? Not feeling trailer brake from brake pedal.

[RichardCranium]

Since I don't have my truck yet, this is kind of a question about the integrated trailer brake controller. I have used 2 different types of trailer brake controllers when towing my 3200lb travel trailer. the first was just the cheap adjustable controller that was wired into the brake light switch on my van. I would set the gain and it would apply the same amount of brake no matter the situation. This meant that the trailer would over brake during light braking and under brake with hard braking. When I got my truck, I upgraded to a controller with a gravity sensor and it plugged into the harness under the dash. If I was braking hard, the controller would sense the hard brake and increase the braking on the trailer, a light brake used the trailer brakes less. This made the braking EXTREEMLY smooth and I could not feel the trailer brakes initializing, but I knew they were working because the truck would stop differently when connected (I had some oxidation in the plug once and they were not working and forgot to plug in once and could really tell how much different the braking was with the controller on). Now, at 3200lbs, My situation is different than OPs.
I have never towed with an integrated brake controller, only aftermarket add on units. I am excited that my 4K tow package will come with the controller because it will make it so easy.
Now, after my background, my question is about how the integrated brake controllers work. Since they are built into the vehicle, does the brake controller use the data on the amount of brake pressure to adjust the power sent to the trailer brakes? Or does it use some other type of sensor to adjust the trailer brake power? If it uses one of these 2 methods, then I would expect the trailer braking to be very smooth, to the point where it doesn't feel like the trailer brakes are going, even if the gain is set to full power.

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[Johnkn]

Its just the dealership says everything is properly I will find out what testing they did and do more of my own once I pick it up today. It sucks because its been a 2 month process to get the truck into service.

Irrespective of what they say, the dealership likely did zero testing to confirm trailer brake operation.

But you can simply drive the truck/trailer in back-to-back tests with the trailer unplugged and then plugged in with the gain set up and feel if there's a difference in stopping, there should be zero question in your mind.

good luck....

 

[Johnkn]

Since I don't have my truck yet, this is kind of a question about the integrated trailer brake controller. I have used 2 different types of trailer brake controllers when towing my 3200lb travel trailer. the first was just the cheap adjustable controller that was wired into the brake light switch on my van. I would set the gain and it would apply the same amount of brake no matter the situation. This meant that the trailer would over brake during light braking and under brake with hard braking. When I got my truck, I upgraded to a controller with a gravity sensor and it plugged into the harness under the dash. If I was braking hard, the controller would sense the hard brake and increase the braking on the trailer, a light brake used the trailer brakes less. This made the braking EXTREEMLY smooth and I could not feel the trailer brakes initializing, but I knew they were working because the truck would stop differently when connected (I had some oxidation in the plug once and they were not working and forgot to plug in once and could really tell how much different the braking was with the controller on). Now, at 3200lbs, My situation is different than OPs.
I have never towed with an integrated brake controller, only aftermarket add on units. I am excited that my 4K tow package will come with the controller because it will make it so easy.
Now, after my background, my question is about how the integrated brake controllers work. Since they are built into the vehicle, does the brake controller use the data on the amount of brake pressure to adjust the power sent to the trailer brakes? Or does it use some other type of sensor to adjust the trailer brake power? If it uses one of these 2 methods, then I would expect the trailer braking to be very smooth, to the point where it doesn't feel like the trailer brakes are going, even if the gain is set to full power.

There's a pedal pressure sensor, but the max is governed by the manual gain setting.. The gain should be adjusted each time the load changes, or if the conditions (rain) change. Operation should be smooth regardless, the driver shouldn't really feel anything different, only that the stopping distance is greatly improved vs no trailer brakes..

Also, (I don't have a TBC on my Hybrid, only on my other trucks and vehicles) make sure your trailer is correctly configured in the display's trailer settings. I would suspect your trailer being so small only has 'electric' brakes so select that setting as opposed to 'electric over hydraulic' (if that's correct for your trailer).



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[RogueCheddar]

I run a 2700lb traver trailer with 4k package (see profile pic), under light braking sometimes the only way I know my trailer brakes are working is the trailer will push the rear of the truck down very slightly so you don't get the front "squat" like you would under normal braking, with the brakes off the truck brakes as normal. Like others have said, the trailer brakes are there to neutralize the trailers weight not to brake the tow vehicle

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