I recently bought a 16' enclosed trailer for our coming move from Alaska to Arkansas. We loaded it with as much stuff as we had packed already and moved it to storage. When I was pulling it I noticed when I would hit a decent bump the trailer would make the back of the truck bounce up and down. Does this mean I have too much weight on the front? I am going to look at getting a weight distributing hitch before we leave because I have heard that helps a lot as well.

 

ya get the hitch and you will be good. get one with sway control you will thank your self when you get where your going !

 

Ditto....

Also be mindful of how you load the trailer. Heaviest items over the axles, a bit heavier in the front than the rear. Trailers require tongue weight to pull safely. Also be mindful that on enclosed trailers, with speed the wind can hit the front of the trailer and effectively remove some of your tongue weight.

 

one more tid bit, find a spot where your out of Any ones way. get up to 25 mph and use the Manuel brake slide if you lock up tires adjust it till it almost locks up. if it don't lock up keep increasing it till they do then back it of just one point. and you will be have set your brake to the trailer. and empty and full should be two different settings! good luck and enjoy!

 

That's good advice right there.

 

Thanks for the advice guys. I only have one concern. I set my gain to max and the tires still did not lock up. Is there a way to adjust the brakes on a trailer like that? It seems to be stopping fine without stressing the truck too much but at high speed and a really hard stop I'm not sure if it would be good enough.

 

Oh good God why are you moving to Arkansas? I am finally getting out and can't wait!

 

I am moving TO Alaska!

 

Arkansas..... The Land of Oppurtunity.

First oppurtunity ya get, LEAVE IT!!! LOL

 

This usually only happens on trailers that are either really heavy with only one braking axle, or on trailers that are not quite working right. Might not hurt to check them out and see if the star wheel is adjusted up right. or if you are not comfortable with it pay a camper place a few buck to have them looked over.

I'll offer a slight variation to the method above for your consideration, as it is what i do.

I do adjust them up until they lock, but i do it on a gravel road, and i make sure the brakes are warmed up first.

find a gravel road, drive about 25mph or so, and grab the trailer brakes about 1/2 power and drive for a few hundred feet, let off, then repeat that a couple times. then adjust them until they lock on gravel and back them down a bit.

trailer brakes NEED to be good and warm before you attempt to adjust them for gain. if you don't, you will snug them up until the feel good, and by the end of your first free-way stop they will be warm and will lock up before you get stopped (learned this the hard way, almost flat-spotted my brand new tires).

i set the gain on a gravel road for a couple reasons. first and formost, i live on gravel, and hate to have them lock up trying to get or leave home. Also, i have found that when you hit a patch of sand or gravel on the road at a corner that your trailer brakes wont lock when they hit the gravel.

I have also found that adjusting them this way sets them tight enough that they stop well and don't jerk you out of your seat.

 

i have never seen heat make them lock up. but i have seen a lot of heat fade or worse heat fail. i asked around the shop and not one person ever had that happen. one had them weld them self shut due to no more pads left i like the gravel road idea, but in a big city you have a hard time just finding road thats empty enough to do this with little lone gravel road.