Camper - Brake Controller Installation

[Neto]

Anyone here install a brake controller in their vehicle that wasn't already wired for the 7-pin connector?
Favorite brand/design for the controller? (I think I will want a proportional type. Comments?)
Wire gauge back to the trailer connector? (10 or 12?)

[Trailer: single axle, Whitewater model 177. (Inside dimensions: 8 x 16) Gross Weight is around 3,500 to 3,800 lbs., but haven't had it on a scale.
Tow vehicle (for the time being): 2010 Dodge Grand Caravan with the factory tow package (4.0L V6, trans cooler, engine oil cooler, extra large radiator, air adjustable rear suspension, class III OEM hitch). It currently has only the 4-pin trailer harness installed.]

Other comments: Currently not planning to go far with this set up - 35 miles 1-way, all US highway, 2-lane, with 55 MPH speed limit. (I would drive slower - "Be a Leader!")

[temporal1]

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[silentreader]

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Are you Curious where George is?

[Josh]

I have a 7 pin on my F-150 but no brake controller and I sort of need one for my 4,500 lb. camper/addition to my house.

[Ken]

I installed Tekonsha proportional brake controllers on my 2003 Sienna and then later on a 2016 Highlander to pull the large 3800 lb dual-axle popup trailer that we used to own.

Both times it was a pretty big hassle and I had to follow installation videos on etrailer.com where I bought the controllers. I had to pull up carpeting and panels to run all the wiring from front to back since neither car came pre-wired for 7-pin. If I was buying a car now to tow with I'd be sure to get one pre-wired for that.

In any event, after the hassle of installation (which I suspect would be the same for any brand) the Tekonsha worked find for years in both cars. In fact it was the same controller I've been using for 15 years, just installed a new wiring harness in the Highlander when I switched it over but kept the same controller. We hauled that camper thousands and thousands of miles all over the south and southwest and finally sold it after we moved back to the Pacific Northwest and where camping is frankly less good for complicated reasons.

[Neto]

I have a 7 pin on my F-150 but no brake controller and I sort of need one for my 4,500 lb. camper/addition to my house.

I'm curious if you've looked to see if there is already a wire there that is to go to a brake controller. From what I've seen in on-line research (which is only so reliable), many vehicles that have the 7-pin connector installed from the factory have this connection already wired in. (Our Dodge minivan came with the 4-pin trailer harness - not installed, but from the factory - but if there is this other wire already installed, or a terminal that accepts the controller, then I haven't been able to find it.)

Thanks for your reply.

[Neto]

I installed Tekonsha proportional brake controllers on my 2003 Sienna and then later on a 2016 Highlander to pull the large 3800 lb dual-axle popup trailer that we used to own.

Both times it was a pretty big hassle and I had to follow installation videos on etrailer.com where I bought the controllers. I had to pull up carpeting and panels to run all the wiring from front to back since neither car came pre-wired for 7-pin. If I was buying a car now to tow with I'd be sure to get one pre-wired for that.

In any event, after the hassle of installation (which I suspect would be the same for any brand) the Tekonsha worked find for years in both cars. In fact it was the same controller I've been using for 15 years, just installed a new wiring harness in the Highlander when I switched it over but kept the same controller. We hauled that camper thousands and thousands of miles all over the south and southwest and finally sold it after we moved back to the Pacific Northwest and where camping is frankly less good for complicated reasons.

That's the brand that I'm leaning toward, and also the proportional type. Some are now controlled through an app installed on a cell phone, and I don't want that - I think that I prefer one with the physical control lever, to over-ride the normal settings and apply just the trailer brakes, in case it wants to "come around & pass me".
I've pulled smaller trailers, mostly cut off pickup beds that were converted for a trailer, and once drove a borrowed pickup to haul this same Dodge Grand caravan from Ohio to Oklahoma. (Then my son-in-law drove the pickup back here, hauling my 46 Plymouth on the trailer, and I drove back to Ohio later in the Caravan.) We've never owned a camper before - just tents....

[Ken]

I installed Tekonsha proportional brake controllers on my 2003 Sienna and then later on a 2016 Highlander to pull the large 3800 lb dual-axle popup trailer that we used to own.

Both times it was a pretty big hassle and I had to follow installation videos on etrailer.com where I bought the controllers. I had to pull up carpeting and panels to run all the wiring from front to back since neither car came pre-wired for 7-pin. If I was buying a car now to tow with I'd be sure to get one pre-wired for that.

