Towing New Montana with New Ford 350 - Montana Owners Club

USA-C2C · 04-17-2022, 04:23 PM

We are new to this forum and hopefully someone can give us insights as to a burning smell, my guess is brake fluid or hydraulic fluid, when braking. This was our first time towing our new Montana Legacy 3121rl (equipped with hydraulic brakes) with our new 2022 F-350 SWD. I did the Ford trailer set up and the dealer said to choose the brake type as Electric over Hydraulic and suggested we set the initial gain at 5.5.

We tested the brakes by going around the dealer block with a few turns and stops. All seemed well but when we got off the first freeway exit I braked a little harder to slow down and we smelled something burning. Same smell on all the next braking incidents.

We checked the tires while braking and all four tires were turning, not locked up.

Be glad for any ideas.

1retired06 · 04-17-2022, 05:10 PM

First thing I would check is fiver brakes

DutchmenSport · 04-17-2022, 06:51 PM

Check to make sure your break away cable did not pull the pin out of the box, causing the breaks to be locked up, thus causing the odd smells.

bshgto · 04-17-2022, 07:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DutchmenSport

Check to make sure your break away cable did not pull the pin out of the box, causing the breaks to be locked up, thus causing the odd smells.

Not sure how your camper works but if my break away pin comes out my truck isn`t going any where and nether should his.

jsb5717 · 04-17-2022, 08:20 PM

I’ve had that hot brake smell on my truck when the brake controller wasn’t set just right. It can be working but not providing quite enough trailer braking when you need to brake harder so the truck front brakes can get a little hot.

You may have already tried this but you should be able to feel the trailer brakes working correctly without activating the truck brakes by just using the slide bar on the trailer brake. I set our brakes to engage aggressively without grabbing or locking up.

wed · 04-17-2022, 08:28 PM

Yes check the Montana’s brakes I have had a few Montana’s both with disk and hydraulic brakes the f350 can handle both with out ant issues. So the order must be coming from the Montana I would think.

77cruiser · 04-18-2022, 06:14 AM

In deals like that, one of these can be your friend.

https://www.amazon.com/Etekcity-Lase.../dp/B00837ZGRY

Cbrez · 04-18-2022, 04:11 PM

You may want to get an infrared temperature gauge and check the temperature of your RV breaks when you stop. If one break hub is significantly higher than the others it may be dragging.

USA-C2C · 04-18-2022, 04:49 PM

Thanks and I have a infrared temp gun that I use for cooking pizzas so I will see how the hub read when stopping.

USA-C2C · 04-18-2022, 04:49 PM

Good info - thanks. I am going to play with the slide a bit more and see if I can fine tune the gain.

USA-C2C · 04-18-2022, 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DutchmenSport

Check to make sure your break away cable did not pull the pin out of the box, causing the breaks to be locked up, thus causing the odd smells.

Thanks and I double checked to make sure the break away cable had not been tripped.

RMcNeal · 04-19-2022, 07:25 AM

Since the Montana is new, could there be something on the brake pads or rotor that is burning off? Maybe it will clear up on its own?

Kyle and Lisa · 04-19-2022, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by USA-C2C

We are new to this forum and hopefully someone can give us insights as to a burning smell, my guess is brake fluid or hydraulic fluid, when braking. This was our first time towing our new Montana Legacy 3121rl (equipped with hydraulic brakes) with our new 2022 F-350 SWD. I did the Ford trailer set up and the dealer said to choose the brake type as Electric over Hydraulic and suggested we set the initial gain at 5.5.

We tested the brakes by going around the dealer block with a few turns and stops. All seemed well but when we got off the first freeway exit I braked a little harder to slow down and we smelled something burning. Same smell on all the next braking incidents.

We checked the tires while braking and all four tires were turning, not locked up.

Be glad for any ideas.

We have smelled a simialar smell when pulling the rig and comeing to a stop, and it turned out to be the DEF system kicking in and burning off.

BobStack · 04-19-2022, 02:12 PM

Kyle you beat me too it!!

RipNC · 04-19-2022, 03:41 PM

Another plus oje for Kyle's answer - regen stinks and truck decides when and where it happens. .

USA-C2C · 04-19-2022, 05:51 PM

Thanks and while it might be the DEF system, it happened about 4 or 5 times, always when braking, on the way home with the RV. I increased the gain on the Ford electric brake this morning before dropping it off at the dealer. The smell did not repeat but I did not do any hard braking this morning. I will keep testing once I get it back from the dealer. Thanks for suggestions.

mhs4771 · 04-19-2022, 06:15 PM

Regen maybe, but that related to the DPF, DEF is added to the exhaust stream all the time and the amount added is dependent on the amount of fuel burned.

twindman · 04-20-2022, 04:19 PM

I think during regen the system shoots a bunch of fuel(?) into the exhaust directly. There are actually 9 injectors on an 8 cylinder engine. This burns out the carbon. And you can usually (on mine anyway) can feel the heat at the exhaust with a slight smell when regenning.

Charlie W · 04-24-2022, 02:10 PM

Does it smell like electrical? I have a friend. One of the wiring harnesses burned up, It was in the shop for 3 months. They think they found it.

Richcart · 04-24-2022, 03:09 PM

We have a 2017 F350 and our Montana has hydraulic breaks. The electric over hydraulic is correct and I keep my gain set at 6. At that setting I can feel the trailer stopping but it is not enough to stop the truck. I can increase the gain and actually bring the truck to a stop. I have not had an issue with burnt smell even towing in the Rocky Mountains. I haven't experienced any issues during regen so maybe the DEF?

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