Electric brakes settings

[rthibodaux]

Just courious, what setting do you'll use on the brake control. I have an 2012 Dodge and it came with built in brake controller.
thanks

[Artemus_Gordon]

My new F450 had detail video on line. Same Proceedure as my Prodigy 3. The funny thing is the setting are nearly the same!

[rthibodaux]

Thanks to all,

[goducks10]

Water-Bug wrote:

goducks10 wrote:
FWIW, I had a 10 F150 with OEM brake controller, Towed the same TT with it. Worked flawless. Got the new Ram and it's been downhill since. IMO Rams are hit or miss. Some love em, some don't. Never hear that with the Fords.

You must not have been listening. 🙂

Well my hearing is shot:)

[Water-Bug]

goducks10 wrote:
FWIW, I had a 10 F150 with OEM brake controller, Towed the same TT with it. Worked flawless. Got the new Ram and it's been downhill since. IMO Rams are hit or miss. Some love em, some don't. Never hear that with the Fords.

You must not have been listening. 🙂

[goducks10]

FWIW, I had a 10 F150 with OEM brake controller, Towed the same TT with it. Worked flawless. Got the new Ram and it's been downhill since. IMO Rams are hit or miss. Some love em, some don't. Never hear that with the Fords.

[retispcsi]

I have a 2012 Ram Dually and I love the factory brake controller. I tow a 36' fifth wheel depending on the load maybe 12 to 13 K. I pack light. I am still playing with my EBC but somewhere in the 5 range works great. In conjunction with the exhaust brake and tow haul mode I am impressed. My first trip took me the Geogia/Tenn/Ala border and some really nice hills in them Smokies. It worked as advertised and has continued on to impress on all my other trips. The setting you will use will depends on your trailer and the condition of those brakes, weight etc. As you use it you may adjust the settings as you get more comfortable with it. Good luck

[RoyB]

The first thing I did was use the manual brake shoe adj just like on regular wheels. I adjusted mine to just feel a small drag when spinning the wheel.then back off just a tad...

Then I did the road test as described above... I adjust the controller voltage to just below where the brakes will drag the wheels going around 25MPH.

My brake settings vary between 3 and 6 VDC

All of this should be described in your brake controller manual.

Another thing I always do when I first hook up and head out and that is to use the manual slider lever to stop both my trailer and my truck at a couple of slow stop signs. This warms up my brakes and keep them from jerking... This also tells me my trailer brakes are working as well...

My first truck did not have built-in brake controller and I was using the P2 brake controller. This was a great unit for me to use. When I traded trucks it had a built-in brake controller with all kinds of smarts from being connected to the truck computer systems. It had me going for awhile as using the brake pedals worked applying trailer brakes when going around 25 miles or faster but would not work under around 10MPH. I thought something was wrong with them until I called Ford. Apparently the 2009 Ford models and up all have this feature that the Ford Brake pedal is disengaged from the trailer brake controller when the speedometer is less than 10MPH. Have no idea what their reasoning is. I was very used to using my truck brake pedal to also apply brakes on the trailer when I was stopped at a stop sign. All of this will work when you are using the manual slider lever but will not work just pushing in on the truck brake pedal when below 10MPH.

I kinda like the idea of the trailer brakes to be locked down when being stopped at a stop sign especially if you are on a decline..

Now I have to reach down and apply trailer braking using the full manual braking lever when stopped at a stop sign which is no big deal but had to relearn things haha...

Roy Ken

[goducks10]

gcloss wrote:
I just bought my 2012 Ram 2500 last month with the factory brake controller. My trailer is probably about 6500 pounds. I set the controller to heavy and found the gain at 3.5 to be good slower driving. On the highway I have it between 5 to 6.

This past weekend was my first trip with the new truck. Truthfully I wasn't a bit impressed with the factory controller. I'm glad I saved my Prodigy P2 & cable from my old Ram. IMHO the Prodigy P2 is a far better controller than the factory installed controller.

I know someday soon, I will be finding a way to abandon the the factory controller and install the Prodigy.

If you haven't already gone to http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/

There are several guys that have replaced their TBC with an aftermarket one and explained how to do it and remove the warnings from the EVIC. Pretty simple, I wish I could remember.

[gcloss]

I just bought my 2012 Ram 2500 last month with the factory brake controller. My trailer is probably about 6500 pounds. I set the controller to heavy and found the gain at 3.5 to be good slower driving. On the highway I have it between 5 to 6.

This past weekend was my first trip with the new truck. Truthfully I wasn't a bit impressed with the factory controller. I'm glad I saved my Prodigy P2 & cable from my old Ram. IMHO the Prodigy P2 is a far better controller than the factory installed controller.

I know someday soon, I will be finding a way to abandon the the factory controller and install the Prodigy.

[goducks10]

Loaded question for me. I also have a 12 Ram with the OEM TBC. I tow 8500lbs, 5'er has 12" brakes and the 5'er is brand new. My OEM TBC is junk. Our last TT we had the TBC barely worked. Original was replaced under warranty @1,000 miles. New one is not much better. Traded the TT in on a 2013 Fox Mountain 5'er and now the TBC is over reacting to all conditions. There are several settings to choose from. I have my set to elec light and use 5.5 on gain. However when in town I have to turn it to 0 gain. When stopping and starting or reversing it's like a shoving match between the truck and trailer. Jerking and what not. When I come to a stop and let up on the brakes to go the 5'er brakes take another second to release. Making a jerking motion in the truck. Reversing is horrible, I just get out and unplug the 5'ers 7 pin plug. Even when setting the gain to 0 in town and backing up you can still feel the truck and 5'er not working together. There has been numerous reports of bad TBC's with the Ram.

Sorry to get off topic on this, but hope yours works better than mine does.
To set it you need to do the TBC road test, drive at 25 mph and slide the manual brake lever over and if the brakes lock then dial back the gain till they don't lock. You want the TBC gain set at the point just below where the trailer brakes lock up. I would just start at 7 and work down. And like everyone says all trailers are different so gain will be different.

Another confusing thing with the Ram's TBC is there are no guidelines for weight settings between light and heavy. I do know that with my 8500lb 5'er that the heavy setting is too much.

[Water-Bug]

The OPs 2012 Dodge factory brake controller should have a high and low range selection,. Without knowing the weight of his trailer, it is impossible to give him a setting guesstimate or even which range to select.

[MFL]

The setting on your controller will vary. It depends on the condition of the trailer brakes, the wiring, brake adjustment, etc.

My Ford manual says to start at 6.0, but 4.5-5.0 is plenty, while lightly loaded.

Jerry

[sk734]

Built in controller with my truck.