brake problems

tadc

Hi all - I have a 2016 T@G basic with electric brakes. My TV is a 2015 Outback and I drove a good year or so (probably ~1000 miles all told) w/o using the brakes, as I'm lazy and cheap and didn't get around to putting a controller in. Honestly I never really felt like I needed them, but knowing that Subaru "recommends" brakes over 1000 lbs...

So the other day I got a Curt Echo, and went to a parking lot to dial it in. To my surprise, I got all the way up to 100/10 (max output and sensitivity) and it never really felt like it was thinking about locking up.

With a mental shrug I continued on my way, thinking I'd done my duty and got brakes.

However, as I drove more I found that the brakes were not braking uniformly... they would vibrate/shudder when I applied the brakes at certain speeds and as I came to a stop they would "jerk" or "grab" at a very regular cadence in sync with the wheel rotation. Definitely seemed temp related.

So, being a man who knows my limits, I found a trailer shop and made an appt.

Took the trailer in, explained my observations, went home. Dude calls me back later and says "these brakes look new, but we repacked the bearings and adjusted them, you're good to go. It's probably just glazing and will wear off."

Went to pick up the trailer, brakes seemed fine, until 5 minutes after I left and they started to heat up. Same ol' issues, except now he's apparently tightened the adjustment because now once they heat up I hear squeak-squeak-squeak as the wheel rolls down the road, and feel a little tug each time.

Took the trailer back, dude claims he's given it the once over once again, towed it behind two different vehicles, and he sorta knows what I'm talking about but it's normal, just the torsen axle flexing as the brakes engage, or something. Let the glazing wear off and you'll be fine.

Problem is - I'm headed out to Yellowstone on friday. I can still hear the brakes squeak-squeak-squeaking once they heat up. left drum feels hotter than the right after a freeway run... seems like a bad configuration to start off a long road trip.

Any advice? I'm tempted to just back off the adjuster and do the trip w/o the controller hooked up.

Thanks in advance!

Sharon_is_SAM

FWIW, several TaB owners are using the Curt Echo and have had some problems. One owner was taping the controller to the 7 pin and the Curt was unable to synchronize correctly. Another owner (below quote) had problems with brakes locking up. There is a lot of discussion regarding the bluetooth vs RF controllers. The bluetooth Curt may be a challenge.

“For those using the Curt Echo, what output and sensitivity settings are you typically using? I haven’t had a chance to do the recommended setup yet, but I’ve had trailer brakes locking up with both my t@b 320s and a similarly weighted flatbed trailer I borrowed. Default when I plug it in is 32 output and 5 sensitivity; dialing it down as far as possible was still locking up the flatbed’s brakes at low-to-stopping speed. Dialing it lower with the t@b still seems like it’s biting real hard. I was assuming I needed to check the t@b’s brakes out, but the flatbed similarly misbehaving has me wondering if something’s weird with the controller.

It also seems like the brake application lags, which is especially terrifying when the trailer brakes lock up unexpectedly in town and continue to drag for a few seconds even after you lift off the brake pedal.”