Trailer brake controller

[NC trailer trash]

I have a 16 ft V nose twin 3500 lb axel CTCC I'm getting ready to put on the road. I need to put the finishing touches on the trucks. Specifically a brake controller. I am asking for serious feedback on well-performing and dependable brake controllers. I know driver responsibility has a greater role but I do need a controller. My CTCC has an axel flip for clearance and an estimated 1000 lbs of cargo in addition to trailer weight.

[tony.latham]

My Tekonsha 90160 Primus IQ works fine.

Tony

[kokomoto]

Another vote for the Tekonsha. Not sure which model, but I've used it for 6 years pulling my TD with a Cherokee XJ and it works flawlessly.

[NC trailer trash]

My Tekonsha 90160 Primus IQ works fine.

Tony

Thank you I will look at them.

[NC trailer trash]

Another vote for the Tekonsha. Not sure which model, but I've used it for 6 years pulling my TD with a Cherokee XJ and it works flawlessly.

Thank you

[Apples]

What brand of truck is it?

I ask, because sometimes there are factory options. My 2016 F150 XLT did not come with any tow package, but it still has a 5000 lb tow capacity rating, 500 lbs tongue weight limit, a step bumper with a 1" hole for the appropriate trailer hitch ball, and a nifty four-pin harness and plug that is actually affixed to the bumper. Nice and tidy.

Since I never hope to tow anything weighing more than 5000 lbs with any 1/2-ton truck this suits me just fine. I was able to purchase a FoMoCo integrated trailer brakes controller from the parts counter along with a 2" receiver hitch affair rated to the same above-posted capacity which I bolted onto the back of the truck. I then ordered online from another dealer far away (because of it's far better pricing) a FoMoCo 7-pin connector and wiring harness and then cut an opening for the connector in the black plastic bumper cover next to the vehicle license plate mounting. The other side has a key-locking spare tire winch access cover/body plug.

What was nifty about the integrated brakes controller was that there was a spot waiting for it near the dashboard center stack, and behind the plastic block off plate was a trailer brakes controller wiring harness and plug! plugged into the back of the block off plate. I had to look online to see what was necessary to program the controller to the truck and it was pretty easy, considering. That was six years ago and I have soundly forgotten how to do it again, though.

Either way, if there is no factory option for your truck then the Tekonsha is as everyone knows a very well respected controller. You should have no real problems installing it in order to tickle those trailer brakes. Good luck and hope it goes or went smo0thly for you.

[martymcfly]

I bought a Curt from Amazon for less than $50. It pluged in under the dash of my 2016 Ram 1500. After I got it adjusted to where I liked it while the trailer is loaded, I just tucked it up under the dash and tied it up with a velcro strip. If I want to pull my trailer unloaded or my other trailer, I can pull it out and adjust it. That and I could not decide where to mount it.

[QueticoBill]

No votes for the wireless controllers?

[working on it]

I've used many different brands of brake controllers over the years (we're talking about electric brakes only, right?), both for my vehicles, and those I had bought and installed for friends & relatives, probably about 20 times. I've used both proportional and time-based types, but never could see any benefit in the proportional over timed controllers, so my go-to's were always the cheaper time-based units: Hopkins, Reese, Draw-Tite, Curt over the Tekonshas that some preferred (for twice the price).

My '04 Chevy 2500HD has a Hopkins Impulse controller, that I installed in '05. I also installed the same unit in my father-in-law's '03 2500HD, a co-worker's '05 2500HD, another co-worker's '02 Chevy Avalanche, and a neighbor's '03 Chevy Suburban 1500; as far as I know, all were very happy using them, as I still am.

My wife's '98 GMC 1500 (with heavy-duty mods to engine, transmission, and suspension for towing) was bought in '07 from a friend that had installed a Tekonsha in it, but I had to replace it in '11, when it fried itself, as I was getting the truck hooked-up to her Puma 20-footer business trailer, for my wife's business trip the next morning; I only had a 24-hr Walmart to source a replacement controller, late that Saturday night, as she was leaving at daylight the next day, for her trip way-up-north for "catastrophe insurance adjusting" somewhere in Minnesota, I believe. The only controller on the shelf at Walmart was a <$50 Reese unit (which is still working fine, today).

My next brake controller project will be on my AWD '01 BMW X5 3.0i "project car", which will require a special BMW module and wiring harness, or I'll have to rig up a series of modded work-arounds, if I am to tow my 2225 lb braked squareback trailer, using the 7-way wiring. I'm sure the X5 has sufficient braking power (discs all around), where I could tow it (sans electric brakes) using the 4-way wiring the previous owner installed, but like I said, it's on a project car.

[NC trailer trash]

I've used many different brands of brake controllers over the years (we're talking about electric brakes only, right?), both for my vehicles, and those I had bought and installed for friends & relatives, probably about 20 times. I've used both proportional and time-based types, but never could see any benefit in the proportional over timed controllers, so my go-to's were always the cheaper time-based units: Hopkins, Reese, Draw-Tite, Curt over the Tekonshas that some preferred (for twice the price).

My '04 Chevy 2500HD has a Hopkins Impulse controller, that I installed in '05. I also installed the same unit in my father-in-law's '03 2500HD, a co-worker's '05 2500HD, another co-worker's '02 Chevy Avalanche, and a neighbor's '03 Chevy Suburban 1500; as far as I know, all were very happy using them, as I still am.

My wife's '98 GMC 1500 (with heavy-duty mods to engine, transmission, and suspension for towing) was bought in '07 from a friend that had installed a Tekonsha in it, but I had to replace it in '11, when it fried itself, as I was getting the truck hooked-up to her Puma 20-footer business trailer, for my wife's business trip the next morning; I only had a 24-hr Walmart to source a replacement controller, late that Saturday night, as she was leaving at daylight the next day, for her trip way-up-north for "catastrophe insurance adjusting" somewhere in Minnesota, I believe. The only controller on the shelf at Walmart was a <$50 Reese unit (which is still working fine, today).

My next brake controller project will be on my AWD '01 BMW X5 3.0i "project car", which will require a special BMW module and wiring harness, or I'll have to rig up a series of modded work-arounds, if I am to tow my 2225 lb braked squareback trailer, using the 7-way wiring. I'm sure the X5 has sufficient braking power (discs all around), where I could tow it (sans electric brakes) using the 4-way wiring the previous owner installed, but like I said, it's on a project car.

Well written post with lots of info to consider. Thank you!