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Good Deal! A local Keystone dealer has agreed to take this Heartland product in trade on a new Montana. I am about to be relieved of this Sundance. The Montana's brakes are burnished at the factory, rather than relying on some 3rd party transporter to burnish them.

I replaced the left rear backing plate assembly and got rid of the "Trailer Electrical Fault". Today we will be looking at Keystone Alpines, which probably have the same inadequate braking systems.

Dave, I agree with you. We have decided to trade up to a larger 5th wheel, so will leave the electric brakes on the Sundance, but will not hesitate to go disks on the new unit if braking performance does not meet expectations. Where did you mount the electric/hydraulic pump?

I did not keep the brakes energized until they started to smoke, but I did apply them for about 10 seconds with a 30 second pause between applications at a steady 50 mph. I have a non-contract thermometer, and stopped the unit after about 12 miles. The drum temperatures ranged from 300 to 450...

I went out to aggresively burnish my brakes. Early in the process my brake controller indicated "Trailer Electrical Fault", and I wound up with even less braking than before. The Ford manual says that there is either a short to ground or open in the braking circuit. I put the ohm meter between...

I have contacted Lippert, and the rep there suspects that the brakes have likely not been properly burnished. He suggests that the brakes be adjusted and then apply the brakes while going down the road until they "smoke". This is not the procedure indicated in the owner's manual, which...

I have not contacted Lippert to continue this effort to obtain adequate braking but will do so tomorrow. We did bring the camper back from Texas this spring, and the brakes were wholly inadequate. I can guarantee you that my next camper will have the electric over hydraulic disk brakes!

It has been almost a year since I brought the issue of poor braking performance to light with Heartland, and still my brakes lack stopping power. The local dealer turned me over to Lippert last May after determining that they could not improve the braking performance, and Lippert has never...

Lippert assigned a claim number for my issue on 5/7/2011. It is now 9/1/2011, and I have not heard from them. Apparently they too recognize the futility of making thier brakes function effectively.

The dealer turned me over to Lippert, and they suggested that I take the trailer back to the dealer for brake work! I said that it had been at the dealer for 34 days and that the dealer had done all they could. Lippert took some information and I have not heard from them for over a month...

I agree. The last thing we want on this forum is for someone to express an objective negative opinion!

The dealer has now done all they intend to do to my camper and have passed me off to Lippert.

I had an interesting conversation with a guy at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) named George Soodoo. He provided me with some valuable information, including verification that there is no federal standard for trailer braking systems unless they are air brakes...

A voltmeter on the braking circuit of my 2011 Ford Super Duty shows 12 volts standing still with manual application of the integral brake controller. Applying the truck brakes with the trailer connected at 20 mph also shows 12 volts delivered to the trailer braking circuit.

Mouse, you are spot on! The argument that the RV manufacturers don't want our trailers to get out of control and possibly jackknife is interesting. In other words, to prevent us from sliding the tires on our rigs, and possibly losing control, they have provided a mediochre braking system which...

I had seen this report in my searches. I find it interesting that they considered a combined vehicle stopping deceleration rate of .43g satisfactory. Since tow vehicles can stop with a deceleration rate of .8g or higher, the expectations for the trailer brakes were pretty low. Of course, it all...

The instructions for my brake controller say to set the gain to the point where the trailer will slide its wheels on dry pavement and then reduce the gain slightly. I certainly don't recommend that the trailer brakes actually slide the tires at speed, I just want the braking system to be...

Federal standards exist for automobile and pickup brakes, but they are not required to stop at DOT stations, so it is unlikely that RVs would have to stop. I am not sure the majority of RV owners have seriously considered the adequacy of their braking systems.

NHTSA does have braking standards for trucks and autos, and they do have standards for trailers if they are equipped with air brakes. Here are ths standards specified by RVIA: RVIA Adopted Standards 12-Volt Electrical Requirements as specified by ANSI/RVIA 12V Low Voltage System...

I believe that objective, measurable standards are needed for the braking systems on towed RVs.

I finally got a return call from the enforcement division of NHTSA. Their representative told me that RV trailer brakes are not regulated except by individual state requirements. As stated earlier in this thread, the brake standards for trailers in Minnesota are vague at best. Maybe, since...

I retrieved the Sundance from Noble RV yesterday. Lippert (Dexter?) had provided new backing plates, complete with shoes and magnets, which Noble had installed. Noble service people had spent some time burnishing the brakes in accordance with Lippert's instructions, but the braking capability...

I have been searching for standards that would apply to rv trailer brakes, and have not had much luck. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, Part 571 appears to be the place where rv brakes would be addressed, and braking standards are addressed in that standard, but they do not include rv...

Now two weeks later, the trailer is still at the dealer. At least they are not continuing with the "it's your pickup" rant. We are waiting for new backing plates from Dexter. The tech measured the braking circuit resistance and found it to be 2.7 ohms, when the spec called for 3 ohms. I'm...

We are now back in Minnesota and the 5th wheel is at Noble RV in Owatonna. When I talked more with the dealer's service department, they started out by saying that the new Ford trucks do not supply enough voltage to the brakes to make them work effectively. I thought, "Here we go again, the...

I have a 2011 Sundance, and am having the same brake problem discussed herein. When I dropped of my old Rockwood 5th wheel trade-in and picked up the new camper last summer I noticed that the camper braking was significantly less effective than the old camper. My tow vehicle at that time...

The first time we traveled with our new camper, before we even used it, the floor of the basement was wet. It did rain on the trip to the campground. Is it possible that rainwater is getting in through the bedroom slide? The basement was wet about a third of the way in on the driver's side...

Hi Wayne, You did a nice job with the fireplace installation. I just picked up my 2011 2900MK and was thinking about doing the same thing, but the water heater enclosure looks like it will interfere with the installation as it is installed directly below the TV set. Is that the way your 2008...