Trailer electric brakes...

Do you have the make, model and year of the trailer? How about the axle manufacturer? How do the drums look? Is it one axle or two?

This might be a place to start..

Dexter® 12" x 2" Electric Trailer Brake - Left Hand - 023-105-00

 

Clean the drums up really good where the magnet rides then make sure you are getting power and ground to the magnet. Depends on the brake controller, may have to manually power from the main trailer plug. Those dont look bad, normally it is wiring issues if they don't work. Possibly truck side problem as well.

 

Make sure everything is free in the hardware and nothing seized up. If something is seized just clean it up and never seize it.

 

Have someone pull the truck ahead slow with the brake control activated on full power, should hear a funny noise if the magnet is trying to apply. It's a weird sound, kinda low screech electrical buzz.

 

The factory controllers work a little different. They read the resistance of the trailer and the brake pedal pressure off the hydraulics, of course all through a control module. As far as the trailer goes get it wired and try it. Never really see tons of problems with the brakes themselves unless worn out. Those appear to be ok.

 

I bet they will work once you hook them back up. I just hooked up a trailer of my grandpa’s, he had a 4 prong pigtail on for at least 10 years. Switched it back to a 7 wire and the brakes worked first try!
Went ahead and tore it down repacked the bearings on 8 hubs last week.

 

If you need parts and don't need them the same day:

Trailer Brakes | etrailer.com

 

If you need car/truck parts RockAuto is the place to buy from. About 1/2 the price of Oreillys Autozone etc.

 

If you find issues beyond wiring it’s often worth the little extra cost to buy new backing plates. They come with all the parts installed. Unblot the old, install new and hook wires up. As said above make sure the surface of the drum is clean for the magnet.

If there’s a trailer place nearby with a decent parts guy/gal they can match up by looking at them. Really only a few options to pick from. Grounds are really important with electric brakes. Be sure you have a good ground from them to the frame as well as through the plug.

 

I agree with all above and will add with the new controllers they act like they are not working because of the way the controller applies voltage.

 

Your shoes look almost new. Like others said, make sure the magnet lever can move freely and that it pushes the top of the shoes out. Its usually the wiring that fails. If you re-do some wiring under the trailer, I've had the best luck using wire nuts filled with silicone caulk. Or buy the good ones with epoxy in them

 

I use non insulated connectors and heat shrink.

 

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The biggest problem up here is the salt. The silicone or epoxy actually seems to keep it out. But I could see where the really thick heat shrink tubing with the adhesive on the inside of it would work well too

 

and the least amount of splices possible!

 

Heatshrink filled with silicone is my preferred method of connecting trailer wiring. Best bet for a trailer that is more than 5ys old is to pull a new wire to the brakes, as the wire has either gotten chipped by Mother Nature or rubbed against something, causing a short. Also, clean to bare metal anyplace you are wanting a frame ground.
Charles

 

Connectors, splices...??.......... why do all this work and introduce possible problems.
100% new trailer wiring harness, solder and shrink wrap.
do a job big or small do it right or not at all.