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Old 03-10-2014, 10:15 AM   #1
nosticks
Montana Master
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Tampa
Posts: 532
M.O.C. #10378
Brake Problem need ideas

I was doing a spring time get ready test on the Montana today. The last time I was on the road, just prior to storing it for a few months, I noticed I had to run the brake controller up from about 5.5/6.5 to 8.5/9.0 to get effective braking. I decided to see if there was anything wrong.

Today I jacked up one side at a time and did a brake test. First pulling the breakaway switch and seeing if the tires would stop. The front axle on the curb side locked solid. The rear axle spun freely. So next I hooked up the truck and put the brakes on using the controller paddles and holding them closed with a clothespin,(I was by myself). Same results, brakes on the front, nothing on the rear.

Next I jacked up the street side, performed the same tests with the same results. So I figured it was electrical. No power to the rear axle. Not so.

I peeled back a small portion of the insulation from the wire protruding from the underbelly that fed the rear axle wires. Pulled the pin on the break-away switch, checked with my meter and found 12+ volts feeding the axle wires on the street side. The feed wire to the curb side was in excellent condition, no chafe where it enters or exits the axle.

I suspected at that point, a bad splice in the bundle on the curb side, so I cut off the factory splices and redid them. Retested, same results. Not believing in coincidence, I mean both the curbside and streetside magnets bad at the same time. I have no idea how long this condition has existed as I tend to put the 5er on a site for months at a time, mostly in the flatlands here in Florida. Now I am getting ready for Georgia/North Carolina in the mountains. Brakes on all four would be nice.

Any ideas.
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