Hello everyone!

First post here but have followed the forum for quite some time and really appreciate the valuable information that all of you provide. Anyway I've always been a Ford guy having had excursions and E-series club wagons for years. I recently purchased a 2014 F-250 Lariat Crew Cab with the 6.2 for my daily driver and tow vehicle. So far I love the truck and enjoy It more every time I drive it plus am seeing better fuel mileage every day. (only 1100 miles). Now to my question..

-- I hooked up my boat for the first time today for just a short trip around town. I attempted to utilize the trailer APP in the productivity screen but was unsuccessful. I created a new trailer and left it highlighted for the entirety of the tow but at the end it still said no trailer connected and didn't record any mileage under the selected trailer. My trailer brakes aren't electronic but instead hydraulic so I had no use for the gain controls. So I'm not sure if this is why I was unsuccessful or if I did something wrong. If anyone could assist me in utilizing the feature correctly that would be great. THANKS!

 

Sadly, you figured it out... The trailer app can't do diddly unless there's some sort of electric feedback from a trailer brake unit (on the trailer). Boats with hydraulic brakes are SOL when it comes to that app.

In fact there's whole screens on that center productivity thing in the instrument cluster that don't have anything to show at all, I've wondered how hard it would be to tap into the engine computer and give us some data about temperatures, since the ECU has several sensors anyway for proper engine control.

-Joe

 

Ah thanks for the reply. That is kind of disappointing. I was looking forward to the trailer app. Was hoping to at least be able to track the exact amount of miles I have towed the boat, the gas mileage, fuel usage etc. I was under the impression that every time whether you use the brakes or not, you could make the trailer active and it would at least track the above information. I wonder if Ford will offer any more Apps in the future.. I know this has been an ongoing discussion and it does not seem to be happening. Oh well!

 

Did your trailer at least have running lights and brake lights? Those should have worked.

 

does your boat have a 4 pin or 7 pin connection? our brand of rv has an interface for the hydraulic brakes and works welll... but my 4 pin utility trailer is not recognized

 

All the lighting worked perfectly. My trailer has a 4 pin setup and has hydraulic disk brakes.

 

 

Nice boat! And 250 Ofcourse!

 

Beautiful truck. Makes my 99 look like a dinosaur.

 

That's not true, you can select an active trailer even if it's not electrically connected to the truck. I forget how to do it, but I believe you go into the trailer list and select the one you are connected to. Then the trailer screen on the "truck apps" menu will show the active trailer and the accumulated miles.

I put a good 60 miles on the profile for my boat before I figured out how to tell the truck it wasn't connected.

 

So you are telling the truck there is a trailer? I haven't tried it, I know you can for sure if the lights are hooked up, I've towed trailers without electric brakes and had limited "function" in the truck app screen. Nice to know though....thanks.

 

Yup, in fact I almost took my truck back to the dealer thinking something was wrong with it. But right before I made the call I went to "select trailer" and noticed that the boat was still the active trailer. I then picked "no trailer" and all was well with the world. My boat doesn't have electric brakes, the only reason the truck knew it was there was because I told it.

 

Learn something new everyday, Thanks.

 

I will try this again, it didn't work back when my truck was new and I didn't really push it. I'll be towing the Jeep day after tomorrow, I'll give it another shot.

I hope you're right and I am wrong.

-Joe

 

Yeah, I think when you do the 4 pin connection you have to tell it so you can track the trailer miles.

I have not had one hooked up yet. Just to the 7 pin on mine so far this year.