My 2019 Ford F 150 towing

[Johnny_Hurryup]

I bought this truck a few months ago. It has the trailer hitch 7 pin connector and on the dash, a screen for towing info. But it has no brake controller with some kind of gain control. I'm shopping for a travel trailer. What do I need?

[Mike134]

pitch wrote:
5800 dry? yep you're good. Go for the factory controller.
Life is not as difficult as many on here would like it to be. Do numbers and ratings count? sure, but there is no reason for the slavish devotion some members have for them.
Folks on here revel in telling you,that you are wrong. that your set up is dangerous,that if you follow your plan a train load of nuns and orphans are going to die a fiery death, solely due to your ignorant selfishness.

Your best bet is to ignore all these self appointed scholars and crack open the owners manual and vehicle specific resources .
These guys are not a bad lot,but many suffer from armchairexpertitis.

X2 Kudos for the good advice.

[pitch]

5800 dry? yep you're good. Go for the factory controller.
Life is not as difficult as many on here would like it to be. Do numbers and ratings count? sure, but there is no reason for the slavish devotion some members have for them.
Folks on here revel in telling you,that you are wrong. that your set up is dangerous,that if you follow your plan a train load of nuns and orphans are going to die a fiery death, solely due to your ignorant selfishness.

Your best bet is to ignore all these self appointed scholars and crack open the owners manual and vehicle specific resources .
These guys are not a bad lot,but many suffer from armchairexpertitis.

[Johnny_Hurryup]

The truck has the 5.0 395 HP engine. 10 speed automatic. 3.31 axle ratio. The trailer I just put a deposit on weigh 5,800 lbs dry

[Boomerweps]

I find many of these replies hilarious. For 2019:
Ford F-150 bumper pull, no receiver, ALL are rated for 5000#.
Most with the 53B option, receiver & wiring, are rated at 7000# or slightly over.
Tow package 53A tow ratings are all over the place, engine, wheelbase, axle ratio, payload dependent.
Max Tow package 53C is the only package to include the Trailer Brake Controller (TBC), but it is available as a separate option.
Yes, payload rating is critically important. Separate subject.
The Ford F-150 forum is the place to find more information about your truck than you thought possible.
The factory TBC is a bargain for near $100. You do have to reprogram the truck with Forscan or have the dealer do it. That way you can use your dash display to monitor trailer functions.

[Lwiddis]

I didn’t misunderstand you, Mike. You are making tow weight recommendations withOUT knowing anything about the F150 except it has a tow screen and seven pin connector. Not responsible.

[spoon059]

OP, I don't know about the Ford controller, but I can highly recommend the Tekonsha P3. Great controller that is easy to wire in if your truck is prewired. Universal setup, lots of variables you can adjust. Its reasonably priced too.

[goducks10]

Sjm9911 wrote:
I thought this was about a break controller, the op dosen't even have a TT yet. Lol.

Your sig date shows that you haven't been on here reading posts for very long. The normal for threads to go off track is around 4-6 posts in. Some never get back on track. LOL

[Sjm9911]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001P11SCM/?tag=td-trailer-brake-controllers-pcr-20
I had this on my older gmc, worked great and was easy to install. The factory one will look better, not sure if that will play out into work better. But this should be all you need.

[OH48Lt]

The factory IBC is located to the right of the steering wheel and down low on the dash. If you don't have the factory IBC, there will be a small opening there that will have a plastic storage space box. The IBC wiring plug is already there, attached to a dummy plug on the back of that box. You have to remove that small box by taking apart some plastic pieces (center stack cover, console cover, etc). Plug in the IBC that you must buy for about $100, and put it back together. There are some YouTube videos on the subject. Be cautious about which IBC you buy. A Ford dealer will ask you for your VIN so you get the correct one. The ones for sale on eBay might not be the correct one for your vehicle.

Now you must tell the computer that the IBC is installed. A decent Ford dealership can do that for you, or you can do it yourself with the Forscan program. There are 2 lines of code that need modification. That is another entire discussion.

You probably also need to install a relay that Ford provides. Should be in your glove compartment unless somebody removed it or already installed it.

[packpe89]

Try to get this back on track. You can add an after market brake controller or try and get a OEM controller added. I would prefer the OEM as they seem to me to integrate better. When you tap your brakes, the trailer will also brake and the trick is to get this feeling seamlessly, so they stop together and not the trailer stopping the truck. The OEM seems to be better at this, I think. The other things going on here are, look at the payload sticker on your driver door jam and get your payload. This will tell you how much your truck can legally carry, including passengers, hitch, and weight of the trailer on the hitch (Tongue weight). There are also some comments on if you have a tow package, which would add a transmission cooler among other things. May want to mention which motor and drive ratio. Good Luck!

[2112]

Sjm9911 wrote:
I thought this was about a break controller, the op dosen't even have a TT yet. Lol.

The brake controller went on break!

We are providing the OP unsolicited information to consider when shopping for a TT.

[2112]

Agreed. According to the same weight police I should be using nothing short of a 1 ton DRW. I do admit I should be using a 3/4 ton, but this particular F-150 gets the job done nicely.

[Sjm9911]

I thought this was about a break controller, the op dosen't even have a TT yet. Lol.

[Mike134]

2112 wrote:

Mike134 wrote:

Johnny Hurryup wrote:
I bought this truck a few months ago. It has the trailer hitch 7 pin connector and on the dash, a screen for towing info. But it has no brake controller with some kind of gain control. I'm shopping for a travel trailer. What do I need?

I recommend the Ford integrated brake controller.
You'll find this forum advise seems to limit a F150 to 6000lbs the F150 forum folks are comfortable up to 8000lbs.

here's a link to get you started

https://www.f150forum.com/f118/adding-trailer-brake-controller-483714/

The real confusion is the fact that all F-150's are not built the same. You can't say you have an F-150, so you are good up to xxxxlbs. My previous 2005 F-150 was max'ed out towing a 6000lb TT. My current 2011 tows a 10,000lb FW very comfortably. This FW would have crushed the 2005's rear axle and smoked the tranny. You have to know your numbers.

Yes, I know my 2011 is a rare bird but I'm using this as an exaggerated example. Point is, F-150's have a wide range of spec's. You need to know your specific trucks specifications to determine what you can tow.

I agree but to my point there's a thread on this forum where they asked if it should be a 1/2T or 3/4T The weight police recommend a 1ton "just in case" For the trailer they were speaking about a 1/2T would be just fine.