Trailer Brake controller

[ticopowell]

Hey all,
I am looking at getting a trailer brake controller for my F-150 with a 5.4. I have the 7pin hookup already, and from what I can tell all I need is the little box and the plug (which I have) and then hook them up an go. so firstly, is this all I need? and secondly, I have seen a few different controllers, but since I have never bought one or looked into one before, what should I look for and about how much should it cost me?
Thanks in advanced! :cheesy smile:

[Jackpine]

Hey all,
I am looking at getting a trailer brake controller for my F-150 with a 5.4. I have the 7pin hookup already, and from what I can tell all I need is the little box and the plug (which I have) and then hook them up an go. so firstly, is this all I need? and secondly, I have seen a few different controllers, but since I have never bought one or looked into one before, what should I look for and about how much should it cost me?
Thanks in advanced! :cheesy smile:

I have the Tekonsha Primus controller: Brake Controllers - Tekonsha (http://www.tekonsha.com/content/products.aspx?lvl=2&parentid=1400&catID=1435%20&part=0)

It supplies "proportional" braking to the trailer (the harder you want to stop, the higher the braking force applied to the trailer. As I recall, it does not apply brakes while backing up - that feature seemed a bit unnecessary to me. It was easy to install and calibrate. BUT - I did need an "adapter" for the controller plug to the truck's wiring harness.

I've attached a picture showing where it's mounted. It's the black thing just under the steering wheel to the right of it. I simply drilled two small holes in the plastic panel there to mount it. (I took the panel off first.) The connector is right behind the panel.

Both the controller and the adapter are available at Camping World, and you have one of those just south of Colorado Springs. If you're going to be buying several trailer supplies, it's worth having a membership in Camping World. Here's a link to Camping World's page for it: Cequent Performance Products - Primus IQ Brake Control - Braking Controls - Camping World (http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/primus-iq-brake-control/43938)

There are more expensive ones, but I'm happy with this one. I had a less expensive model on my last truck and I like this one better.

I don't know if there's a Camping World in Del Rio (I got my pilot training at Laughlin by the way, class 65-XF), but I doubt it.

- Jack

[TwinTurbo]

Tekonsha makes good products for many different price ranges and all work well for what they are designed to do, generally the more expensive it is the more it can do so you need to know what the biggest trailer your going to be pulling will be. The more expensive ones can also support more axles, but since you have an F150 I think its safe to rule out any triple axle or greater configuration so that can narrow down your choices, (I just looked on Tekonsha's website and they all support 1-4 axles. other brands could be different though) From there it still kinda depends on the weight your towing, if its just a single axle with less than 3500 lbs I'd go with the cheapest one you can get. you can even get by with them for heavier loads, (I had a Voyager model which I think is the cheapest one and still towed 10,000lb + loads) however I have the Prodigy® P2 now and it is way better. It helped that I got a deal on it too. Bottom line - if you don't tow very often go cheap, if you tow a fair amount spend a little extra for one that's self leveling. Just my .02 hope it helps

[wood4heat]

For my first truck I bought the best brake controller U-Haul offered and HATED it! It had a feature that supposedly activated the brakes gradually but it didn't work. I could watch the reading increase from 1.0 - 1.5 - 2.0 and so on up until it reached the level I had it set at. Unfortunately no braking actually took place until it reached it's maximum and then it came on with a JERK! It wasn't so bad at freeway speeds but at 25mph or below it was a real irritant. I bought the Tekonsha Prodigy for my current truck and LOVE it! It activates so seamlessly you could forget there is even a trailer there. It did surprise me one time, the road I live on is off of a fairly steep hill. As I was approaching my road coming up the hill I applied the brakes and the trailer brakes locked up. I guess the extra slowing power the hill provided tricked the inertial sensor into thinking I was hard on the brakes. Since then I give a little extra space and let the hill slow me without using the brakes.

[ticopowell]

Awesome! Thanks for all the responses! Ill check out camping world here sometime and like you guys guessed, I am not planning on towing much right now, but this summer I might tow a 25+ foot camper to lake Powell with my parents, and it requires a trailer brake.
Again thanks for the help, it's quite useful. :cheesy smile:

[cleatus12r]

I have a couple of these and I love them......but I do experience this problem:

As a disclaimer, every trailer brake controller I install is installed level. I never could understand how one was supposed to work correctly (especially the ones with pendulums) when they are pointed toward the sky.

Thermal Instability of Voyager Brake Controller (http://www.cornwaab.comxa.com/voyager_test.html)

[wood4heat]

As a disclaimer, every trailer brake controller I install is installed level. I never could understand how one was supposed to work correctly (especially the ones with pendulums) when they are pointed toward the sky.



