Trailer Brakes Gain setting
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Trailer Brakes Gain setting
OK - Might have to file this one under rookie question, but...
I have a 17, 250 SD FX4 primarily for camping I have a Forest River Nirto 21fs toy hauler. The trailer is about 5900 lb dry and my bike is another 1000 lb or so. I have never weighed it but I am sure it is 7500 - 8000 total with stuff. The trailer has tandem wheels and electric brakes. Most of our camping is in the mountains of North Carolina.
My question is... The brake controller has gain settings from 1-10. How do you know what to set it on?
Thanks
I have a 17, 250 SD FX4 primarily for camping I have a Forest River Nirto 21fs toy hauler. The trailer is about 5900 lb dry and my bike is another 1000 lb or so. I have never weighed it but I am sure it is 7500 - 8000 total with stuff. The trailer has tandem wheels and electric brakes. Most of our camping is in the mountains of North Carolina.
My question is... The brake controller has gain settings from 1-10. How do you know what to set it on?
Thanks
New User
Joined: Jan 2017
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Manual states to squeeze lever on brake controller while doing 25mph. If trailer brakes lock up, turn gain down and try again. If not strong enough, turn gain up and try again. If I remember correctly, it said to start with a gain of 6.
I upped mine to 10 and brakes never locked up. Going to have to mess with it more.
I upped mine to 10 and brakes never locked up. Going to have to mess with it more.
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Joined: Aug 2016
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There is also an 'Trailer Brake Effort' setting (Low, Medium, or High).
The manual states this is for brakes that require more initial voltage or you want more aggressive braking.
I played with this and my little, light, open trailer didn't like the medium setting.
The manual states this is for brakes that require more initial voltage or you want more aggressive braking.
I played with this and my little, light, open trailer didn't like the medium setting.
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Manual states to squeeze lever on brake controller while doing 25mph. If trailer brakes lock up, turn gain down and try again. If not strong enough, turn gain up and try again. If I remember correctly, it said to start with a gain of 6.
I upped mine to 10 and brakes never locked up. Going to have to mess with it more.
I upped mine to 10 and brakes never locked up. Going to have to mess with it more.
Just drive forward slowly and hit the brakes as you would driving. You should feel the trailer slowing you more than the truck. It'll feel like the trailer is pulling you backwards. Find the setting where you feel the trailer slowing you but not locking up. Once you feel good you can hit the road and try a little harder braking to be sure you aren't locking up. Point is, you want the trailer doing a bit more of the braking than the truck without locking.
Something else to consider. If the trailer sat for a while or its new or new brakes, you'll likely have to set a bit higher gain as the brakes won't be as effective. However, as you get using the brakes more they'll become more effective so you'll have to turn down the gain as you go so you don't start locking the trailer tires.
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I never looked at my 17 but I think it should be the same as follows. On my 2015 I had two types of brakes to select. This needs to be selected first. They are brake type, electric or electric over hydraulic. Then there is Traler Brake Effert for size of trailer as mentioned in above post. Then you need to adjust the gain for each the load (how much weight) of the trailer. So set it so that the trailer is pulling on truck just slightly more as you brake.
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From: Moncks Corner
[QUOTE=Oz97tj;16901245]Squeezing the lever doesn't make sense as that could just apply 100 percent braking.
The lever is variable. Squeezing it all the way applies 100% of the current gain setting. You want the trailer to break slightly more than the truck. This helps prevent jackknifing.
The lever is variable. Squeezing it all the way applies 100% of the current gain setting. You want the trailer to break slightly more than the truck. This helps prevent jackknifing.
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From: West Canada eh
Trial and Error, I run 4 trailers and not one of them likes the settings of the last trailer. My dump trailer empty has to run on 3 or it will lock up, loaded it will do 6, but my 24ft cargo needs 7 empty and 10 full and my 53ft cargo runs 10 all the time, each trailer and brake setup is different depending on wiring, grounds, quality of brakes and design.
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I have been fighting my brake set up since I bought the tt, even with the F150 I had, Found out that I can't lock up the brakes on my trailer, according to Dexter their torsion axles are designed to not lock up.
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