Hey guys, having an issue with my ‘22 F350. Purchased a fifth wheel with electric over hydraulic disc brakes. Specifically the hydraulic unit on the trailer is a Hydrastar HBA-16. Even when I go into the settings for the trailer and choose electric over hydraulic, brake force = High, and turn the gain up to 10, the trailer has no brakes at all. It will barely “click” the hydraulic unit on the trailer and will not power it, even at max brake output. Buddies truck with an $80 Tekonsha unit powers it just fine… so it’s not the trailer. Have had it at the Ford dealer all day. They say there’s no issue with the truck. Even though there was a Recall on many ‘22 SuperDuty’s for this exact issue, it’s apparently not tied to my VIN (RECALL 22S17) So dealer and FORD say the truck is working fine. Problem is the hydraulic unit needs 5 amps and the truck is not outputting that, FORD will not even supply the dealer with what the amperage output of the controller is supposed to be for them to check it. All in all just seems stupid. Anyone else have something similar? Are Superduty factory controllers just not capable of powering an electric over hydraulic system? If so, why is that even an option in the settings? If nothing else, I’ll just bypass the trucks controller and use an aftermarket setup, and have the dealer clear the error codes for me, just seems crazy to have to do that on a 2 year old F350.

 

I have the same Hydrastar unit on my trailer run by my 2023 F350 and it works fine. Not sure if the trailer controller changed in 23.


DaveW

 

What is the output at the trailer cord plug when the brakes are engaged?
I would also check all the connectors in the end of the trailer plug and the receptacle on the truck, they can easily get bent so they don't make good contact.

 

I have a 2022 Ford F450 Platinum with the same controller and Hydrastar. I have a 2021 Luxe Fifth wheel with hydraulic brakes. Mine works Great. I have the setting on Medium and the control at setting 7. Look to make sure your cord is plugged in under the bed of the truck. Sounds like a simple fix.

 

Maybe pull your breakaway switch and see if the Hydrastar unit works as expected?

 

Emergency break away locks up the brakes as expected. All wiring in the trailer is fine. Everything appears to be fine on the truck according to the dealer. I’m going to experiment some more tomorrow. Have a Tekonsha controller and plug and play adapter cable on the way to test out. Have also been reading on some of the grand design forums that some trucks are having issues with solar systems and large lithium batteries on the trailer (which mine has). Apparently if the trailer battery voltage is higher than the trucks it can back feed the line to the truck and cause issues with the brake controller. Short term fix is to disengage the solar battery chargers and let trailer battery voltage drop below trucks voltage. Don’t fully understand this one yet, but worth a shot.

 

If this is the case I would disconnect the 12V power to the trailer as it sounds like you don't really need the truck charging