New Owners and Members here...

[Desertwood]

Hello!!! Just took delivery of our 2014 BH 3010RE. Still waiting to take her out on a shakedown, but we're really looking forward to it. So far we couldn't be happier with our rig. A much bigger and nicer step up from our little 21ft Toy Hauler. Not too many questions yet, but I'm sure they ail come...

 

[danemayer]

Hi Desertwood,

Congratulations on your new Big Horn and welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum. Please feel free to ask questions about anything that comes up. There's a great bunch of friendly and helpful people here with lots of experience.

 

[Invizatu]

Desertwood... Welcome to the forum and congrats on your new BIGHORN! You might want to consider joining the Heartland Owners Club also and attending some rallies. There should be a flyer in your blue zipper bag about the HOC, I believe you get the first year free with a new rig purchase.
Enjoy and travel safe.

 

[Desertwood]

Queastion about the brakes... I'm reading that my brakes are "no adjustment needed, but I'm noticing that even with my brake controller gain at it's highest setting I cannot lock up the trailer brakes. I know from past towing experiences that to "properly set your gain" you should drive at 15-25 mph and squeeze the TB, adjust until you just lock up the wheels. I cant get there with this trailer. Any suggestions??

 

[Invizatu]

Desertwood... I was told by the Dexter guy at the National rally that I probably would not be able to lock them up due to how heavy the trailer is. And I have not tried to do it, but with my brake controller set at 6 out of 10, I have a LOT of brakes. You probably need to burnish them before they really start to grab. There are some post on the forum about burnishing brake shoes or you could go to Dexter's website and I think they have instructions on how to do it. I just used them normally and they just got better and better. I should also mention that I upgraded my axles and brakes to a larger size ( 8k axle and 8.25 brakes)

 

[danemayer]

Desertwood,

On a new trailer, the self-adjusting feature probably hasn't done anything yet.

I'm not sure about your expectation of locking the brakes at 15-25 mph. Here's what I'd suggest:

1. See if the trailer brakes keep the rig from moving from a stopped position. They should hold the rig still after a foot or two (unless you drag the tires).
2. If they don't hold the trailer still, disconnect the emergency break-away switch and try pulling forward. If the brakes hold now, you have a problem at the truck end or with the connections to the trailer. If the brakes still don't hold, you may have a brake problem.

But, new brakes may need a little burnishing so the shoes and drums fit together perfectly.

Find a lonely country road where there isn't any traffic. At 40mph, gently apply the manual brake controller to slow down to 20 mph. Do that every mile for 15-20 times to see if braking improves. The brakes will get hot, so make sure you wait a mile between slowdowns.

Try the pull test again. If the brakes haven't improved, you have something else wrong and probably will need the dealer to investigate.

 

[TandT]

Desertwood,

But, new brakes may need a little burnishing so the shoes and drums fit together perfectly.

Find a lonely country road where there isn't any traffic. At 40mph, gently apply the manual brake controller to slow down to 20 mph. Do that every mile for 15-20 times to see if braking improves. The brakes will get hot, so make sure you wait a mile between slowdowns.

Try the pull test again. If the brakes haven't improved, you have something else wrong and probably will need the dealer to investigate.

Dan,
I agree with this. After having my brakes replaced last fall, I couldn't even hold the rig back with the manual lever on my brake box.

After doing the break-in procedure you described above, the brakes finally seated and became sticky. Now it stops like a dream.

Trace

 

[Desertwood]

Dan and Trace,

Thanks for the advise. I will have to give that a try. However, my drive home from the Dealership was almost 200 miles, with about 75 of it in Los Angeles Traffic, so I may have already burnished the brakes. I will look for improvement on our next trip in 2 weeks.

 

[Grey Ghost]

Welcome to Heartland and I'm sure you will be a HAPPY CAMPER. There are some really great folks on this site and they are very helpful too. The company is very helpful also and great to work with so if you have problems please get in touch with them right away. Unlike some other companies they do care about the customer! Welcome aboard and enjoy your new rig. Happy Traveling!!

 

[TXTiger]

The Pacific Regional Rally will be held in Southern California at the Pachenga Casino in Temecula in October. You can get info by clicking on the Events tab just under the Heartland banner at the top of the forum. If you decided to attend you will meet many of the members of this forum in person and have a great time.

 

[JohnD]

I've had my Trail Runner for just over a year now (purchased it September 11, 2013), and the brakes work great, but mine feel like they are anti-lock brakes as they don't lock up like my old trailer did (when they actually worked on the old trailer, that is ).

On my new trailer they pump, especially if they are set a little high.

I brought this up to my dealership and they said this is normal.

I'm just happy to have trailer brakes that work . . .

Our old 24 foot 1978 Coachman, which didn't owe us a dime as we definately got our money's worth out of it, was at that point in it's 35 year life where just about everything didn't work in it anymore, and the trailer brakes would always work when going uphill or on flatland . . .

But when coming down Wolf Creek Pass or the like . . . they never worked!

Whenever I really needed them to work . . . they failed!

I had them rewired several times, but they just couldn't get them working right!

It was scary!

That old beast is living the rest of it's days up in the Rocky Mountains as someone's hunting cabin.