Brake problems

I have a 2010 Bighorn and while traveling down the highway last week all brakes on my 5th wheel stopped working, even the emergency brake. Had Truck checked out and all is good but can not find out the problem. When brakes applied all I get is a humming noise at the wheels on the 5th wheel. Called Heartland and was told they have no wireing digrahm and I am out of warrenty so I am on my own. Has anyone had a problem like this and if so what was the fix?

If you have humming noise at the wheels you have power going to it. I check my brakes at every trip that way.
1. Your brakes are worn out and will not squeeze when energized or need adjustment.
2. Someone pumped grease in you drum thru the zerks and now your linings are greased and just slide.
3. You have a bad ground in the system and the voltage realy drops fast when you apply the brakes.
4. You might want to check one wheel for grease condition

On my new trailer the Hubs were greased improperly and I had grease stuck to my magnets and had to clean all 4 hub faces, I was able to save the linings.

Its a common problem, I just towed a TT yesterday and I noticed that 2 of the 4 wheels were draging everytime I touched my brakes very lightly, so I told the owner of the unit to have the brakes checked for improperly greased hubs before taking the trailer on a trip. But he told me I just bought the trailer, well I told him they didn't service it properly.

Hi. After having the wetbolts installed at a big shop over in Elkhart I checked my brakes before leaving and didn't have any. The have good testers over there that they just plug into. They replaced my defective breakaway switch and I had good brakes again. I don't understand how a defective breakaway switch can keep your brakes from working but it did. Tom M.

blandsjj said:

I have a 2010 Bighorn and while traveling down the highway last week all brakes on my 5th wheel stopped working, even the emergency brake. Had Truck checked out and all is good but can not find out the problem. When brakes applied all I get is a humming noise at the wheels on the 5th wheel. Called Heartland and was told they have no wireing digrahm and I am out of warrenty so I am on my own. Has anyone had a problem like this and if so what was the fix?

Click to expand...

There is more to this story. What is your TV and what has happened prior to the brakes not working properly? What are you calling the emergency brake?

A couple more questions. Do you get a fault of any kind on your brake controller? Have the brakes ever been adjusted? Do they work at all, as in only slow speeds but not high speed? And has anyone taken a brake drum off and looked at it for grease contamination, as stated above?
If the magnets hum when the brakes are applied then there is a good chance that the problem is either, in need of adjustment, over greased through the Zerk fitting or a wire shorting out when the actuator is moved by the magnet. Or maybe a bad magnet itself.
You need to adjust the brakes and if that is no help pull the wheels.

Peace
Dave

lwmcguir said:

There is more to this story. What is your TV and what has happened prior to the brakes not working properly? What are you calling the emergency brake?

Click to expand...

I guess you are talking about my tow vehicle which is a Chev 3/4 ton Silverado (2500) and nothing happened before brakes stopped working. Emergency brake (BREEK AWAY SWITCH). Everything happened just as I stated in my thread.

Answer to your questions is No to all. If it warms up this week-end I plan to try to adjust the brakes and pull at least one wheel and check. Thank for the info!

cookie said:

A couple more questions. Do you get a fault of any kind on your brake controller? Have the brakes ever been adjusted? Do they work at all, as in only slow speeds but not high speed? And has anyone taken a brake drum off and looked at it for grease contamination, as stated above?
If the magnets hum when the brakes are applied then there is a good chance that the problem is either, in need of adjustment, over greased through the Zerk fitting or a wire shorting out when the actuator is moved by the magnet. Or maybe a bad magnet itself.
You need to adjust the brakes and if that is no help pull the wheels.

Peace
Dave

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. I plan to try to adjust then pull one wheel and check if all fails I will try replaceing Brake-away switch.

Thanks

traveler44 said:

Hi. After having the wetbolts installed at a big shop over in Elkhart I checked my brakes before leaving and didn't have any. The have good testers over there that they just plug into. They replaced my defective breakaway switch and I had good brakes again. I don't understand how a defective breakaway switch can keep your brakes from working but it did. Tom M.

Click to expand...

Even though you hear the hum near the brakes you might want to be sure you have a good ground on the TV and coach.