# Brakes



## sircarryalot (Jun 23, 2005)

Last week I was taking my Outback to the rv park where it sits for the winter.







About halfway there my trailer brakes started to lock up when I was coming to a stop. I adjusted the brake controller several times at stop lights, I even pulled over. If I increased the sensitivity on the BC, the trailer brakes would lock up sooner, by decreasing the sensitivity on the BC they would lock up later. No matter what I did the brakes would lock up. It was kinda funny that I was coasting at 5mph and I'd push the brake just a hair more to come to a stop and the trailer brakes would lock up again. Everything was fine for the first 30 miles of this trip, then all of a sudden







. I'm not understanding this. I will take it in for service in the new year to fix the problem. Any ideas to what went wrong? Do the Outback's have 2 brakes or four? I'm hoping it has two, this way it will only cost 1/2 as much to fix







I would look to see myself how many brakes the Outback has, but its not here.

Happy Holidays,

Mike


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## Katrina (Dec 16, 2004)

I believe they have four. Never looked that close to make sure.
Keep in mind that the problem could be your brake controller too.
I would suspect it before thinking that the brakes on all four wheels had gone bad at once.


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## PDX_Doug (Nov 16, 2004)

Mike,

Unfortunetly, electrical gremlins can be a pain to trace, but based on the limited info available, I'm going to guess you were in wet conditions (Victoria in December!). That could lead to a couple of possibilites.

First, it could just be the roads were slick enough that the tires were going to skid with any braking. Second, if you have a shorting condition in the wiring, any excessive moisture present could exacerbate the problem.

In any case, good luck in your sleuthing.









Happy Trails,
Doug

Ahh... Victoria... I've been away too long!


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## 2500Ram (Oct 30, 2005)

On my controller I have 2 adjustments, one gain for brake pressure on the TT and the other for the pedel pressure in the cab or so I'm told. Either way, no brakes applied green light, brakes applied slight orange light on controller. Manual slide of brakes Red light on controller.

Long and short we needed to adjust the other setting for pedel pressure. Process was while TV is running press the brakes and hold, move the adjuster full force = red light, move the adjuster just between the red and green light until happy/orange light, then on flat ground in a parking lot adjust the gain TT brakes that they would just lockup on full manual brake, we had the same problems your talking about, keep in mind your brakes take some time to warm up on the TT. Our instructions said to drive slowly with 1/4 manual pressure to warm up the brakes and it does make a difference. As mentioned above if you were an wet pavement all bets are off.

Bill.


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## sircarryalot (Jun 23, 2005)

PDX_Doug said:


> Mike,
> 
> Unfortunetly, electrical gremlins can be a pain to trace, but based on the limited info available, I'm going to guess you were in wet conditions (Victoria in December!). That could lead to a couple of possibilites.
> 
> ...


Thanks Doug, The roads were bone dry. Oh yea if you would like to come to Victoria some day, I belong to a RV club here and I could get you and your family 3 nights for free. So stop wasting time and come to Victoria.

Mike


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Warm electrical brakes will work better then cold ones so it may just be that they are set very close. Have you owned the trailer since new?

What brake control do you have. If it is not a Prodigy then that should be on the top of your Christmas wish list.


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## PDX_Doug (Nov 16, 2004)

Sounds great Mike. We may have to take you up on that.









I can only imagine what the ferry would cost to drag the Outback over. Ouch!









Happy Trails,
Doug


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## sircarryalot (Jun 23, 2005)

PDX_Doug said:


> Sounds great Mike. We may have to take you up on that.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


$150ish cdn each way. Would be great to meet you. Wife and I are planning California in the summer of 2006.







Our 2005 summer is full already, my wife has it all planned out......







.

Mike


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## skills4lou (Nov 10, 2005)

Mike,
I know Canadia runs a little behind the times, but the last time I checked the summer of 2005 was over already. Unless you guys moved to the southern hemisphere you might need a new calender or something, eh!







action 
Couldn't resist a little cross border ribbing ya know!


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## aceguy (Oct 19, 2005)

I had a very similar problem with my Outback. I did all the adjustments and nothing worked. I took it in to the dealer and it ended up being a wiring problem with the brake controller. 
I would expect a problem in the wiring, probably a short or a bad wire connection somewhere, related to the brake controller.


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## sircarryalot (Jun 23, 2005)

skills4lou said:


> Mike,
> I know Canadia runs a little behind the times, but the last time I checked the summer of 2005 was over already. Unless you guys moved to the southern hemisphere you might need a new calender or something, eh!
> 
> 
> ...


Just seeing if you were paying attention


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