In any event, after the hassle of installation (which I suspect would be the same for any brand) the Tekonsha worked find for years in both cars. In fact it was the same controller I've been using for 15 years, just installed a new wiring harness in the Highlander when I switched it over but kept the same controller. We hauled that camper thousands and thousands of miles all over the south and southwest and finally sold it after we moved back to the Pacific Northwest and where camping is frankly less good for complicated reasons.

That's the brand that I'm leaning toward, and also the proportional type. Some are now controlled through an app installed on a cell phone, and I don't want that - I think that I prefer one with the physical control lever, to over-ride the normal settings and apply just the trailer brakes, in case it wants to "come around & pass me".
I've pulled smaller trailers, mostly cut off pickup beds that were converted for a trailer, and once drove a borrowed pickup to haul this same Dodge Grand caravan from Ohio to Oklahoma. (Then my son-in-law drove the pickup back here, hauling my 46 Plymouth on the trailer, and I drove back to Ohio later in the Caravan.) We've never owned a camper before - just tents....

It works very well. There is a motion detector (accelerometer) built in so that as you apply the vehicle brakes it senses the the braking and applies brakes to the trailer. You have to calibrate it so that it gives you sufficient braking but doesn't lock up your trailer brakes. There is a calibration adjustment for that and instructions.

There is also a little lever on the controller that lets you apply trailer brakes manually which I never used and forget about. But if you are quick thinking in an emergency you could use it. especially if your regular brakes failed or something. Or if your trailer is fishtailing and you need to get it under control. That would probably help.

Trailer brakes become increasingly important the larger your trailer is in ratio to your tow vehicle. If you are towing trailers that are getting close to the same weight as your tow vehicle you need trailer brakes, and especially if the trailer is heavier than the tow vehicle. For a lightweight trailer not so important.

The other thing to keep in mind is your trailer weight distribution. You want a good portion of the trailer weight on the tongue (center of balance in front of the axle) as that is far more stable than a balanced trailer or one in which the center of balance is behind the axle. There are all sorts of videos on YouTube that show this. The normal novice reaction is to balance your trailer so that you don't have a lot of weight on the tongue and less weight on the rear of your car. But this is wrong and less stable. There are formulas for this. The most stable arrangement of all is to put a lot of weight on the tongue and then use a weight distributing hitch to distribute the weight evenly to the vehicle frame. That is what the serious RV trailer people do.

You can get away with a lot of mistakes in ordinary driving. But eventually you'll be pulling a heavy trailer at 65 or 70 mph in a crosswind or around a corner or on a steep descent and have to swerve suddenly to avoid an incoming car or something on the road and that moment is when everything you have done right or wrong in your setup will make the difference in whether you crash into the ditch or keep driving like nothing happened.

[Neto]

Ken,
Yeah, or a blowout. We had a tire blow out on the trailer at 70 MPH on I-70 on the way out to Oklahoma, with the Caravan on the trailer. I heard it, but since it was a dual axle trailer, I was able to just slow down w/o using the brakes much if at all, move off on the shoulder and continue on to the next exit at 40 to 45 MPH. (With the emergency flashers going, of course.)
The only other blowouts I've had were many years back, on the rear of my 62 Chrysler. Both were on two lane roads, and the car wasn't difficult to control at all. But this trailer is a single axle, so that might get a bit exciting.

[Ken]

Ken,
Yeah, or a blowout. We had a tire blow out on the trailer at 70 MPH on I-70 on the way out to Oklahoma, with the Caravan on the trailer. I heard it, but since it was a dual axle trailer, I was able to just slow down w/o using the brakes much if at all, move off on the shoulder and continue on to the next exit at 40 to 45 MPH. (With the emergency flashers going, of course.)
The only other blowouts I've had were many years back, on the rear of my 62 Chrysler. Both were on two lane roads, and the car wasn't difficult to control at all. But this trailer is a single axle, so that might get a bit exciting.

Yeah, that's the other thing about trailers. People let their trailer tires get WAY too old. You almost never replace them when they are worn out, but when they have aged out and expired and the rubber has turned hard. Recipe for disaster. People pull trailers out of storage that have been there for 20 years and think they are good to go when there is still tread on the tires. Nope.