Brake Controller Issue…

[surhuntsalot]

I picked up a boat that is on a Roadrunner Tri-axle trailer. It has the Hydrastar brake system. I couldn’t seem to get my truck (2008 Duramax 3500) to acknowledge the trailer brake. Apparently the factory brake controller may not be compatible with the Hydrastar brake system. Would anyone have experience in dealing with this? Or be able to recommend a trailer shop preferably Atcheson/Stony Plain area that’s good to deal with. I know I could google places, just prefer trying ones recommended be AO members who had decent experience…

Thanks

[moniaw24]

Hitch Warehouse on 170st in Edmonton... good people to deal with

[ram crazy]

I had a friend have the same issue with his holiday trailer and he had it to several places trying to get it figured out, spent thousands of dollars with still no luck. He asked me if I could have a look at it. All I did was bend the pins on the truck plug-in. It was just a bad ground connection, the trailer brakes have to see a good ground to send back milli volts so the truck knows there is a trailer hooked to the truck. Sometimes the plug in on the trailer has pins that can be bent and sometimes the truck plug in has pins that can be bent . Also check all your fuses under the hood.

[denpacc]

Had braking issues with trailer and presumed it was my OEM brake controller. Brought it to two different hitch shops and they couldn't seem to figure it out. Then second place said it was my truck controller. Brought trailer to RV place where I bought it and they tried it on their tow vehicle, which had same problem as my truck. Turned out being faulty wiring on trailer which was only 2 years old. They rewired entire trailer/brake system and worked great after that.

[sako1]

Originally Posted by surhuntsalot

I picked up a boat that is on a Roadrunner Tri-axle trailer. It has the Hydrastar brake system. I couldn’t seem to get my truck (2008 Duramax 3500) to acknowledge the trailer brake. Apparently the factory brake controller may not be compatible with the Hydrastar brake system. Would anyone have experience in dealing with this? Or be able to recommend a trailer shop preferably Atcheson/Stony Plain area that’s good to deal with. I know I could google places, just prefer trying ones recommended be AO members who had decent experience…

Thanks

Your boat trailer has hydraulic brakes. Zero to do with your trucks brake controller

[1886]

It looks like it is an electric over hydraulic system. So it would still be controlled by the brake controller.

[EZM]

Originally Posted by sako1

Your boat trailer has hydraulic brakes. Zero to do with your trucks brake controller

As stated below - this system is the same one I had on my previous trailer and YES you do REQUIRE your brake controller input from the tow vehicle - that is incorrect information.

[EZM]

Originally Posted by surhuntsalot

I picked up a boat that is on a Roadrunner Tri-axle trailer. It has the Hydrastar brake system. I couldn’t seem to get my truck (2008 Duramax 3500) to acknowledge the trailer brake. Apparently the factory brake controller may not be compatible with the Hydrastar brake system. Would anyone have experience in dealing with this? Or be able to recommend a trailer shop preferably Atcheson/Stony Plain area that’s good to deal with. I know I could google places, just prefer trying ones recommended be AO members who had decent experience…

Thanks

Not sure about the 2008 model year but Hydrastar electric over hydraulic systems are compatible with GMC/Chev - my 2013, 2017, and 2019 trucks were literally just plug and play (all were GMC).

I'm thinking it might be a connection issue (wiring issue somewhere) as suggested. It would be difficult to believe they would make a system that would exclude the compatibility of GMC/Chev as they sell about a third of all the trucks on the road !!!

[surhuntsalot]

Originally Posted by sako1

Your boat trailer has hydraulic brakes. Zero to do with your trucks brake controller

Actually it’s “ Electric over Hydraulic “ … my brake controller works fine on my 5th wheel and other trailers… The boat trailer brakes work perfectly on with the previous owners newer vehicle… It turns out some of the older OEM controllers do not work with the Hydrastar system, and require a Computer Adapter Module added to the trailer wiring for it to recognize the signal. Thankfully googled the right info, found the part, and got it fixed. Sure got the runaround from some shops, and could have ended up costing me 10 times the cost of the part… And this was from shops that should have known exactly about the part needed (and maybe they did)….


Thanks … All good now