Tractor hauler elect brake problems

• Dexter axle

Electric trailer brakes rely more on self-energizing than hydraulic brakes. The magnets aren't all that strong, and most of the apply force comes from the shoes being wedged into the drums as the drums try to "carry" the shoes around. The magnets serve mostly to bring the shoes into initial contact with the drums.

So if the brakes apply unevenly, I'd try tweaking the shoe adjustments on the front and rear axles in order to balance things out. Set the rear clearance to the usual "one click less than the point where it first starts to drag". Then adjust the front shoes to a larger clearance -- perhaps two or three clicks back. This should cause the rear brakes to tend to come on sooner and apply harder than the front brakes. Keep tweaking until the balance between them is the way you want it.

One other possibile remedy for flaky electric trailer brakes is improving the ground return. Sometimes the return connection from the backplate to the axle to the frame through the spring is not so great. It might be worthwhile to weld a ground stud on each brake backplate, and bring a ground pigtail from the backplate to a good solid ground on the frame of the trailer. Also make sure the tow vehicle and trailer frame are well grounded to each other -- don't rely on the hitch ball.

Other thing I'd try is separate ground wire for each brake brought up front to the hitch area. Soldered and shrink wrapped connections, and a ground run from the truck also. Truck