I recently purchased a 2005 F-350 with the TowCommand integrated trailer brake controller. I have two trailers, a Homesteader Cargo Trailer (Dual Dexter axles) and a 2003 Starcraft 32' Travel trailer (Dual Dexter Axles). Both have electric brakes.
The integrated brake controller recognizes the cargo trailer but not the Starcraft. I get the message "trailer disconnected" when I hit the manual brake level. The strange thing is both trailers work attached to other trucks with external brake controllers.
In an effort to get away from the finger point between Ford and Starcraft service centers, I need assistance determining why the Integrated Brake Controller does not recognize the trailer being connected. Can anyone point me to some electrical specifications and technical guide that will help me troubleshoot this. So far my Ford Dealer only knows how to hook a box up to the 7 pin and say it is fine (How is that for troubleshooting and customer service).

Any help is appreciated.
Tony

 

Tony-

On your Starcraft, are you sure the brakes are pure electric, or are they electric over hydraulic? The E-over-H systems don't properly load the brake output lines, causing the controller to believe the trailer is disconnected. You mention other trucks - other Super Duties with the integrated controller, or aftermarket controllers?

I've not seen anyone do it, but if my diagnosis is correct, you could hang a high-wattage load resistor off the DC rail for the brakes and probably get enough load to fool the controller.

 

Yeah, I am positive the brakes are pure electric. I have the manual that came with the Starcraft, but more importantly each hub has 2 wires popping out the rear of the hub. The other trucks were a F-150 and Ram with aftermarket controllers. I have not been able to test another SuperDuty with the integrated controller.

As far as the load goes, the big question is what does the load need to be satify the Integrated Brake Controller. Finding those specs seam to be a closely guarded secret, more so then Bushs Baked Beans.

 

I experienced a similar situation. My Haulmark enclosed motorycle trailer with dual Dexter axles with electronic brakes worked great with my 2005 Ford with the integrated brake controller. However, my Jayco 40 ft 5th wheel would get the error message just as you're getting. Yet, the Jayco appeared to work with another (non-ford) truck and it passed all the tests at the Jayco dealership. A search of this site will give more details as to what we went through, but to keep it short, what we found was the Jayco had a short in the break wires that pass through the axle. Jayco (at the manufacturer) found the problem and re-ran the wire and everything now works great.

Our trouble shooting logic was that since the Haulmark worked as it should, there was nothing wrong with the Ford IBC. Rather, since I was having problems with the Jayco, it must rest with that unit. I even talked to the senior engineer at Dexter axle who agreed, stating the axle and brake setup on the Haulmark, while smaller in size, was identifcal in design as the axle and brake setup on the Jayco. Therefore, if the Haulmark worked fine with the Ford IBC, the problem must be with the Jayco. And that is exactly what Jayco found out. Jayco was great is working the problem very quickly and getting it fixed. Its a shame the Jayco dealership didn't put their heart into it.

So, what about the other truck or the tests the dealership did. Well, the Ford IBC is a very complex instrument that can detect problems that normal brake controllers don't. Sounds a little weird, but that's what I was told by Ford when we called them.

My advice, since the other trailer works with your truck, look for a short in the one that doesn't.

Good luck

 

Thanks much "Toisich" for reponding to my thread. I took your advise and did a couple of things. One, I picked up the Ford 25 Page troubleshooting manual on the TowCommand brake controller from my Ford Dealership and two, started looking closer at my trailer.

Your absolutely right, this controller does have a lot to it. It was indeed detecting an issue with the trailer. I didn't have a short, but two of my four brakes were wired in series, not in parallel, which raised the resistance of the brakes up to high. Yes, I did this by mistake. My dog chewed my brake wires a year ago (could have kill her, but then I realized she is just Lab) and I figured it out when I was leaving on vacation. So I rushed the repair job ......apparently. Who would of thought, because the brakes worked fine with the external controller in my old truck.
The Ford manual indicates the brake controller sends out a pulse every 4 secs to the trailer tow connector and reads back the voltage. Based on the reading it makes a decision if the trailer is connected. Two much resistance, wrong voltage reading. Too little, it detects a short. This fact alone helped me understand the problem a lot better.
For others out there that may run into the same problem, measure from the trailer plug between ground and the brakes with an ohm meter. With two axles I am at approximately 2 ohms. If you are too high, the controller will not recognize the trailer as connected.

Also I can confirm that there are two versions of the Integrated Brake Controllers, which was changed on Vehicles built before or after March 23rd, 2005. The older one will measure 1-2 volts on the brake output when the vehicle is stationary, the manual switch is fully to the left and the gain is at 10. The newer version will have 10-12 volts. I have the older one which is why I originally though I had a controller issue.

Thanks again for the help!
Tony

 

Glad to hear you got everything worked out. Ford did a great job with the Integrated Brake Controller and in my opinion, its the best controller out there.

 

I agree with Toisich. Ford has the best controller out there. Also now that you found the problem put some dielectric grease on your pigtail. I had an issue where the contacts weren't making 100 % of the time put some grease on and problem went away completely.