Never towed more than a single axle non braked trailer, but that's about to change! Truck came with the controller in the pic but its disconnected. Wires cut and taped. So my question is what kind of controller setup is this?

 

i don't know the brand.. i have to look. but my 86 has the same exact controller.. its plumbed into the brake line from the master cylinder..I towed a horse trailer with the 86 once and it worked pretty good...in fact it felt better stopping than the factory brake controller in my 2011 F350..

 

One of the old controller that worked off the master cylinder. They became extinct when ABS was born. Worked well in their day. Has to be teed into brake line at master cylinder and most had a resistor in close proximity to tee at brake line that could be used to adjust output.

Much simpler to just go with electronic controller now.

Steve

 

So I can just leave the old unit as is and connect a new electronic controller? All the wiring is already disconnected from the old one anyway.

 

Not much to wiring in an electronic controller. Basically red to the control from the switched side of the brake pedal switch. Black to controller is hot from the battery. White to the controller is the ground. Blue from the controller goes to the seven pin at the rear bumper to power the brakes on the trailer and you will need to wire the seven pin with stop/turn/ and marker if you want the trailer lights to work. If you are wiring direct from the battery you will need to fuse the black lead, ideally with a self-resetting fuse. They all come with wiring diagrams and all wire the same.

Takes a little time, but not rocket science.

Steve

 

Yup, the electronic ones are easy, and cheap. And all of them work about the same, even the older ones.
I've never seen one of the mechanical style before; that's cool.

 

As you move upstream in price you get digital read-outs, built-in diagnostics, and ease of adjustment.

Steve

 

Thanks to all who replied and helped. Really appreciated! )

 

They do not all work the same, some apply the brakes with a time delay whenever you activate the brake lights. They work the same wether you are in a panic stop or barely braking at all. I had one like that and hated it. Get the type that varies the trailer braking to match how hard you are braking. Tekonsha prodigy is about the best one out there.

 

I'm pretty sure the ones you are talking about are modern 'cheapy' ones. All of the old ones I've seen have a "floating weight" accelerometer setup for determining how fast you are decelerating.
That being said, yeah, I'd never want a "time delay" style. Ever.

 

I have a Tekonsha voyager and couldn't be more happy with it. has gain and power adjustment so you can fine tune to your trailer and style. It is a progressive controller also, harder you brake, the harder it brakes.