Violent Chugging

[rocco52]

I have towed this rig for thousands of miles and have never had this happen. I have a 2019 Ceder Creek 29RE. I tow with a a 2017 Chevy 3500. Anderson Ultimate Hitch. I was braking reasonably hard from 60 mph and the truck and trailer started a back and forth, not side to side, violent chugging. Once I came to a stop for the light and then started up again everything was fine. I tried the trailer brakes manually and they worked smoothly and well. When I stopped and checked everything was tight and torqued correctly including the Pin Box and ball itself. I know about 10 people that tow 5th wheels with this hitch and have talked to about half of them. No problems reported at all. Could it be a fault in the factory Brake Controller or a short in a wire to the brakes causing a pulsating? Ideas?

[BandJCarm]

Have you unhitched and inspected the hitch and the king pin?

[valleyduo]

How high was your gain dialed up on the controller? Is it possible it pulsates like that to prevent lock up during hard braking? May want to consult the owner's manual for the truck to see if it offers any information. Maybe if you didn't have enough gain to the trailer brakes it was the truck's antilock brakes dealing with stopping the trailer?

[rocco52]

Originally Posted by BandJCarm

Have you unhitched and inspected the hitch and the king pin?

I did a thorough inspection after un-hitching. Everything tight and solid.

[rocco52]

Originally Posted by valleyduo

How high was your gain dialed up on the controller? Is it possible it pulsates like that to prevent lock up during hard braking? May want to consult the owner's manual for the truck to see if it offers any information. Maybe if you didn't have enough gain to the trailer brakes it was the truck's antilock brakes dealing with stopping the trailer?

It is set at 4 on a 7 scale. I will checkout the owners manual. Thanks.

[BandJCarm]

Mine is 7 at minimum.

Next time it does this, reach up and pinch the integral brake controller and deploy trailer brakes manually, see if that helps.

[Iwannacamp]

I would try to duplicate without the RV...this assumes the 1T has ABS. My GUESS is that the TV was causing the issue.

[A32Deuce]

Almost sounds like the ABS system on your truck fighting with the non ABS trailer brakes.

[rocco52]

Originally Posted by Iwannacamp

I would try to duplicate without the RV...this assumes the 1T has ABS. My GUESS is that the TV was causing the issue.

I had not thought of that. I have felt ABS brakes under hard braking and they make a fast, noisy vibration that you feel in the brake pedal. I did not notice that but I was pretty busy at the time trying to get the thing stopped. I will try a couple of hard stops with the truck unhitched. Thanks

[Iwannacamp]

In the old old ABS systems...I have known people to disable the things if pulling a heavy trailer. I DO NOT recommend this. The newer vehicles...prolly 95 or later this isn’t a problem...normally. It appears that 10k pushing is more than the abs likes.