I have a Bighorn 3570RS and recently decided I was going to upgrade the brakes to the Titan disc brake package. We tow our Bighorn with a 2018 Chevy 3500 SRW. I did the conversion myself and was pleased with the quality of the components and ease of installation. We took the rig out for the first time today to test and evaluate the upgrade. The brakes seem to work very well and are definitely much better than the OEM brakes. The question I have is should I be able to lock up the brakes when testing and adjusting the brake controller? I have several friends that indicate they can lock up the brakes on theirs, but they're using an outboard brake controller. I think my new disc brakes are working normally, but not sure. If my understanding of the integrated brake controller on the new Chevy trucks is correct, the brake control voltage is proportional to the speed and braking of the truck. In fact there is no braking control voltage from the truck until the truck is in motion. I wonder if any of you guys have a new Chevy with Titan disc brakes can enlighten me on how yours work. Btw, i have my brake controller set on 9 which seems to be about right.
Titan Disc Brake Question
- Thread starter Fonz46
- Start date
Truck is a 2018. Supposedly the later model Chevy trucks have the smarts to tell if the trailer brakes are electric over hydraulic or electric drum brakes and the adapter is not required.
Gary521
Well-known member
Yes, I have the adapter. I mentioned about air in the lines. I had difficulty bleeding the brakes when I first installed them. The way I routed the lines caused this issue. I fixed this one routing issue and was able to bleed ok.
2psnapod2
Texas-South Chapter Leaders-Retired
With the older trucks, which varies by different years, you don't need the adapter. That said, the older controllers that were change out on the newer trucks, would send out a test signal, which is a low voltage signal that looked for the resistance from the magnetic that was used in the older style brakes. With that no longer there, it did not find the resistance. Which told the controller you were not connected. So the controller did not send out the voltage to energize the brakes.
That has been fixed on the newer trucks.
As far as locking up your brakes, you actually don't want to lock them up. Will cause flat areas. But you do want your trailer to stop as needed. Everyone likes a different feel of the brakes so no 2 people are the same.
That being said, if your brakes are stopping your trailer like they should, I would not get wrapped up in the his are locking up and mine aren't. They are working and stopping your trailer.
As far as the newer Chevys and GMCs not sending a signal unless you are going 10 to 15 MPH, that is true. It actually comes from the main computer, telling the controller not to send the signal. Not exactly sure why it was engineered that way, but I believe it's a good thing, since when you are setting at a stop sign or light with your foot on the brake, you are not operating the actuator. Which doesn't cause unneeded wear on it.
I hope this helps to explain some for you.
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That has been fixed on the newer trucks.
As far as locking up your brakes, you actually don't want to lock them up. Will cause flat areas. But you do want your trailer to stop as needed. Everyone likes a different feel of the brakes so no 2 people are the same.
That being said, if your brakes are stopping your trailer like they should, I would not get wrapped up in the his are locking up and mine aren't. They are working and stopping your trailer.
As far as the newer Chevys and GMCs not sending a signal unless you are going 10 to 15 MPH, that is true. It actually comes from the main computer, telling the controller not to send the signal. Not exactly sure why it was engineered that way, but I believe it's a good thing, since when you are setting at a stop sign or light with your foot on the brake, you are not operating the actuator. Which doesn't cause unneeded wear on it.
I hope this helps to explain some for you.
Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
Lynn1130
Well-known member
I suspect that what the OP was getting at, and what most of us do is find the "lockup point" and back off from there. We don't want them locking up but we do want max engagement that will not slide the tire. If they never lock, you never know if your getting full value out of the system.
mlpeloquin
Well-known member
I have two settings. One for dry conditions and one for wet. When raining I back off to the tested setting on wet pavement. I did this so I would not lock up in wet conditions as well.
