Caution trailer brakes

[gordon2]

I believe that you will find that a properly crimped butt connecter is mechanically stronger than a soldered connection. But if the wire is never strained and is well supported than that is not a critical consideration.

[MJo]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

It was 40 degrees out today so I decided to pull the wheels off the passenger side of my trailer so I could take them in for tire replacement
When I got the wheels removed (Dual axle) , I notice 2 blue wires hanging in mid air by one wheel . The brake connections had broken at the crimp sleeves
Not a difficult fix but if I had not pulled the wheels I may never have found the problem
I will now add checking the brake wiring to my Spring / Fall maintenance schedule

Do you know how to alter the brake connector to go from a 4 connector to the 7 for electric brakes? My car has a 4 lead connector and I got the electric brakes on my new Scamp. Do I just add a power source and a ground? I ordered the connector for the 4 to 7 conversion, just need to know what to supply, ?confusing

[AC0GV]

Originally Posted by MJo

Do you know how to alter the brake connector to go from a 4 connector to the 7 for electric brakes? My car has a 4 lead connector and I got the electric brakes on my new Scamp. Do I just add a power source and a ground? I ordered the connector for the 4 to 7 conversion, just need to know what to supply, ?confusing

Did you get a brake control factory installed on the Scamp? If not, Your Volvo needs a brake controller that activates brakes in proportion to your vehicle's braking action and automatically adjusts trailer's braking based on deceleration of tow vehicle. All this is connected via the seven pin connector that will include battery charging and back up light wires when complete.

[CharlesinGA]

Originally Posted by redbarron55

Those crimpers in 1970s ran about $150.00 as I remember.
Today you can buy heat shrink Thomas and Betts butt splices that are also aircraft qualified

A little pricey at $39.00 for a pack of 10.

RayChem splices. Yes, the Crimper is quite expensive but Sargent makes a compatible, certifiable crimper that is quite a bit cheaper. I have a small handfull of them, and one of the Avionics mechanics at work gave me his oldest, worst looking crimper (but it does the job) before I retired.

The 7 pin harness on my truck had been messed up by the original owner, they had used 3M pinch taps to put a 6 pin connector in the bed, and on the heavy wires they had cut them. I ended up opening up the harness and removing the crumbling 3M connectors and cutting the wires in the truck harness till I got to uncorroded wire, and then using Raychems to splice them back together. That, and the jackleg gooseneck ball installation that I had to remove the bed to cut off, was the only real issues with the truck.

Charles

[MJo]

Originally Posted by AC0GV

Did you get a brake control factory installed on the Scamp? If not, Your Volvo needs a brake controller that activates brakes in proportion to your vehicle's braking action and automatically adjusts trailer's braking based on deceleration of tow vehicle. All this is connected via the seven pin connector that will include battery charging and back up light wires when complete.

Yes, Scamp installed the controller when they put in the axel for the electric brakes. They also gave me a remote control for the controller. I just need to modify my 4 pin to work with the Scamp 7 pin. I have the parts, I just have to connect them. I think all I’m missing is the power for the brakes and the wiring harness has a ground for me to put on the car frame. I’ve been looking for someone in MA to do it but everyone goes blank when I describe the problem.

[Mike_L]

The brake controller activates the trailer brakes in proportion to the braking force applied to the tug's braking system. That way the tug doesn't stop the trailer and the trailer doesn't stop the tug.
Back in the day I used a brake controller that plumbed directly into the vehicle's rear brake line. The hydraulic pressure within the brake line applied pressure to activate the brake controller. I've seen brake controllers that are activated by the forward pressure put on the trailers tongue when the tug brakes are applied but I've never used this type myself.
My preference is the electric brake controller that wires into the tugs electrical system. These are the easiest to install and work well. They come with instructions but if you aren't familiar with doing this, any hitch or trailer shop can do it for you. It's important that the installation be done correctly to avoid the risk of damage to the tugs electrical system (expensive to fix) and to ensure the brakes work properly.

[AC0GV]

Originally Posted by MJo

Yes, Scamp installed the controller when they put in the axel for the electric brakes. They also gave me a remote control for the controller. I just need to modify my 4 pin to work with the Scamp 7 pin. I have the parts, I just have to connect them. I think all I’m missing is the power for the brakes and the wiring harness has a ground for me to put on the car frame. I’ve been looking for someone in MA to do it but everyone goes blank when I describe the problem.

So there is a control mounted on the Scamp? You will need to follow the intructions for that control that few of us here have. You may already have every thing you need.

[MJo]

Yes, I am getting one that will be wired into the car’s electrical system but first I’m going to get the 4 > 7 pin problem taken care of. Scamp’s controller is compatible with several different units for my car. The keychain wireless unit supplied by Scamp is adequate but I will get the Tekonsha 90160 Primus IQ that will give me more information about the brakes and that needs to be wired in.

[MJo]

Originally Posted by AC0GV

So there is a control mounted on the Scamp? You will need to follow the intructions for that control that few of us here have. You may already have every thing you need.

The little keychain controller is able to adjust the timing between the car’s brakes and the trailer’s brakes. The Tekonsha shows me a lot more and the Scamp service man had suggested it at one time. I have the parts to do the 4 pin > 7 pin thing, when I try to figure it out. It looks like if I find power from a tail light and run a wire to the 7 and then attach the ground to the car, I’m set. The car 4 >7 part I have has a pigtail to connect to the car’s wiring, a white ground and add the power wire. I was able to find, online 2 gadjets to see if I had power to the brakes, one is to plug in the 4 connector I have and the other is to plug in the 7 connector I want to attach. It all sounds so logical, but it could go wrong and I have had such good luck with my 16 year old, 256,000 mile Volvo XC-70, I’m a little leery of using “logic” to do this but I can’t find anyone who knows either.
OH, I just noticed, you’re in WI. I was just up there in October, picking up the Scamp. Beautiful, farms, cows, I really enjoyed the trip. Nothing like that on Cape Cod.

[Bill L in PA]

Darwin, I was just going to ask you in the other forum the best way to check if the breakaway switch was activated. The compass trick seems like it would work for this application as well. Thanks!

[Borden]

Like to take off each wheel and repack bearings, charge battery, do tire pressure check, look at all connections prior to each season, includes lights as can brake faster with trailer brakes then many expect.

[Borden]

Originally Posted by Bill L in PA

Darwin, I was just going to ask you in the other forum the best way to check if the breakaway switch was activated. The compass trick seems like it would work for this application as well. Thanks!

You could unplug the trailer and pull pin easy check; you should hear the brakes go on.