Just to clarify, when I said "dated" and "old" in my original post, I put those adjectives in quotation marks back when I first wrote them, as I have again just now. What those quotation marks are intended to distinguish is someone else's idea from my own.
I do not personally think that the 2015 era GM interior is "dated" or "old"... how could I, when the very newest interior I have is at least a dozen years older than that. The quotes mean that by some standards, the interior is dated compared to the most recent GM interiors now in the 1500 and soon to be in the 2500/3500. The quotes are a mechanism to highlight the fact that GM updated the interiors, and in that update, GM moved the trailer brake controller from the left hand side to the right hand side.
IIRC, Ford introduced the integrated trailer brake controller in 2005. Right hand side. Ford has revamped the entire interior in both the 150 and the 250/350/450/550 several times since 2005, and in each successive design iteration, Ford has always kept the integrated trailer brake controller on the right hand side.
By contrast, GM only had the left hand brake controller in place for one relatively short (just 3 or 4 years?) design cycle. The very next design cycle, GM moved the brake controller to the right hand side. This is the difference that caught my attention.
I've never owned or operated a pickup truck with factory integrated brake controller, or a factory integrated exhaust brake. My medium duty truck is 20 years old. My motivation for this post isn't to criticize GM. What I am hoping to gain from responses to this thread is the benefit of other user's experiences with the operation of factory integrated brake controls, and their placement on either side of the steering wheel, in combination with other tools that did not exist when my truck was built, which includes the exhaust brakes now common to many diesel powered light and medium trucks.
Responses that merely point out my inexperience with the operation of either of these devices are not as instructive or as helpful as responses that talk about YOUR experience with switching from right hand to left hand brake controls, and if the switch was at all bothersome in any way.
Thanks!
