Made it Safe and Sound

[lcv800]

Just got back from Indiana picking up our brand new Voltage 3990. A lot of firsts today. Never pulled a 5th wheel, let alone a trailer 45' long! Through Chicago on top of it. Made it safe and sound. Parked for the night before heading out to CW for the satellite and washer/dryer. First, thanks for whomever sent the checklist. Came in handy, although I didn't check everything out on it. Hopefully I won't pay the piper for that later. My two questions for tonight are: I have a 2015 F350 Platinum Dually. (Never had a truck either). It has an automatic Jake Brake, for lack of a better term. When I tow, can I leave it on, or should I just use it going down hill. Will I do any damage turning it on and off when I brake? Last question for tonight is how do I adjust the electronic gain/brake for the trailer? What is the right setting (0-10), and how do you know what is right. Thanks in advance as well as all the help to date.
Rusty

[sundancer 87]

You can leave the engine brake on while towing, it only gets activated when you apply the brakes, whether slowing for downhill or a normal stop.

There's probably a proper instruction set for adjusting the gain control for the trailer brake. I do this, with the truck in tow mode and gear I adjust the gain just enough to keep the truck from creeping forward on level ground. Then I'll back it off a little, that seems to work on my unit.
You don't want the RV brakes to lock up but you do want them to help stop the truck.

[Moogal78]

Page 253 of your owner's manual details the procedure for setting the Trailer Brake Gain. Essentially, you hook up your trailer, set the gain to an initial setting of 6, drive at around 20 miles an hour, and squeeze the manual control lever. If the brakes lock-up, lower the gain and do it again. If they don't lock-up, increase the gain until they do, then reduce the gain by one setting. The idea is to have MAXIMUM braking force applied to the trailer without locking up the brakes. If you find, like I do, that even a setting of 10 will not lock up the brakes, leave the gain control set to 10.

[calewjohnson]

I have a 2015 F350 Dually, with my gain set to 7, it will darn near pull the trailer apart from the truck... I always do a brake check on the roll from our spot (still in the RV park), people have stopped mid step watching that big trailer lurch to a stop. I admit, unsure if all 6 tires lock up, but the trailer does stop.

Cale