Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I have a 16 ft V nose twin 3500 lb axel CTCC I'm getting ready to put on the road. I need to put the finishing touches on the trucks. Specifically a brake controller. I am asking for serious feedback on well-performing and dependable brake controllers. I know driver responsibility has a greater role but I do need a controller. My CTCC has an axel flip for clearance and an estimated 1000 lbs of cargo in addition to trailer weight.

My Tekonsha 90160 Primus IQ works fine.

Tony

Another vote for the Tekonsha. Not sure which model, but I've used it for 6 years pulling my TD with a Cherokee XJ and it works flawlessly.

tony.latham wrote:My Tekonsha 90160 Primus IQ works fine.

Tony

Thank you I will look at them.

kokomoto wrote:Another vote for the Tekonsha. Not sure which model, but I've used it for 6 years pulling my TD with a Cherokee XJ and it works flawlessly.

Thank you

What brand of truck is it?

I ask, because sometimes there are factory options. My 2016 F150 XLT did not come with any tow package, but it still has a 5000 lb tow capacity rating, 500 lbs tongue weight limit, a step bumper with a 1" hole for the appropriate trailer hitch ball, and a nifty four-pin harness and plug that is actually affixed to the bumper. Nice and tidy.

Since I never hope to tow anything weighing more than 5000 lbs with any 1/2-ton truck this suits me just fine. I was able to purchase a FoMoCo integrated trailer brakes controller from the parts counter along with a 2" receiver hitch affair rated to the same above-posted capacity which I bolted onto the back of the truck. I then ordered online from another dealer far away (because of it's far better pricing) a FoMoCo 7-pin connector and wiring harness and then cut an opening for the connector in the black plastic bumper cover next to the vehicle license plate mounting. The other side has a key-locking spare tire winch access cover/body plug.

What was nifty about the integrated brakes controller was that there was a spot waiting for it near the dashboard center stack, and behind the plastic block off plate was a trailer brakes controller wiring harness and plug! plugged into the back of the block off plate. I had to look online to see what was necessary to program the controller to the truck and it was pretty easy, considering. That was six years ago and I have soundly forgotten how to do it again, though.

Either way, if there is no factory option for your truck then the Tekonsha is as everyone knows a very well respected controller. You should have no real problems installing it in order to tickle those trailer brakes. Good luck and hope it goes or went smo0thly for you.

I bought a Curt from Amazon for less than $50. It pluged in under the dash of my 2016 Ram 1500. After I got it adjusted to where I liked it while the trailer is loaded, I just tucked it up under the dash and tied it up with a velcro strip. If I want to pull my trailer unloaded or my other trailer, I can pull it out and adjust it. That and I could not decide where to mount it.

No votes for the wireless controllers?

I've used many different brands of brake controllers over the years (we're talking about electric brakes only, right?), both for my vehicles, and those I had bought and installed for friends & relatives, probably about 20 times. I've used both proportional and time-based types, but never could see any benefit in the proportional over timed controllers, so my go-to's were always the cheaper time-based units: Hopkins, Reese, Draw-Tite, Curt over the Tekonshas that some preferred (for twice the price).

My '04 Chevy 2500HD has a Hopkins Impulse controller, that I installed in '05. I also installed the same unit in my father-in-law's '03 2500HD, a co-worker's '05 2500HD, another co-worker's '02 Chevy Avalanche, and a neighbor's '03 Chevy Suburban 1500; as far as I know, all were very happy using them, as I still am.

My wife's '98 GMC 1500 (with heavy-duty mods to engine, transmission, and suspension for towing) was bought in '07 from a friend that had installed a Tekonsha in it, but I had to replace it in '11, when it fried itself, as I was getting the truck hooked-up to her Puma 20-footer business trailer, for my wife's business trip the next morning; I only had a 24-hr Walmart to source a replacement controller, late that Saturday night, as she was leaving at daylight the next day, for her trip way-up-north for "catastrophe insurance adjusting" somewhere in Minnesota, I believe. The only controller on the shelf at Walmart was a <$50 Reese unit (which is still working fine, today).

My next brake controller project will be on my AWD '01 BMW X5 3.0i "project car", which will require a special BMW module and wiring harness, or I'll have to rig up a series of modded work-arounds, if I am to tow my 2225 lb braked squareback trailer, using the 7-way wiring. I'm sure the X5 has sufficient braking power (discs all around), where I could tow it (sans electric brakes) using the 4-way wiring the previous owner installed, but like I said, it's on a project car.

working on it wrote:I've used many different brands of brake controllers over the years (we're talking about electric brakes only, right?), both for my vehicles, and those I had bought and installed for friends & relatives, probably about 20 times. I've used both proportional and time-based types, but never could see any benefit in the proportional over timed controllers, so my go-to's were always the cheaper time-based units: Hopkins, Reese, Draw-Tite, Curt over the Tekonshas that some preferred (for twice the price).

My '04 Chevy 2500HD has a Hopkins Impulse controller, that I installed in '05. I also installed the same unit in my father-in-law's '03 2500HD, a co-worker's '05 2500HD, another co-worker's '02 Chevy Avalanche, and a neighbor's '03 Chevy Suburban 1500; as far as I know, all were very happy using them, as I still am.

My wife's '98 GMC 1500 (with heavy-duty mods to engine, transmission, and suspension for towing) was bought in '07 from a friend that had installed a Tekonsha in it, but I had to replace it in '11, when it fried itself, as I was getting the truck hooked-up to her Puma 20-footer business trailer, for my wife's business trip the next morning; I only had a 24-hr Walmart to source a replacement controller, late that Saturday night, as she was leaving at daylight the next day, for her trip way-up-north for "catastrophe insurance adjusting" somewhere in Minnesota, I believe. The only controller on the shelf at Walmart was a <$50 Reese unit (which is still working fine, today).

My next brake controller project will be on my AWD '01 BMW X5 3.0i "project car", which will require a special BMW module and wiring harness, or I'll have to rig up a series of modded work-arounds, if I am to tow my 2225 lb braked squareback trailer, using the 7-way wiring. I'm sure the X5 has sufficient braking power (discs all around), where I could tow it (sans electric brakes) using the 4-way wiring the previous owner installed, but like I said, it's on a project car.

Well written post with lots of info to consider. Thank you!