Disappointed

[jbolt]

Last year we purchased a 7x14 enclosed trailer to move our household belongings to the new home in Oregon. On our last trip up we lost the trailer brakes. I had set the controller when we left and all was good. Most of the drive heading north out of California is up hill so the trailer brakes really don’t matter (other than needing to stop suddenly) until we get over the pass into Ashland. This is where I discovered we had no trailer brakes, where they are needed. The trailer was loaded with my PM-1440GT and all my metal stock. The trailer has a 7000 lb gross weight. We were 6800 lbs. this trip. I also had 1100 lbs in the bed of the truck.

Fortunately we had no mishaps on the way down. I just dropped it into 2nd and followed a slow semi down the hill letting the engine/tranny do most of the braking. I also credit having just installed airbags at the rear of the truck. I run an equalizer hitch and the addition of the airbags really helps the control under braking.

Upon investigating the cause I found the installer who wired the brakes at the factory routed the rear brake wires under the frame directly over the axle. Now in California our wonderful state government has routinely conned the masses into passing tax bills for road improvements, promising that they would only be used for roads and then immediately rob them for pet projects so our roads are pretty awful. Somewhere along the drive we bottomed out the axle which severed a wire to one of the brake magnets causing a fault in the controller. The controller is mounted low on the dash and not readily visible while driving.

As I started digging into repairing the broken wire I soon realized the whole system needed to rewired. The main brake wire connected to the 7-pin harness (which is 10 ga.) was only 14 ga. It should be a minimum of 12 ga., preferably 10 ga. Branch connections were done with cheap Scotchloks which are inappropriate for the application. Wires at the tongue were routed through steel tubes that had no grommets or sharp ends debured. The main brake wire was also routed through a hole in a frame cross member that was made with a torch with no protection around the wire. Connections to the wire harness were poorly done with the cheapest butt connectors available. wire were stripped back too far leaving bare wire exposed to others. When I was replacing the brake wiring several factory butt connections came apart at the harness with light pulling. The whole mess was just wrapped together with black tape.

Overall I am pleased with the trailer but very disappointed with the cost cutting in areas related to safety. Not what I expect form a product made in the USA.

 

[savarin]

I detest the complete lack of professionalism in a lot of tradies these days, as soon as you find one who is proud of their work and it shows in the final product I shout it wide and loud to everyone I know and make sure they get repeat custom.
I do the same for the shonkies so they loose as much business as possible.
If I am paying for the work I want a perfect job.

 

[Superburban]

I have seen trailers just like your description, all across the country. Nor just one local, or manufacturer. I bought a used flatbed/car trailer, that the PO bought in NC, and used once to move out here. Only had brakes on one axle, and they were not even hooked up, The wire for the brakes was grounded, So it would light up the light on the brake controller. Back in Pa, I redid the brakes on a trailer for a friend, it was 2 years old, and had been state inspected twice. Had brakes on both axles, but only one was hooked up, and they were never adjusted, so the shoes never touched the drums. Had the same wire in tube design, and scotchlock connectors, and the battery was long dead.

 

[Ulma Doctor]

price points are the culprit.
i work on many types of machines from Europe and Asia, things have changed there too.
we have placed more value on price, than quality.
when we manufactured things in the USA, it meant something
now it seems to be a bad punchline to a joke that really is not funny.

maybe there is hope for future innovation combined with a better than it needs to be engineering behind it

 

[Dhal22]

price points are the culprit.
i work on many types of machines from Europe and Asia, things have changed there too.
we have placed more value on price, than quality.
when we manufactured things in the USA, it meant something
now it seems to be a bad punchline to a joke that really is not funny.

maybe there is hope for future innovation combined with a better than it needs to be engineering behind it

Thank you. As a plumbing contractor, I see sooooo many times where the price point is the difference in quality. Fortunately we often get to come behind work where the price was the only deciding factor and redo it.

 

[westerner]

I believe there is a rant of mine somewhere on this site concerning ScotchLocks. They are the single greatest evidence of the "flat-rate" mentality of modern manufacturing. A $10/hr trained monkey can assemble the trailer wiring, and will only spend .5 hours doing it. It will function for long enough to get the machine out of the local jurisdiction, and precious little farther.

On the upside, a diligent student down the line will learn a GREAT lesson about intermittents, power, ground and resistance.

 

[Manual Mac]

Sounds like the Marx Brothers Trailer Sales.
You were fortunate. The Oregon side of Siskiyou Summit can be a real problem for loads with bad brakes.
There is a truck escape ramp about halfway down.

 

[Old Mud]

price points are the culprit.
i work on many types of machines from Europe and Asia, things have changed there too.
we have placed more value on price, than quality.
when we manufactured things in the USA, it meant something
now it seems to be a bad punchline to a joke that really is not funny.

maybe there is hope for future innovation combined with a better than it needs to be engineering behind it

You know that saying "Everything comes around 360 sooner or later" We can only hope that holds true in this situation.

 

[gerritv]

So actually your post has nothing to do with government spending on roads, just pathetic design and manufacturing?

"Not what I expect form a product made in the USA. " in my experience this is exactly what I expect from a lot of US made product, pricey with poor engineering and quality.

Have you gone back to the trailer manufacturer with your observations? Or perhaps report to DMV for dangerous practices? Hold them accountable, otherwise nothing will change.

 

[jbolt]

So actually your post has nothing to do with government spending on roads, just pathetic design and manufacturing?

"Not what I expect form a product made in the USA. " in my experience this is exactly what I expect from a lot of US made product, pricey with poor engineering and quality.

Have you gone back to the trailer manufacturer with your observations? Or perhaps report to DMV for dangerous practices? Hold them accountable, otherwise nothing will change.

Never pass an opportunity to call out government abuse and incompetence.

I have reached out to the manufacturer via email and phone, will see if I get a response.

As far as the DMV is concerned they are currently closed...and getting paid for not working. Oh and speaking of the DMV, they forced me to do a safety recall for valve springs on a car with 220,000 miles and I am still waiting for my tags....from October of last year.....