2018 Bighorn 3970RD - No Brakes

[qmrichardson]

Hello everyone,

I was not sure the best forum to post this question, so trying thisone. I have a brand new Bighorn, and thetrailer brakes have never worked. I have verified my brake controller (prodigyP2) is in good working condition, and connected it to another trailer forverification. When I connect to mytrailer, I get the “n.c.” reading for “not connected” on my brake controller. I’m looking for suggestions to try because Ireally don’t want to take it back to the dealer as I’m a full timer and it is aterrible inconvenience. Also, I simply enjoylearning and making fixes on my own when it’s something that isn’t toodifficult.

I crawled under the trailer and checked the wires comingfrom the underbelly that go to the wheels and they looked ok.
Many thanks for any recommendations.
Will

 

['Lil Guy']

Have you checked the pigtail and is it plugging into your receptical good? Are all of your lights working when plugged into TV and only brakes not working?

 

[TedS]

Also look in the junction box where the pigtail is connected to the trailer wiring for loose wires.

 

[danemayer]

See attached wiring. If you open the junction box under the pinbox, you should be able to check for voltage on the various wires to ensure the power is getting through the pigtail connections.

 

[cookie]

There are a couple of things that you can do along with what Frank had mentioned.
First the easy part. Have someone apply the brakes or pull the emergency cable and listen for a slight hum or click at the brake drums. That will be the brake magnet engaging. If you hear that then it would be time for a brake inspection to be sure the pads are not saturated with grease. If all looks good then a brake adjustment will be next.

Take the cover the gang box under the pin box. The brake wires will be blue to blue and a white to white. There will be several white wires tied together.

You've already inspected wires and verified that the truck is outputting current by connecting to another trailer, have you tried another truck on your trailer?

Peace
Dave

 

[qmrichardson]

Yes, all lights on the trailer work well and the pigtail has been checked. Only the brakes do not work. Everything else works great. I will check the pinbox wires as recommended and see what I can see... Thanks

 

[danemayer]

Another resource is the Trailer Brake Manual located toward the bottom of the list in this folder. In includes troubleshooting information.

 

[Oregon_Camper]

Trying to determine if this is an issue with your truck or trailer.

Can you get someone else to tow your RV and see if their trucks brake controller engages the RV's brakes?

 

[qmrichardson]

I have already determined the issue is with the trailer because I connected my truck to the trailer next to me, and everything worked fine with the break-controller and all.

 

[Gary521]

How did you check the pigtail? Did you check continuity between plug and junction box on the brake wires?

 

[qmrichardson]

so I used a tester to check the pigtail at the back of the truck and it was all fine, and the tail lights, brake lights, and turn signals on the trailer all work fine as well. It was suggested above to check the "junction box" for loose connections, but I'm not exactly sure how to do that. I'm hoping when I get home from work, that the "junction box" will be obvious to me. This is a bit stressful because this trailer is heavy and I am moving to South Carolina in five months. It is quite difficult to stop this trailer with only my truck brakes (as I learned bringing it home).

 

[danemayer]

so I used a tester to check the pigtail at the back of the truck and it was all fine, and the tail lights, brake lights, and turn signals on the trailer all work fine as well. It was suggested above to check the "junction box" for loose connections, but I'm not exactly sure how to do that. I'm hoping when I get home from work, that the "junction box" will be obvious to me. This is a bit stressful because this trailer is heavy and I am moving to South Carolina in five months. It is quite difficult to stop this trailer with only my truck brakes (as I learned bringing it home).

Will,

With the resources linked earlier, and a voltmeter, you may be able to diagnose this yourself. But if not, before moving the trailer again, you should consider calling a mobile servicer to run down the problem. If under warranty, call Heartland Customer Service at 877-262-8032 / 574-262-8030. Have your VIN # ready. Ask for prior approval for the servicer you intend to use. You'll still have to pay the servicer's travel time charge, but that is often less than the cost of towing to a dealer.

 

[qmrichardson]

Will,

With the resources linked earlier, and a voltmeter, you may be able to diagnose this yourself. But if not, before moving the trailer again, you should consider calling a mobile servicer to run down the problem. If under warranty, call Heartland Customer Service at 877-262-8032 / 574-262-8030. Have your VIN # ready. Ask for prior approval for the servicer you intend to use. You'll still have to pay the servicer's travel time charge, but that is often less than the cost of towing to a dealer.

I have printed the articles and started self-educating. If I can't figure it out from here, I will go the mobile service route. Many thanks for your help!!

Will

 

[JohnDar]

Just a guess, but try cleaning the plug on your cord with contact cleaner. The one time I lost trailer brakes (on the way to Elkhart), it was due to oxidation of the contacts. Fortunately, I recognized it and compensated with the manual shift feature on my truck and judicious application of the brakes.. Cleaned them up and all was fine.

 

[Gary521]

The junction box is located just behind the king pin. It looks like any ordinary household junction box. The box is crammed with lots of wires and twist wire connectors. As someone has pointed out, I believe, all the ground wires are tied together ( white wires ). Could have a loose ground here. The blue wires are the brake positive. The blue wire from the pigtail is connected to the blue wire going back to the brakes. Could be loose here. Your brake lights ARE NOT connected to this blue wire. So your diagnosis of the pigtail may have led you to a false positive. Your brake lights will work with the brake wires disconnected.

 

[SNOKING]

If you can not find and fix the problem yourself, I would call the dealer that sold it and explain that you think it is a safety risk to try to tow it back to them without the trailer brakes working, and ask them to send a tech to you. Chris

 

[carl.swoyer]

Hello everyone,

I was not sure the best forum to post this question, so trying thisone. I have a brand new Bighorn, and thetrailer brakes have never worked. I have verified my brake controller (prodigyP2) is in good working condition, and connected it to another trailer forverification. When I connect to mytrailer, I get the “n.c.” reading for “not connected” on my brake controller. I’m looking for suggestions to try because Ireally don’t want to take it back to the dealer as I’m a full timer and it is aterrible inconvenience. Also, I simply enjoylearning and making fixes on my own when it’s something that isn’t toodifficult.

I crawled under the trailer and checked the wires comingfrom the underbelly that go to the wheels and they looked ok.
Many thanks for any recommendations.
Will

Bring it to a trailer supply location nearest to you. They should have the ability to test the truck outlet by itself and the trailer by itself.
Also if you could lift up one wheel at a time apply the truck brakes and try to spin the wheel.
This step will at least confirm that the trailer brakes are engaging or not.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[danemayer]

Another test - trailer only:

With one wheel slightly off the ground so it spins freely.
Pull the emergency breakaway cord at the pinbox to activate the brakes.
See if the wheel still spins freely.

HOWEVER, do not leave the breakaway switch unplugged for more than a minute or so. If the brakes are getting power, leaving the magnets energized for an extended period can cause damage.

 

[DCD2017]

I had a similar issue, intermittent braking on my new 2017 trailer. My truck would display intermittent to no brake connectivity. My problem ended up being a pinched/chafed wire inside one of the hubs. It came from the manufacture that way, very upsetting. (Attached picture)

Recommend start trouble shooting the easiest things first on your trailer:
1. Checking the trailer plug (good connectivity, no corrosion)
2. Junction box and ensure wires are properly connected and tight
3. Finally check the wires at the axels and each hub

Good luck

 

[qmrichardson]

Ok, so here’s a picture of my junction box with the coveroff. I don’t see anything obvious. Let meknow what you guys think.