I just spent quite a bit of time creating two new "trailers" in the trailer controller. Yipes, that thing is strange! I thought I was computer-savvy, having spent 40 years in IT, but that is not intuitively obvious to the casual observer.

I did get two trailers created and then moved on to setting them up. And again I was frustrated. I had read the owner's manual and assumed that each "trailer" in the system got its own pre-set for brakes. Apparently not? If so, I can't find it.

Also, my truck doesn't respond the way the owner's manual says it should - or at least the way I read the owner's manual. As shown below, the way I read the manual is that with no trailer connected you should get an indication on the display if you either adjust the gain on the controller or slide the controller's lever. But I get a pop-up saying "Trailer Disconnected", as shown at the bottom. However, with the trailer connected I do get the bar graph it says I should get.

So, two questions:

1. Is there no pre-set for brakes on each "trailer" in the setup? (And, if that's the case, why bother to set up trailers - especially given how convoluted that process is?)
2. Is my truck the only one that doesn't work the way the owner's manual says it should with no trailer connected? (Or, am I reading the manual incorrectly?)

 

Not exactly sure why they didn't include the trailer brake controller gain setting in the trailer setup. I'm pretty sure you have to adjust the gain for each trailer. So I'm with you; what's the point?

 

Wish I had known that before I climbed the steep learning curve on setting up "trailers". At least now I'll know how many miles I've towed "SeaRay-unloaded" vs "SeaRay-loaded".

 

Had a good, long conversation with the service manager at the dealership today. His wife has a 2015 and he's set up three trailers on it but hadn't tried to set the brake controller for each. So he called his tech guru, who confirmed that you can't set up the brake controller for each trailer. When he got off the phone he said "So, why do you even want to set up a trailer?" I fully agree. I don't really care how many miles I put on the trailer, and selecting the type of brakes and whether it is a 5th wheel or not is simple. So, this looks to be a waste of electrons and time.

And, he agrees the owner' manual is wrong - if you hit the brake controller with no trailer connected it says "Trailer Disconnected".

So, I got answers to the questions. But, I don't like the answers.

 

This is just my opinion, but I can pretty much guarantee you that you will not see the gain setting saved on the trailer set-up. Here's why.....

The lawyers won't allow it.

The procedure to adjust the controller gain on any electric brake equipped trailer should be repeated at the beginning of every trip or when the road conditions change: whichever is sooner (I cannot speak for electric over hydraulic). The very nature of the drum brakes that are so common on most trailers are detrimental to repeatability. Moreover, many trailers are loaded differently from trip to trip. As such it is likely that the coefficient of drag between the tires and the payment is equally unpredictable.

Not only that Ford, just like every other car company out there has to account for the everyday mistakes we all make.

For instance, When I tow my snowmobile trailer, the gain is set at near maximum because the brakes have seen salt every winter and simply don't stop as well as they used to. Now Let's just say (in my best Fire Marshall Bill Voice) I hook up to my travel trailer that has really responsive brakes, I forget to change trailers in the app and afterwords I have to perform a panic stop, the trailer could come around around the front of the truck contributing to a worse case scenario with another human or myself. Now I would hold myself accountable as it was a mistake that I made..... but let's just consider the loved ones of this hypothetical victim and their hypothetical lawyer. Who are they likely going to try to hold accountable?

If the "truck apps" were to allow for saving the gain settings, Ford would likely be exposed to any liability issues that may arise if an accident were even remotely attributed to improperly set brakes.

Just a thought.

 

That's an interesting, and scary thought. One I'd not had. And it does make sense. Thanks for sharing, and scaring.

 

That is a very interesting perspective Beachums.

I guess I never thought about trailers saving gain changes on the brake controller. The integrated brake controller first came out on the '05 Super Duty, and the F150 didn't get it until 2009. We didn't get the ability to save a trailer until 2011, and to my knowledge the features have never been linked. To my understanding the purpose of setting up the trailer is so you can track mileage for maintenance purposes on the trailer.

This truck doesn't have the IBC yet, but I'm itching to get the excuse to install one. I'd never consider another brake controller, the factory ones are great!

 

Yes, I agree factory is the way to go. I have a Prodigy, one of the better ones out there, on Rusty and it works well. But the way the factory one is integrated with the rest of the electronics is much better than a standalone controller. It knows precisely how much pressure you are giving the brakes instead of how much deceleration is happening - which is all the Prodigy knows. And you can see on the screen how much brake is being given to the trailer - something a standalone can't do.