Towing a fifth wheel

[DaleS]

Need some advice on adjusting trailer brakes what setting should you be running at 55 and 65

[Sierra360PDEK]

It all depends on your truck and FW. I have a 2008 GMA 3500 DRW with integrated brake controller pulling a 42' 14600lb FW and set my controller at 6.5 or 7. My old trailer same truck was set at a 10.

Get out on an open road and test your setup. Adjust the controller until you are comfortable with the stopping distance.

[Mr. Dan]

Originally Posted by Sierra360PDEK

It all depends on your truck and FW.

8.5 at all speeds

[Bama Rambler]

While we can't tell you what your controller should be set to, as Sierra360 said, if you'll tell us the model of your RV & TV and which brake controller you have, we can give you a starting point.

[DaleS]

2016 F350, cardinal 42-foot

[SilhouettePenny]

Are we talking about adjusting the electric brake controller in the cab of your truck? If so, is it an add on aftermarket controller or an integrated device from the factory. Let's ask some preliminary questions...have you serviced and properly adjusted your trailer brakes, manually. Visibly checking the condition of the grease seals will save a lot of grief when adjusting the controller. No matter how high the setting, if you have grease leaking on the drums all you get is smoke followed by possible flames.

Are you comfortable adjusting the bearing pre-load when reassembling the hub/drum? If you've done all this and the brakes are functioning properly then we can talk about controller settings. Of course settings will differ from one rig to another. Personally I prefer to have mine a little tight so that the trailer actually tugs slightly on the truck as I brake hard. Having said all that, on a scale of 1 to 10 my truck's IBC is set on 8 for all but the mountains and 8.5 for the steep terrain.

[CHICKDOE]

I have large cardinal 4th wheel. I think you just have to experiment until you get a setting you feel good with. I have the ram integrated break controller ion the truck and it has several settings (light electric, heavy electric, light hydraulic over electric, and heavy hydraulic over electric). truthfully I do not know what these various settings do and the difference between them. but heavy electric seems the most descriptive for my situation. once that it set then you have to adjust the trailer brake gain. in my case 8.5 seems to work. each time I hook up I do a little test. i start to tow slowly and then i squeeze the manual override levels together without using the truck brakes. the trailer brakes will stop both the truck and the trailer. this at least lets me know they are working. as to the optimal gain setting, i really don't know how to know what it is. you'll get many different suggestions from various parties. i'm thinking that knowing that they are working before you take off is i good habit.

[DaleS]

Thanks everyone

[DocGTO]

It depends on your trailer brakes and brake controller. My 5th wheel will lock up the tires anymore then 6.0 but my older gooseneck racing trailer needs 8.5.

You need to find a clear area to get the trailer up to about 30mph and then use the brake controller manual slider and depress all the way to see if the tires lock up. Adjust stronger until that happens then back off .5 or 1.0 from that. You usually want the controller to slow you down without tire lockup so what ever is that # on your controller is what works.

Hope this helps.

[DaleS]

Yes, this makes sense, thank you