Trailer Brakes Locking in Reverse

[WakeSlayer]

I swear that white wire just needs to be put on the tongue. I will try to look at mine tonight, but when mine had failed, I am pretty certain I just re-attached that wire to a screw on the toungue which grounded the solenoid circuit, and fixed the problem.

[TXPGE]

I swear that white wire just needs to be put on the tongue. I will try to look at mine tonight, but when mine had failed, I am pretty certain I just re-attached that wire to a screw on the toungue which grounded the solenoid circuit, and fixed the problem.

You very well may be correct. That was my initial thought as well when I discovered that it was loose, but I do not see anything to attach it to. I'll try connecting it to something later tonight and see what happens.

Once again, thank you everyone for all of the assistance. This is one of the friendliest forums I have visited. I appreciate it guys.

[jmo]

First I would start at the harness on the tow vehicle and insure your getting power, turn on the blinker and with the probes on the multimeter you should be able to identify which prong is live, then use that live prong to suPply power via 2 cheap cables from radio shack with alligator clips to the various prongs on the trailer end of the harness. When you get the wire/connection prong that is for the soleniod you will hear it click if you listen carefully. Don't forget you need the second cable to jump the ground in order to complete the circuit.

Not to complicate matters, but just because you have a 5 pin cOnnector doesn't garauntee you have the reverse solenoid in place - mOst trailer manufacturers install the 5 pin since it will work for drum (only need 4 of the 5) or disk brake set ups given disk brakes are usually an optional upgrade. If the trailer came with the disk set up you should have it, if not and the previous owner converted it from drum to disk you also need to make sure the actuator was swapped out as well as the actuator for drums maintain a slight positive pressure in the lines which doesn't work with disk brakes...

HTH's

JMO

[Chexi]

I don't suppose someone makes a 4 pin flat to 5 pin flat adapter do they? My truck has a 4-pin flat and my new trailer has a 5-pin flat, and I too get a bit of locking when backing up over a concrete lip in my boat storage location.

[HS]

Try This Site

E trailer has a lot of info and it's where I purchased my ball mount and a few locks.

Not sure if they the adapter you want; we had our tow vehicle's original 4 prong replaced by the 5 prong back when we got the boat. http://www.etrailer.com/fitguidet1.htm

[HS]

I don't suppose someone makes a 4 pin flat to 5 pin flat adapter do they? My truck has a 4-pin flat and my new trailer has a 5-pin flat, and I too get a bit of locking when backing up over a concrete lip in my boat storage location.

I think I read a tip here about flipping the plug over so it "reads" the "tail-lights" in place of "brake lights" (it won't be line up and one plug will be off on the end)

[shag]

the 5 pin from the trailer has the backup lockout if I am not mistaken. You might need to have your vehicle plug changed and have a 5 flat that has the back-up wire. (It splices into your back up light circuit).

[Chexi]

That sounds right. My trailer is 5 pin, but my truck is 4. I was just hoping that the signal was already there (maybe a combination of wires) embedded in the 4.

[DanielC]

Drum brakes are self energizing. When going forward, the pressure from the applied brake shoes tends to force the brakes on even harder. When going backwards, the opposite is true. The motion of the wheel tends to push the shoes away from the brake drum, so when backing a drum brake trailer, the brakes just do not work very well.
Disk brakes are not self energizing. They work equally as well going forward as they do going back. When you try to back a disk brake trailer, the harder you push it backwards, the more the brakes go on.

On your truck, with a flat four connector, one connection is backwards. This is the ground connection. It is usually has a white wire. The next wire to the ground is the tail lights. It is a brown wire. then the yellow, and the green wires for the turn signals. The fifth wire is usually blue, this wire disables the brakes.

If you turn the trailer plug sideways, and plug the blue wire on the end of the trailer connection, to the brown wire coming from the truck, and turn on the parking lights, it will usually disable the brakes for backing up.

[Quinner]

I swear that white wire just needs to be put on the tongue. I will try to look at mine tonight, but when mine had failed, I am pretty certain I just re-attached that wire to a screw on the toungue which grounded the solenoid circuit, and fixed the problem.

Mike, that is how mine is, white wire screwed to the frame underside, more or less the same thing.

The power wire to my actuator is blue. On my trailer you can see the actuator if you look from below as the frame is open on the underside.

[DJH]

Check the fuse?

I had a similar issue at the start of this season and traced it to a fuse. I didn't originally think this would be the case due to the fact that the back-up lights on my truck were still working... turns out the truck (Yukon) has seperate fuses for the trailer electricals. One 10A fuse and I was back in business. Good luck!

[jr49erfan1]

second on the fuse...

I had to install a fuse on my 2000 F150 as well, believe it was a 5A but I could be wrong. Without the fuse (or a pin/bolt in the lockout hole), as soon a I tried to go into reverse the trailer brakes would lock on. Good luck