They must have some form of level compensation. Otherwise how would they work when you are going up or down hill?

The Tekonsha says it doesn't matter what orientation you mount it in. Mine is mounted at a pretty good angle and works great. :thumbs up yellow:

[Robert6401]

I just want to go ahead and throw in a vote for the Tekonsha P3. The diagnostic information that it provides is very useful in knowing if you have an electrical issue between the truck and the trailer. I love mine!

[Longshot270]

Me and my dad have been using the Journey HDs and they work just fine. They are also pretty cheap and can be found at any Tractor Supply Co.

[jimmyv13]

I run a Tekonsha P2 with my 6200lb travel trailer and have experienced good results.

[Jackpine]

You guys convinced me. I bought a Tekonsha P3 and used it on a camping trip last weekend. It was great! Very easy to set the braking force and now I don't have to worry about mechanical adjustment levers getting moved accidentally.

- Jack

[ticopowell]

So now that I am all graduated, I decided that it would be a great investment to buy a trailer... that way the air force pays me to move instead of me worrying about them breaking stuff as they move it for me... and I now need a trailer brake. I have found that at orieley and autozone they have ones for $60-$80, also the place I got the trailer from has one for $80. Amazon sells the p3 for about $150-$160, and other ones for cheaper. so with my new trailer, it is a dual axle 7000# max weight 7 foot tall 16x7 trailer with a v-nose, and with my future use of it (worst case, I use it to help people move, best case is I use it once every 3 years when the air force thinks I should change bases), is it worth getting the p3, or should I go for the voyager or the p2 or one of the other off name brands?
Thanks for all the replies!

[Longshot270]

Me and my dad both have a Journey HDs from Tractor supply. It gets the job done at a good price. Mine you can set brake timing and braking pressure. There is also a manual brake switch.

[Jackpine]

I think anything that applies proportional braking will work, but I really like the electronic adjustment capability in the P3. It is very easy to make small adjustments as needed (and you might want to do that as the weight you pull changes), and, once set, you don't have to worry about the settings getting "bumped" accidentally.

With my old controller, I started out on a trip and discovered there was no trailer braking action. I thought I was going to have to cancel the trip but discovered the lever controlling braking force had been accidentally moved, possibly by a technician at the Ford dealership during a visit. I reset it, but didn't have an "exact" reset point - you have to do that by "trial and error" on a level stretch of road with someone observing the trailer wheels for lockup. With the P3, once you get it set right, you simply note the number that appears on the screen, and restore that value if it ever gets accidentally changed.

If your trailer can gross out at 7000#, your tongue weight will be between 700-1100#. You need a Weight Distributing hitch to keep the axle loads on your truck in limits. There's some pretty good information on WD hitches here: Trailer Hitch & Towing Guide ? Hitch Info | Get Connected (http://www.hitchinfo.com/) Basically though, you want a hitch that just about "matches" the tongue weight of the trailer - not rated too much higher, and certainly not less than the actual weight.

- Jack

[Longshot270]

Yeah, mine is just like Jack's. As you make adjustments a little LCD screen will have a numerical readout to tell you what adjustment you are at. It'll also give you a reading while you are braking so if you are pulling you can see how strong the braking is and how fast it is getting there.

[ticopowell]

Sorry I never responded back to the thread... getting married kept me busy over summer :D, I got the P2 if I remember right, and a weight distributing hitch, and I pulled my trailer here to colorado with only one issue. I blew a fuse for the trailer parking lights while pulling a neighbors trailer and I didnt know it until it got dark on my way to colorado... :/, but I got it all fixed up. Now I sold the truck, got a new one, and it had a voyager, but I am going to reinstall the P2 in it and sell the voyager. so anyone need a trailer brake controller? really cheap! haha :D
I sold the truck because as we were going up the hills on I-70 my gryphon started beeping at me saying the tranny fluid and engine oil were getting close to overheating, so we took it nice and slow from there on up and made it just fine, but my F250 shouldnt have that problem :D

[superdutynick]

I love the integrated electric brake controller on my F250... no other I have used compares. I was pulling an empty trailer so I had the gain turned down and a deer ran in front of me. I buried the brake pedal and the brake controller knew this, and I stopped sooner than if i hadn't had a trailer on... even with the gain set to hardly anything. With the integrated controller it really doesn’t matter what you have the gain set to. I have even tried it at minimum and smashed the brake and it will hit the trailer brakes hard. I will never get a truck without it.