5th Wheel Lights work, trailer brakes don’t, not after tire blowout

[JustChilling19]

Hey Everyone,

Had a pretty nasty tire blowout end of last year (last trip of the year). Ever since then the trailer brakes stopped working. Message comes on the screen as ‘check trailer brake wiring’ when you plug the trailer into the truck. All running lights, signal lights, and flashers work (one side running light torn off).

I obviously checked the wires by the axles and around that area and can’t find anything for the life of me. Blowout was on the rear driver side tire. Towing vehicle is a 2013 Ram 3500 diesel. Yes the truck is fine, it pulled the sled trailer all winter. Could it be the plug? My next thought was to try that. Past that I have no idea what could have caused this. Trailer is 2006 Fleetwood Prowler.

Any thoughts or advice is appreciated.

Cheers,
Tyler

 

[papajake]

Check behind the brake backer the ground wire might have broke off it is usually fixed to the frame no ground no brakes

 

[TylerG]

Hey Everyone,

Had a pretty nasty tire blowout end of last year (last trip of the year). Ever since then the trailer brakes stopped working. Message comes on the screen as ‘check trailer brake wiring’ when you plug the trailer into the truck. All running lights, signal lights, and flashers work (one side running light torn off).

I obviously checked the wires by the axles and around that area and can’t find anything for the life of me. Blowout was on the rear driver side tire. Towing vehicle is a 2013 Ram 3500 diesel. Yes the truck is fine, it pulled the sled trailer all winter. Could it be the plug? My next thought was to try that. Past that I have no idea what could have caused this. Trailer is 2006 Fleetwood Prowler.

Any thoughts or advice is appreciated.

Cheers,
Tyler

I've actually had issues on my 13 3500 Ram Diesel where the trailer wires had rubbed through against the frame under the cab and had to be repaired. I would get random "check trailer brake wiring" messages even when I was not connected to a trailer.

Might be something for you to check out as well.

 

[Caper11]

I've actually had issues on my 13 3500 Ram Diesel where the trailer wires had rubbed through against the frame under the cab and had to be repaired. I would get random "check trailer brake wiring" messages even when I was not connected to a trailer.

Might be something for you to check out as well.

Thats good to know, my new service truck gets this message as well without a trailer hooked up to it, and I thought it was the controller. 1st Service is coming so Ill pass this info along.

 

[TylerG]

Thats good to know, my new service truck gets this message as well without a trailer hooked up to it, and I thought it was the controller. 1st Service is coming so Ill pass this info along.

they tried to tell me its because I drove too much gravel and was causing the wires to rub...... I told them they better design a shield for the wires then because my truck see's far more pavement than it does gravel.

it was covered by warranty

 

[rsaint]

Check your battery on trailer same thing happened on my trailer and that was the problem.

 

[medler]

Start with the plug on the trailer. Check the easy stuff first. Could be a bad contact. My GM did the same with my trailer and it was the plug

 

[JustChilling19]

Going to get the trailer tomorrow at 6am. Hoping the ground is frozen and doesn’t make the rv lot as much as a mess. Pulled the sled trailer back Thursday, Jesus what a disaster. I’ll try some of the suggestions and go from there. Two 12v deepcycle batteries are trickle charging.

Cheers,
Tyler

 

[the_real_wild1]

Going to get the trailer tomorrow at 6am. Hoping the ground is frozen and doesn’t make the rv lot as much as a mess. Pulled the sled trailer back Thursday, Jesus what a disaster. I’ll try some of the suggestions and go from there. Two 12v deepcycle batteries are trickle charging.

Cheers,
Tyler

Depending on where you are you might want to wait until next weekend. Rain today will make it worse. Supposed to be hot all week and will dry things out a bit more.

 

[Popsiclestand]

Did you get this sorted? Short of any obviousl damaged wiring it sounds like a ground issue on the brake circuit.

 

[JustChilling19]

Turns out the brake drum is ****ed and needs to be replaced. Off to the trailer repair store.

 

[nast70]

That's good you found the issue. We blew a tire on our fifth wheel, rear drivers side, under our slide. It took out all the 120ac wiring to the slide. We were on the way home, so it didn't affect our trip.
I often got the same message on my truck (F250), I would have to wiggle the plug and it would be good for a couple weeks. It finally would not go away. Called my BIL the tech, he said the Ford brake controllers are stupid sensitive. Recommended a good cleaning on the truck plug. Haven't had the issue in 2 years now.

 

[papajake]

If you’re trailer plug has the flat copper connections take a small flat screwdriver and bend them just a little in the middle it makes a better contact with the vehicle plug