2017 Solitude brake adjustment?

[Trance728]

Hey everyone, new to the forum and picked up my 2017 Solitude 384gk in back in July. My question is about the brakes as they are listed as self adjusting on the website, do I still need to jack the trailer up and manually adjust them in the beginning? They don't seem to stop the trailer very much when I manually apply the trailer brake.

[TucsonJim]

Hi "Trance". Starting in 2017, Grand Design started installing self adjusting brakes. However, as you suspect, if you're not getting good stopping power, I would indeed manually adjust them. You might also check your controller setting. One long standing problem with the brakes on these units is bearing grease getting past the grease seals and contaminating the brakes. If that's the case, the brakes would have to be replaced, which would be covered under warranty. Here's how I'd approach it:

1. Check your brake controller adjustment to see if that will correct the problem.
2. Jack up each wheel. Check the back of the wheel for grease. If you see none, adjust the brakes.
3. If you see grease or the brake adjustment doesn't solve the problem, pull the hubs and check for grease contamination. If greasy, contact Grand Design. If not, it's a good time to clean and pack the bearings and install good quality double lipped grease seals.

One final word. The brakes on these units take quite a while to break in. I don't know where you live, but if you don't have a lot of miles on the rig from delivery and your own trips, it might just take some time to break them in.

Jim

[LCBoyer]

Jim offers some real good suggestion. I would add check all the wiring.