I don't agree, neither my '08 or '11 behaved like this. The brakes take a little distance to energize, but if I were to pull the hand brake and accelerate forward the truck would move a couple feet before the trailer brakes engaged. Now this would happen at any speed, whether I was going 2 MPH or 6.

If the IBC really acted like you described we would see plenty of rear-end accidents with Ford trucks, as the hapless driver would be coming to a controlled stop when his 15,000 lb trailer stopped braking and shoved him into whatever was in front of him at 5 MPH. Or in stop-and-go traffic at 3 or 4 MPH and the guy in front of him stops quickley, he wouldn't stand a chance, even at those low speeds. The weight these trucks pull requires that the trailer brakes work at ANY speed, and this is why I believe the "feature" of the IBC not braking at those speeds was revised in 2006 if I remember right.

 

You don't have to believe me, but hopefully you will believe Ford: from the owners guide:

"The TBC is equipped with a feature which reduces output at vehicle
speeds below 11 mph (18 km/h) so trailer and vehicle braking is not
jerky or harsh. This feature is only available when applying the brakes
using the vehicle’s brake pedal, not the TBC."

Also:

"Procedure for adjusting GAIN:
The GAIN setting is used to set the TBC for the specific towing
condition and should be changed as towing conditions change. Changes
to towing conditions include trailer load, vehicle load, road conditions
and weather.
The GAIN should be set to provide the maximum trailer braking
assistance while ensuring the trailer wheels do not lock when braking;
locked trailer wheels may lead to trailer instability.
Note: This should only be performed in a traffic-free environment at
speeds of approximately 20–25 mph (30–40 km/h)."

Now, arguably, the manual does NOT specify that the brakes will or will NOT lock up at a full stop when using the manual controls on the IBC. It has been the reported experience of many on other forums that you cannot lock the wheels at a full stop. A lot of 5vr guys complained about that because many would do a full lock up to verify that the 5th wheel hitch was fully locked. I guess I should revise my prior post to say reduced output instead of "little or nothing"

 

At low speeds (less than 5mph or so) i can easily lock the trailer brakes with the manual control, but once I get above that speed, the brakes will not lock even with the gain set to 10. I have always aldjusted GAIN settings at around 20-25mph (increase GAIN until wheels lock and then back it off a little). I cannot get this to happen with the IBC.

That being said, when travelling down the road with 15k lbs in tow, I can tell the brakes are working, however, I always wonder if they could be little more effective?

 

Man - the way you describe this makes me wonder if the brakes are undersized for the trailer? At lower speeds, I would think braking effectiveness is increased due to lower momentum. Start moving the trailer at higher speeds and it would take more braking authority to stop it. And also lock the wheels up. Am I barking up the wrong tree?

 

I don't think it has to do with brake size, because it did the same thing with my previous trailer that only weighed 8500 lbs. When I towed my previous trailer with my '05 F150 (it did not have IBC, it was an 'external' brake controller) I could easily lock the brakes at 25MPH and then I would back it off a notch.

It seems with more momentum (higher speed) the less brake power there is, but with the gain already set to 10 I can't provide more brake power to the trailer. I am debating taking the rig out on an empty road to do some full emergency braking (at lower speeds) to see what happens. I hate the thought of my truck being the main brake for the whole rig.

There must be some kind of diagnostic that can be done on the system? Unfortunately, I don't know anyone else with a 5er that could try my trailer out on their truck, or for me to try out their trailer.

 

I do the tug test soon as I hook the trailer - works fine.
I can easily set the gain to lock up the brakes on my motorcycle trailer.
With my GMC and a Prodigy I could easily lock the brakes on my Sunnybrook 8K TT. I could not lock the brakes on my 5th wheel toy hauler with either the factory brakes or the aftermarket hydraulic disc brakes.
All of these are at the 20 mph test.

With the new truck I still can not lock the brakes on my toy hauler - but, the new controller is awesome and does a fantastic job. I can set the gain to have the truck - trailer brake as if no trailer is connected.

