Thursday, November 20, 2014

LAST TRAILER BRAKE GREMLIN - A HORNED GREMLIN AT THAT

Currently in Goodyear AZ (Low 37 Sunny High 72) 

We had quite the time chasing all the trailer brake gremlins away. We would change something (pigtail plug, truck socket, power line to the brakes, etc.) and the problem would appear to be fixed but crop up later down the road. The last fix was good for about 800 miles and 5 trips. Exhausting all the possibilities from the truck towards the actual brakes it was time to examine the brakes.

Dale's Mobile Service in Albuquerque first tested the workings of the brakes and they were OK. Then he checked the power line from one side of the trailer to the other that runs through the axle. One line had a small defect that may have been an issue but the other line revealed the great horned gremlin.




The insulation was peeled back exposing both power and ground leads. The gremlin was just waiting for the right bad road conditions to strike. Although all the other things we changed out "could" have been a problem this certainly appears to be the culprit. 

We had trips from Albuquerque to Gallup, from Gallup to Winslow, from Winslow to Congress and finally Congress to Goodyear and we had brakes all the way every time. We think we finally found the gremlin, a great horned gremlin at that.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

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