Hi.

I recently bought a 2015 F-350 Super-Duty PowerStroke with the full towing package. I then bought a 2014 Dutchmen 25-foot travel trailer, bumper-pull (new...just purchased a year later).

Everything is great with the combo except I cannot get the trailer brakes to engage at all when towing. They do engage when I pull the break-away switch plug out so the trailer dealer says that proves that the trailer brakes are fine. They're electric and they either work or they don't. Period.

I've had the truck into the dealer, too, and it looks good in all of the tests that they performed.

So both dealers claim that the braking system is working as designed yet I still minimal (if any) trailer braking.

Details:

1. I hooked up the trailer to the truck ready to tow (electric and mechanical).

2. Truck LCD shows "Trailer connected" or the like.

3. I set the Gain to 6, as instructed in the owners manual.

4. The pressure is set to the default: Low.

5. I get the truck rolling to about 25mph and apply the pincher switch: Nothing.

6. I increase the gain, step-by-step, until it's max'd out at 10. Still no response from the trailer brakes (or, if there is, it's so minimal that I cannot sense it). Certainly no squealing of the brakes on the pavement as there should be if the gain is set too high.

7. Keep adjusting things until the pressure setting is on High. Same results.

So now I have two dealers claiming it's not a problem with their equipment but I still have a truck-trailer combo that's not getting any trailer brake application at all.

I read in another forum's posts that it was a blown fuse but surely a dead circuit would have shown up on the dealer tests (he said, hopefully).

Another post said to push the electrical connector into the socket really hard but I've been doing that without success, too.

I just read one that said he found success by prying the metal contacts out a bit inside the truck's electical socket so they got a good contact. I have't tried that yet but will this evening when I get home from work.

Other than smashed contacts in the plug, any other ideas of how to get the truck and trailer talking?

Thanks!

bc

 

It seems to me that power is not getting to the trailer....The break away works off the trailer battery, so its a moot point. The fact that the break away works, says the trailer brake pads are engaging.
Go to your 7 pin connector on the truck and test for voltage on the blue wire...If you have voltage, the problem is a break in the wiring of the trailer...If not, work your way forward on the truck. I bet the break is right near the connector

 

"It seems to me that power is not getting to the trailer....The break away works off the trailer battery, so its a moot point. The fact that the break away works, says the trailer brake pads are engaging.
Go to your 7 pin connector on the truck and test for voltage on the blue wire...If you have voltage, the problem is a break in the wiring of the trailer...If not, work your way forward on the truck. I bet the break is right near the connector"

I think you're right on along with others who've indicated that my focus should be on or near the coupling.

So, to admit to being a neophyte and clearly lacking in intelligence and common sense, I failed to do what I would have done with any other vehicle: Check things out myself first. I relied on the truck and trailer dealers to discover the problem.

Based on your guidance, all, I decided to investigate the coupling components myself after work last evening. I found a pair of female pins on the truck side bent over so far that I doubt they were making much contact at all (if any) with the trailer. My guess is that it's that malady that has been the culprit.

Ran out of time last night to test my theory but I'll hook the rig up this evening (and insure that all of the pins seat properly) and then I'll report back.

If it turns out to be something that simple and straightforward and I missed it just because I was afraid to mess around with my new truck and trailer, then I'll be extremely embarrassed but still grateful to all of you.

So, until I do the testing tonight (and I hope it actually WAS that pin set because then I'll have a fully functional combo)....

Signed,

The potentially too-dumb-to-live neophyte.