There are great new features on the 2011 TBC.

1. Hydraulic pressure controlled, no more inertia crap on these trucks. There is a pressure transducer in the brake system. The harder you press the greater the output.
   
2. Pressure is reduced at low speeds approximately 20%. This is great in stop and go traffic.
3. Electric over hydraulic selectable. Not sure what is happening here, but since I have EOH I'm glad it is a feature.
4. Sway control is still effective with the trailer connected.
5. Full output is available for a static brake test.
   

 

I"ll assume that you've adjusted the trailer brakes (assuming these are drum brakes) properly?

 

Yes, the first thing I checked was the trailer brake adjustment (yes they are drums).

 

I just towed my 2012 Keystone Alpine and I am having the same problem. I feel the brakes do not work as well as my 2005 Ford brake controller worked. I find myself staying alot further back from the vehicle in front of me because I am not sure if they stopped short that I would be able to stop in time. I tried doing the brake lock test on my street when I was leaving and I could not get my trailer brakes to lock up. I increased the brake controller to 10 and still couldnt lock up the brakes at 20 MPH. There has to be others like us that are also having this problem. When I mentioned it to my ford tech and asked him if there was a way to increase the level of output the brakes apply and he said no there wasnt. I just had my 2010 Alpine purchased back by Keystone and it did the same thing when I applied the brakes.

 

Test the brake prong coming out of your plug on the back of the truck with a multimeter. Crank your gain to 10 then squeeze the hand brake to the end. You should be reading a full 12 volts at the mulitmeter. If not, there's a problem with the truck. If you get a full 12 volts, then there is something wring with the trailer.

 

http://www.farmbox.com/images/7WayTrailerEnd.jpg

Look at the picture to see which on is the brake prong. Stick the positive end of the multimeter to this one, and ground the other to the ground prong, or somewhere on the truck. Then have your wife or whoever squeeze the hand trigger on the TBC.

 

After reading all this, I did the first test run on my horse trailer (3 horse aluminum, ~3500 lbs) while empty and could easily manually lock the brakes at gains around 4. Adjusted it gradually with the brake pedal itself, using the instructions on the info screen, and felt most comfortable with it set around 6.5. I can feel the trailer braking but not locking up unless I hit it hard. I do think it works much, much better than the integrated one on my '06 did. Once I put a couple of horses in there, I may have to adjust it again, but at least I now have good starting point without throwing them all around.

 

Are you sure that the controler is not set to electric over hydraulic? The output current is less than when connected to straight electric brakes.

 

Specularious has a good point for sure check that setting. I think also once you check voltage at the plug, you should also test at each wheel. It would actually be better to test current but not cheap to buy. What is your voltage going into the hub because if you have loss you have a ground issue. Also, advuce to check magnet strenght is another good one using the manual lever. Remember at low speeds and lower brake inputs when the truck is slowing down the towhaul, the traction and sway control will modulate the signal to prevent bucking. In order to truly get the feel for wheel locking you would have to try and lock the truck up to cause the tbc to send full power. Try a downhill steep safe spot at 8. I doubt you can reproduce a lockup of trailer wheels with the tow haul, traction, sway control, engine braking and antilock on these trucks. Also, try the panic stop at 30 mph and grab the manual controler and i bet it would lock up. Thats your only true way to bypass all this xtra stuff. Just one guys opinion, but its worth a try. You might want the dealer to test the module as well.

 

I have 2900 miles on my F350 now. We just arrived in California yesterday after 1800 miles towing 33' 5th wheel. This was the first tow. I had a 04 F250 with same 5er with BrakeSmart controller. I do pull test every time I hook up and every morning when starting out pulling for the day. The contoller on the 2011 feels real close to same as the BrakeSmart did. I have the controller set to 7.5 and never touched it in 1800 miles. I didn't think anyone could make as good a brake controller as BrakeSmart but the Ford controller is VERY close.