F150 trailer brake setting

FYI, if you have them set to tight, you will notice weird hopping/tugging and make you think you have a rotor warped. It is the trailer brakes yanking the tongue down. Then goes back up when let off brake lightly, etc etc. It's a vicious cycle.

I have a 2014 Screw FX4 and tow a KZ Spree 240BHS that weighs around 5000 loaded to camp. I had initially had the brake controller set to 10 after following the instructions in manual and it was working fine.

One day while working on the camper I noticed I had loose wire to one of the 4 wheels, fixed it and went out for weekend with controller set to 10. Brakes on trailer would lock up at lower speeds consistently.

I gradually lowered the setting on the controller until the lock up stopped, I was at 5 when this happened and have left it there since.

Took it out this week in mountains still set at 5 and everything seems to be working great.

Good info. Thanks for taking the time. :)

Samsonsworld wrote:

Gdetrailer wrote:

Samsonsworld wrote:
If it's like my 2013, go ahead and set it on 10.

If you HAVE to use #10 or max setting you HAVE a problem with your brakes mechanically and or electrically.

I tow a 26ft TT and a 18ft utility trailer, I upgraded the wiring on the trailers and the highest setting I can use is 4.5.. on my 2013 F250 IBC..

My TT weighs in about 6K loaded and 4.5 gives me a slight pull feeling of when stepping on the brakes.

My utility trailer empty weighs 2.4K and 4.5 will easily LOCK the trailer brakes when empty if I step to hard on the brakes but with a 4K-5K load is perfect..

I would highly recommend that you rewire your trailer, use 10ga wire as a min and you will be able to reduce the output setting easily.

Not sure how that would explain why it works great manually. When I press the brake it displays strength bars. I have to stand on them pretty hard just to get to 5/10.

Manual control simply bypasses the controller inputs (IE brake pedal, speed of vehicle, transmission gear, ABS and so on) that the controller uses to determine how much trailer brake needs to be applied.

In other words you are nothing more than over riding the controller.

You need to start from some basics..

Not ALL trailer brakes can be locked up depending on weight of the trailer.

RV OEM wiring is the bare minimum size for the CURRENT of the circuit (IE 4 brake magnets is a max of 12A so they use 14 ga wire which can handle 15A)..

The problem with that is 14 ga wire depending on the length will have considerable resistance.

This resistance reduces the voltage that gets to the brake magnets which reduces the max current that the magnets can draw..

This reduces the STRENGTH of the magnets which reduces the strength of the brakes applied..

Effectively reducing the capacity of your trailer brakes.

Reducing the resistance between the brake controller and the brake magnets can restore the effective braking power back to where it should be..

On top os this 14 ga wire you will have multiple splices in the wire..

Many of the splices are out in the weather..

The splices are cheap non weather proof type..

This allows for the spice to corrode further reducing your braking power by introducing more resistance at each connection..

The secret to my success is the fact that I replaced the OEM 14 ga wire with two pairs of 10 ga wire.. Additionally my connections are combo soldered/crimped and sealed with liquid tape to prevent the weather from corroding the connections.

The result is roughly 25% more braking power than if I left the OEM wire connected..

Sure, you could bypass your OEM controller with a P3 and perhaps you might get slightly better feeling brakes but keep in mind that is just a temporary fix and you are missing out on what IS the best brake controller (IBC)..

Your IBC overall hands down is the smoothest controller and not to mention since it is integrated with the vehicle it has more information to work with vs a P3 which uses a brake light to signal the start of deceleration and then has to determine the decel rate and then apply output..

Your IBC is a bit more sensitive to BAD TRAILER WIRING and that IS A GOOD THING. It does not hide the fact that the trailer wiring is wimpy or bad.. When Ford first introduced a IBC there were a lot of complaints about Not trailer connected warnings, replacing the trailer wiring with better wire pretty much fixed those warnings..

Gdetrailer wrote:

Samsonsworld wrote:
If it's like my 2013, go ahead and set it on 10.

If you HAVE to use #10 or max setting you HAVE a problem with your brakes mechanically and or electrically.

I tow a 26ft TT and a 18ft utility trailer, I upgraded the wiring on the trailers and the highest setting I can use is 4.5.. on my 2013 F250 IBC..

My TT weighs in about 6K loaded and 4.5 gives me a slight pull feeling of when stepping on the brakes.

My utility trailer empty weighs 2.4K and 4.5 will easily LOCK the trailer brakes when empty if I step to hard on the brakes but with a 4K-5K load is perfect..

I would highly recommend that you rewire your trailer, use 10ga wire as a min and you will be able to reduce the output setting easily.

Not sure how that would explain why it works great manually. When I press the brake it displays strength bars. I have to stand on them pretty hard just to get to 5/10.

The only way to get it set correctly, is to try it at various settings. No two trailers will require the exact same setting due to brake wear and adjustment of the trailer brakes.

5.7 has worked very well for me, but then again you must adjust for the size/weight of the trailer. If I am on gravel, the 5.7 setting will lock the trailer brakes. However you must keep in mind that you may have to adjust depending on the conditions at the time.

I have mine set at 7 and it seems about right. No locking up and when braking it feels about the same as with the naked truck.

Samsonsworld wrote:
If it's like my 2013, go ahead and set it on 10.

If you HAVE to use #10 or max setting you HAVE a problem with your brakes mechanically and or electrically.

I tow a 26ft TT and a 18ft utility trailer, I upgraded the wiring on the trailers and the highest setting I can use is 4.5.. on my 2013 F250 IBC..

My TT weighs in about 6K loaded and 4.5 gives me a slight pull feeling of when stepping on the brakes.

My utility trailer empty weighs 2.4K and 4.5 will easily LOCK the trailer brakes when empty if I step to hard on the brakes but with a 4K-5K load is perfect..

I would highly recommend that you rewire your trailer, use 10ga wire as a min and you will be able to reduce the output setting easily.

I have 2015 SCab and tow 30ft 7200# Dutchmen. My brake sitting is a 7#