Got A Lvl 1 Inspection Today, Went Pretty Okay!

I call it "New Trailer and a 6 Pack". I do this every time I hook up to any trailer, even the same trailer if I drop it and drive away bobtail. Once I return, I repeat this process.

Hook up to a trailer, fifth wheel, air lines, electrical connection, landing gear raised.

Apply air to trailer. Red knob pushed in.

Wait 5 minutes.

Operate the brake pedal to apply 60 to 75 psi for 10 seconds. Let off the pedal and wait 30 seconds. Repeat this 6 times.

This should cycle the trailer brakes, set the automatic adjustments, and clear any air pockets from the system. Never adjust modern brakes unless you are a certified, qualified mechanic.

Big adventures as of late. Way to keep hanging in there. It's my understanding that today's trailer brakes self-adjust. But that doesn't mean they can't be out of adjustment.

You asked if anyone calibrates the brakes on every trailer they pick up. My answer is YES. I use the procedures some have outlined here. It adds a few minutes to your stop, sometimes less, but it can save us from the grief of an OOS.

I was thinking of this thread this last week and oddly enough it came up for me yesterday as I was doing my post trip inspection. The trailer I’m currently using has drum brakes and the pads looked super close to the drums even with the brakes released so I was looking up exactly how to check my brakes and this is what I found:

Air brake inspection

The old timer we rent the yard space from also got under there with me and showed me how to do a quick check by tapping on the drum lightly with a hammer and listening to the sound it makes—if the brakes aren’t dragging it’ll ring a tad. If they’re dragging then the drum won’t “ring” when you tap it.

The article I linked should cover it pretty well. My typical method of inspection for years (I’ll admit it’s not the greatest but it will generally give a good idea if brakes are at least WORKING) is to compare the angle between the pushrod and slack adjuster when the brakes are applied vs when they’re not applied. I used to pull on the pushrod like it says to do in the article to check that the free play is no more than 3/4 inch and I should probably go back to doing that for drum brakes anyways. Disc brakes are a whole different animal. I did look up a little about disc brakes but for the most part there’s not much we can do to inspect if they’re adjusted properly.