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I tow a 10k trailer and have the medium setting with a gain of 6. Make sure you are going at least 20 mph or the controller will not work. Very happy with the tow haul set up and the brakes work great.
What's this 20 mph stuff, your not the first one to mention it? They work across the board at any speed. I can be sitting still and slide the slide over and the truck isn't moving, I can be creeping down my driveway and activate the truck brakes and the trailer is engaged also????
What's this 20 mph stuff, your not the first one to mention it? They work across the board at any speed. I can be sitting still and slide the slide over and the truck isn't moving, I can be creeping down my driveway and activate the truck brakes and the trailer is engaged also????
Brett
Agreed. I use the brake gain slider to hold the trailer while I move the truck to move the sliding hitch back & forth.
Then you use the slider to manually override the brakes you should be getting full stopping effort on the trailer only. If you are driving, use use the trucks foot brake, the antilock, sway control, will be modulating the amount of brake applied to the trailer amd the truck.
Try the manual slider at 25mph on a gravel road and report back. You should be able to drag the trailer around with wheels locked up.
Using the foot brake, your getting interference with the safety systems, which makes it appear the brakes aren't working.
Also, try running the trailer connection test, it should report all wiring and trailer of functions are ok.
I HAD the same issue as many of you. New 5er with only a couple of short trips under its belt. I looked at it. Took the trailer in to be serviced. Everything was set and adjusted correctly and the brakes should lock up. After much searching on the RV sites I found out that Ford uses a brand of trailer connector that is not completely compatible with some umbilical cords installed on some trailers.
I did not get the 5er prep since I bought the sliding B&W (which at the time did not come with the ford pucks as an option) so I installed the umbilical connection and the camera connection. I bought the umbilical extension from Etrailer and the camera TPMS extension and box from Nichols Welding. Hooked it all up and on the maiden voyage today, to get rid of the China bombs, I locked up all 4 brakes on the trailer. I adjusted the brakes down to 8.0 gain and it seems good. Need to play with it some more but there was too much traffic. Some of the people on the forums were changing the trailer umbilical and got good results.
BTW, the umbilical slides right into the new trailer connection. It was always an issue getting it into the Ford connector. Also to note that my 8k utility trailer had no problem locking up with the old connector. That one is back in the bumper.
Good luck.
So all you did was get an extension and then it worked? You didn't actually rewire the plugs or anything, you just got an extension so basically the connectors that were connecting were now different?
So all you did was get an extension and then it worked? You didn't actually rewire the plugs or anything, you just got an extension so basically the connectors that were connecting were now different?
Yes, I only got an extension. Some brands of plug connectors from the trailer (umbilical cords) do not fit well into the ford plug and apparently do not make good contact. From what I found out, this started with the 2011 SD (which was my previous truck). Before I installed the new connector, If I was not on the level, I would have to use wheel chocks to hold the trailer to slide the hitch back & forth before installing the new connector. Now, I can lock the trailer brakes (using the slider) in the brake test on asphalt.
Sounds silly but there is a huge difference in the brake effort with the new plug.
First time I used the new truck to tow I was trailering a bobcat. Squeezed the brake controller manually and thought the cat was coming up front with me.
So all you did was get an extension and then it worked? You didn't actually rewire the plugs or anything, you just got an extension so basically the connectors that were connecting were now different?
I used to have two 7way rv to 6 round trailer adapters for goosenecks. There was two for a reason as some trailers are different. I never figured out why. It some have the brake wire in a different hole. Brakes electronically show to be working but there's minimal braking effort, get it switched right and they are good to go. I'm sure him new umbilical cord was the right one for his trailer.
Brett
Just because they have the same plug doesn't mean they are wired the same. It's supposed to be standard but that doesn't mean it is
I think I found the source of my weak braking. I pulled the drums off the trailer and discovered that all of them have grooves in the armature surface as well as on the magnets. The grooves look just like ripples on a sand beach, very smooth and irregular widths. They are obviously not allowing the magnet to grab on properly. I have no idea what could have caused this kind of wear.
Gary
I have two gooseneck trailers. The ghetto trailer has electric drum brakes and the new trailer has electric/hydraulic discs. Both of them work like they're supposed to. The difference being the new trailer weighs about 1k more than the ghetto one and the disc brakes are like dropping an anchor in a mud flat. I am very pleased with the Ford controller. My .02