Trailer or truck brake controller troubles

[boubou]

Heard loud screeching noise coming from back of trailer while driving and noise goes away upon braking Looked down at break controller (factory mopar part on Dodge) and noticed it was on 3 (usually we set it at 5) tried bringing it up but it didn't want to change but then it finally did after a few tries. The noise stopped after twe brought it up to 8 but on braking, numbers would fluctuate all over the place and when releasing breaks, it would go back up to 8.
We then were able to dial it back down to 5.5 where we like it and it seems good now.
Of course, it's friday and the one and only "mobile RV" service tech says he doesn't do mobile service.
On my way to Dodge see if it's brake controller problem.
Never really looked at it while towing, is flucruation normal??
What to do?

[boubou]

Feeling foolish now. Wish I had paid attention to normal operating display on brake controller.
Would you think that it's just a matter of trailer break that stuck for a while? Weird that the noise went away when we got it back to 8.
Would the fact that the are stucked prevent us or made more difficult changing the number on break controller?
Also, display showed 3 while screeching, and stopped at 8. Wouldn't 8 apply more pressure on trailer breaks?

[LadyWindrider]

Not sure about a factory controller, but my Prodigy starts high and drops the slower you get. Might want to jack up each wheel on the trailer, and spin them, both ways, listening for any difference/strange noise from one or more of them, before the next trip.

[boubou]

Went to Dodge and they checked brake controller and they did an update on it .
How often can or so trailer brakes seize? What can I so to prevent this from happening or what causes this? New trailer

[LadyWindrider]

Trailer brakes are similar to the old car drum brakes, just electric and not hydraulic. As for maintenance, check them once a year, adjust, clean and repack wheel bearings at the same time. The best other thing to do, is camp a lot. Things rust up and quit working from non use, more so than from use. Probably more roadside trouble with trailer tires than anything else. I wouldn't worry about brake failure too much, but since you heard a noise, I would spin each wheel before the next trip. Could have been a rock, but better safe than sorry.

[boubou]

We drove back home, and no further problem or noise. Beside the noise, there were no other signs of problems, no smell, no smoke, no different feel while driving.
Could it be bearings? If it was, is it possible that this is intermittent