had to break in the brakes on the way home. The dealer said the manufacturer recommendation was to start at 50mph and use the trail brakes only to slow down to 30 mph. Let things cool for a minute and repeat 10 - 20 times. We took the back roads home and did this as much as possible. That helped a lot and it got better the more we towed the trailer. Now when idling along a few mph and you hit the trailer brakes, it jerks to a quick stop.
This is similar to what should be done with your car brakes when you replace the pads. Each manufacturer has their own routine, but 30/30/30 usually works pretty well. 30 med. hard stops from 30 mph with 30 second cooldown in between. You'll have smoke rolling off the front pads by about stop 25, but that is normal the purpose of breaking them in. Heat them up, burn off surface residue, get a chemical/heat bonding in the pad surface, and get them to seat to the rotors.
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Paul
Newbie RV’er
Posts: 3
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Post by Paul on May 9, 2022 9:09:05 GMT -5
Thanks to everyone for the replies. Based on the video linked by nvguy and the explanation by rvcouple, it sound like our brakes need to be "broken in", or "burnished" (as the video calls it).
I'll plan to do it the next time we are out.
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Post by Edd505 on May 12, 2022 21:44:38 GMT -5
I will add make sure the 7 way is plugged in completely, I have a bumper and an in bed, the in beds a bit loose so I wrap it with a bungee cord to keep it plugged completely. You might also have to check the tow vehicle EBC and insure it's set properly, I put on disc brakes and had to change settings to electric over hydraulic.
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