Brake issues

[Fish36991]

Trailer brakes,
My 31' Soveriegn has disc brakes on it. I can't seem to make them work. I have a prodigy controller in the truck and it is putting out voltage on the correct port on the pigtail.

I played with the pigtail port on the TT while figuring out the pigtail wiring and I can put 12v on the brakes pin and I hear something click over on the tongue of the TT. I took the cover off and I can see a master cylinder of some sort and it looks like an old booster down below it. I have no idea how this supposed to work.

I really don't know where to start. I'm attaching a pic, can anyone give me a brief rundown on how this system works and how I can test it/ fix it? Thanks in advance,

Josh

[john hd]

josh

i cannot help you with the particulars, there plenty of members here that will chime in shortly i suspect.

i do know you will need to connect the vaccum hose to your tow vehicle to get it to work.

john

[Fish36991]

Does that mean this is a hydravac system? I've been trying to figure out which brake system I have. It's hard to search the forums when I don't know what I have but I've been trying.

Thanks for your reply either way.

Josh

[john hd]

josh

give the search function a try i do know there are a number of threads covering it under disc brakes.

john

[Fish36991]

Has anyone heard good or bad things about the Brakerite disc brake actuator? They seem to be less expensive than the Dexters. I'm not trying to skimp out on my brakes but I don't want to break the bank getting them going. I also don't know how the hydravac breaks would work with a diesel engine....I'm really not fond of messing with my engine to be honest.

Any thoughts?

[ALANSD]

I have a 78 with electric brakes, don't know much about the sytem other than I sure don' thave anything that looks like what you show in the photo. I see those two hoses in there... are they connected to something for vaccuum?

[Condoluminum]

You will need a vacuum line from the tow vehicle to the trailer, and there has been reported a way to do that even with diesel engines...

Search for thread from Coastalview in August on subject, or search for disk and vacuum and brake together with diesel....

Good news is they work well when properly connected and adjusted.. Bad news is that they are older design and not very common.. (only used on larger trailers in late 1970's..)

John McG

[Condoluminum]

Here is the link to one of the more recent threads...
http://www.airforums.com/forum...ion-25024.html

There are more, and you may have to search on fewer key words, but it can be done...

John McG