trail-explorer wrote:
More reading:
Trailer Brake Controllers: What's Wrong and What's Right
Thank you for this article, written by Mike Levine at PickUp Trucks.com.
Now that proper attribution has been established, I will quote some of Mr Levine's article below:
Mike Levine wrote:
As great as these manufacturer solutions to trailer-brake situations are, GM’s and Dodge’s placement of the controllers concerns me. Perhaps some folks will react quickly to a brake controller on the left side of the steering column, but the majority of us react faster to a controller on the right side of the steering column. That’s why the long trailer-brake lever on a semi-truck is on the right side.
I spoke recently at an Air Stream RV trailer rally in Colorado about trailer safety. I asked the towing group of Air Stream owners if any of them had their trailer-brake controller on the left side of the steering column. No hands went up. I asked a GM engineer why that company puts the trailer-brake controller on the left side in its trucks, and the answer was that it’s easier, and there’s more room in the dash to locate the controller on the left side. While reviewing the all-new 2009 Dodge Ram last year in PickupTrucks.com's 2008 Light-Duty Shootout, I asked a Dodge engineer where the company put the trailer-brake controller in 2010 trucks and was again told it was easier to locate the controller on the left side.
The placement of these controllers presents an interesting safety issue. When your trailer is out of control and you need to grab just the trailer-brake controller, not the foot brake, with just seconds to avoid a tragedy, do you have the dexterity to do so with your left hand without taking your eyes off the road?
Trailer Brake Controller Message
Factory trailer brake controllers can display key messages in a trucks' driver information center. Aftermarket units may only display important notices in the brake controller itself, if at all depending on price.
Does it really matter? I think so, and my opinions come from hard-earned experience. I routinely tow heavy trailers across the country with my heavy-duty, five-speed manual pickup. Maintaining control over the trailer brakes helps keep me alive.
A 250-mile trip on I-70 through the Rockies in January with a gooseneck horse trailer really tested my trailer-braking skills using a controller manually. I slid on ice-covered asphalt even though the combined weight of my truck and trailer was well over 10,000 pounds. If I accelerated too quickly, the trucks’ rear tires would break loose and shift the truck sideways. Seven percent grades out of the Eisenhower Tunnel and Vail Pass in Colorado had me controlling my descent on curves with the trailer brakes only, using my aftermarket trailer-brake controller.
Until antilock brakes are available for trailers, if you’re on slick surfaces or in a trailer sway situation, you’ll likely need to apply the trailer brakes for control. Without an engine exhaust brake, a manual transmission going downhill can push engine RPMs against the redline if you don’t use the brakes some. Applying the trailer brakes first and then both for extra stopping power can be a safer choice.
I know people who have rolled their truck and trailer because they didn’t know to apply the trailer brakes first with a trailer-brake controller in a sway situation. It’s especially critical with conventional trailers, where the tongue weight of a trailer is behind the rear axle of the tow vehicle. Trailer sway can be magnified, and leaf springs on the trailer create so much momentum you can't control your rig. Over-the-road truckers know to grab the trailer-brake handle and hit the throttle to bring a trailer under control.
Truckers know to use the trailer brakes separately in bad weather and on winding roads, when the trailer wants to pass you. Generally, gooseneck trailers, with their tongue weight closer to the center of your pickup truck, sway less but can also try to jackknife on slippery roads. Speaking from experience, I jackknifed my flatbed gooseneck on a snow-drifted dirt road. The trailer brakes didn't work, so all I could do was watch my trailer, as if in slow motion, swing around and take out the driver’s side mirror and window. I've learned the hard way how important it is to have good trailer brakes and be able to quickly, safely brake the trailer independently.
Suffice to say, this is an issue manufacturers need to get right.
Ford Trailer Brake Controller
Of the three OEM optional factory trailer brake controllers, we prefer Ford's placement on the right-hand side of the driver.
I echo Mr. Levine's sentiments.
As a stick shift driver, I am more accustomed to hanging on to the steering wheel with my left hand, and shifting with my right. Note that this isn't a matter of preference, or a matter of being left handed or right handed. It is rather a matter of no choice, as it is dictated by the laws of the country one is driving in. In the USA, the FMVSS tell vehicle manufacturers to build cars with left hand drive, which means the right hand does the shifting.
I've driven stick shift vehicles in England and Australia, where the opposite is true, and that did take some getting used to. But back to the States...
Even for automatic transmission vehicles, all of the other controls such as HVAC, Radio, Navigation, and accessories, including in car hydration... are all right hand operations while the left hand remains on the steering wheel.
It is interesting to read Mr. Levine's article. Some time after that article was written, Ford Motor Company recruited Mike Levine to work as a marketing communications director at Ford, a job which Mr. Levine accepted. So some staunch brand loyalists (not that any such persons could be found here on rv.net) might claim pre disposed bias. But remember, when this article was written, Mr. Levine was simply the owner of brand agnostic PickupTrucks.com, not an employee of Ford.
And Mr. Levine isn't the only truck and rv journalist who felt this way. The guy who has the youtube channel called Big Truck and RV (something to that effect)... who does videos exploring all the features of the latest tow vehicles... pointed out the same issue of left hand versus right hand brake controls. I just saw that video this morning... hadn't seen it before.
So at least three people have thought about the issue independently. I'm sure there are others, including the designers of these trucks, because I noticed that the factory integrated trailer brake control on the new 2020 Ram 2500/3500 is also now on the right hand side of the steering wheel, in the center stack.
So now all three brands... Ford, Chevy, and Dodge aka Ram, have the trailer brake controller on the right hand side. Even though the GM and Ram claimed that there was more room to work with putting the controller on the left hand side of the dashboard, both brands somehow found room in subsequent designs to move the controller back over to the right hand side... even with the elimination of the manual shift standard transmission.
There were some brutally sarcastic remarks in the comments section following Mr. Levine's article. Some of the smart aleck respondents to this thread might enjoy reading the snide snippets on that link for more ideas on how to make rude remarks that do not contribute any useful or constructive experience or thoughts on the topic.
Ksss already corrected, and I have already acknowledged, my historical error on the model year when GM introduced the integrated brake controller in their trucks. Corrections are constructive... everyone gains. Caustic remarks however, obviously add no value to the discussion, so why make them?
If you don't have anything constructive to say, simply ignore this "silly" thread. It can't be any sillier than debating about a 0.1" in frame thickness, without knowing the material properties of the frame. However, I very much appreciate hearing about your use of integrated trailer brake controls, and/or your preference for where they are located on the dashboard, or any more corrections of relevant facts that you can think of to add.
Thanks again!
