Forum Discussion

Bill_T's avatar
Bill_T
Explorer
Jul 23, 2014

Ford integrated brake control ??

Brother-in-law complains his trailer brakes are not working correctly. I went over this morning to help troubleshoot and we found this condition. Oh yeah, his truck is a 2012 F-250 Super Duty.

Working on the right rear wheel the adjustment ( Dexter self adjusting system) sounds and feels good. He pulled the safety brake pin and the wheel locked up, good. Peeled the sealant off the wire connectors to the magnet and read the voltage when he applied the brakes. With the gain set at 10 I read 4.5 to 6.8 volts, not good, right? With the gain still set at the max. of 10 I checked the voltage when the paddle switch was pulled together, 13.3 volts, good, right?

Disconnected the cord from the trailer to the truck. Read the voltage at the truck connector and had the same readings.

So to me, and I have no experience with this type of controller, it sounds as if the controller is not supping the required voltage.
Are we missing anything, is there another step we need to check?
Thanks for any suggestions or comments.
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  • raygreg's avatar
    raygreg
    Explorer
    Jul 23, 2014
    Doesn't the Ford have to be moving to apply full voltage to brakes?
  • Bill_T's avatar
    Bill_T
    Explorer
    Jul 23, 2014
    I have no idea, but I do know that the controller will send 13.3 volts to the truck receptacle when the manual switch is activated.
  • mich800's avatar
    mich800
    Explorer
    Jul 23, 2014
    Is the lower voltage pressing the brake and the higher voltage using the manual slider? I am not sure if that is what you are saying in the middle paragraph.
  • Lynnmor's avatar
    Lynnmor
    Explorer
    Jul 23, 2014
    Sounds like it is working great. If you have a concern, check the voltage at high speed while slamming on the brakes. Just kidding, the controller is speed sensitive. Folks that used the aftermarket******got used to the jerking.
  • stsmark's avatar
    stsmark
    Explorer
    Jul 23, 2014
    The Ford system uses a brake pressure input at the master cyl as well as gain setting. Try stabbing the pedal and measuring voltage you should see a difference between that and a normal push.
  • Bill_T's avatar
    Bill_T
    Explorer
    Jul 23, 2014
    mich800 the lower voltage is pressing the brake, the higher voltage is pressing the brake while also activating the manual control.

    After talking with three Ford dealerships I gained no further help. So I went where I probably should have gone first - Google.

    I found that the control was working correctly when the truck is still. Many states that have vehicle inspections were failing Ford trucks because the brakes would not lock down during their inspection. Ford issued a (pdf) explaining to them how the control works. With the truck stopped the control only sends a small amount of voltage/amps to the brakes to assist with a smooth stop.

    So now I have to figure out how to get my brother-in-law affixed to the side of the trailer so we can check the voltage at that wheel while going 20 mph and then throwing on the brakes to see if we can lock them up. Us good-old-boys should be able to dream up a neat way of doing this. lol

    Anyway thanks for your comments
  • Dave_H_M's avatar
    Dave_H_M
    Explorer II
    Jul 23, 2014
    :h My 2012 F 250 works great. max I runt the gain on the highway is 6.5.

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