I recently bought a Lexington 24 foot class C motorhome. I have owned class C's for many years but have never towed anything. This unit has an electric brake controller mounted on the lower dash to the right of the steering wheel. From what I've read, this is for electric brake help when towing a trailer. Why would someone pull a trailer with a class C motorhome? I have no idea what this gizmo is for. Maybe just for tow lights?

People tow trailers with a class C for the same reason they tow them with any other vehicle-to get them where they need to go. ;) Not sure about your area, but where I live I see Cs towing boats, race car trailers, snowmobiles, everything. By looking at ratings, the larger (mostly) Ford based Cs are limited to 3500 or 5000 pounds towing capacity. But lots of people ignore that, I've seen several Cs towing large tandem axle enclosed trailers without issues. I sometimes towed a smaller 6x12 enclosed with mine, and the only time I knew it was there was when I was turning a corner and could see it in the mirrors.And yes, the "gizmo" on your motorhome's dash is for activating the electric brakes on a trailer.

Lots of reasons to pull a trailer, primarily toys (boat, quads, motorcycles, etc.), or sometimes just extra cargo. Trailer brake laws vary by state, but with brakes required as low as 1000lbs, and class C tow ratings up to 7500lbs, there's plenty cases where brakes and therefore a controller is required.

The gizmo is to control and activate the actual brakes on trailer wheels (presuming the trailer has electric brakes). The brake lights are separate, and no special controller is generally needed for them; they're just switched on with the vehicle brake lights.(Technically, trailers do use combined brake and turn lights, so there may be a sort of control circuit needed if the tow vehicle has separate brake and turn lights. You wouldn't see such a light circuit adapter box accessible on the dashboard, nor does it have any adjustments or controls to operate.)

OK thanks for the replies. Now when I think about it, duh, I have seen lots of people towing boats and utility trailers with their class c. For some reason I was picturing a travel trailer when I posted and don't recall ever seeing a class C towing a travel trailer. Thanks for clearing that up.

I saw one towing a pop-up camper, last summer on I-40. Figured they needed extra sleeping room.

class c brake controller | Good Sam Community

12 Replies

NWboondocker
Explorer
Feb 29, 2016
Lots of reasons to pull a trailer, primarily toys (boat, quads, motorcycles, etc.), or sometimes just extra cargo. Trailer brake laws vary by state, but with brakes required as low as 1000lbs, and class C tow ratings up to 7500lbs, there's plenty cases where brakes and therefore a controller is required.
rjstractor
Nomad
Feb 29, 2016
People tow trailers with a class C for the same reason they tow them with any other vehicle-to get them where they need to go. ;) Not sure about your area, but where I live I see Cs towing boats, race car trailers, snowmobiles, everything. By looking at ratings, the larger (mostly) Ford based Cs are limited to 3500 or 5000 pounds towing capacity. But lots of people ignore that, I've seen several Cs towing large tandem axle enclosed trailers without issues. I sometimes towed a smaller 6x12 enclosed with mine, and the only time I knew it was there was when I was turning a corner and could see it in the mirrors.

And yes, the "gizmo" on your motorhome's dash is for activating the electric brakes on a trailer.

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class c brake controller

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