Adding Trailer Brake Controller - Pre-Wired?

[papageoff]

 
I don't know if you have much experience with a brake controller, but that is way too low to reach to manually toggle your electric trailer brakes.    I hit mine manually every time I hook up the trailer to make sure I have the controller set at the right amount of drag.

+1 on that. Looks hard to reach.

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[crankman]

Yea thats a bit low for my tastes I put mine up a bit and it works just fine.

[ChristopherDB]

I really have no issues reaching it comfortably and I don't think my arms are any longer than average.

[Imcrazy]

https://www.amazon.com/Hopkins-47297-INSIGHT-Brake-Control/dp/B00C5THYIK

 

Before you buy, I'd strongly suggest this controller... You can mount the control in the same spot as OEM... I had a different controller prior to this and there just isn't a good spot IMO to put a traditional controller....

[Imcrazy]

How I installed mine. Used some 1” right angle aluminum to hold the slider in place along with some heavy duty 3m tape. The brain of the unit is mounted to the kick panel beyond the parking brake.


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[Robopie]

48 minutes ago, Imcrazy said:

How I installed mine. Used some 1” right angle aluminum to hold the slider in place along with some heavy duty 3m tape. The brain of the unit is mounted to the kick panel beyond the parking brake.


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That's damn cool.

[Imcrazy]

8 minutes ago, Robopie said:

That's damn cool.

I agree, not really any credit due to myself though, other than thinking of the right angle aluminum to secure the slider... The insight isn't really any more expensive than the other controllers out there and with my truck having the full center console I really had no good spot where I could reach the controller, have it look decent and also be able to read the display... It's not like a controller is a set it and forget it type thing I feel like you need to easily see and quickly reach the controls in case of an emergency without compromising your driving position... If you have the jump seat there might be more options for mounting... I do really wish GM made it easy to add the OEM brake controller after the truck is built but, they don't...

Edited April 25, 2018 by Imcrazy

[papageoff]

That's damn cool.

+1 on that. It is inexpensive for being so unique, too.

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[Donstar]

On 4/21/2018 at 3:12 PM, papageoff said:

Well, I've done it now... I've just committed to our RV rental for our next vacation.  We want to try it out and see if this is something we enjoy or not.  

 

I need to add a brake controller to the truck.  I'm planning to get the Tekonsha P3, but am open to other recommendations.  My question is about the truck, though. 

 

Are all the trucks pre-wired to accept a trailer brake controller?  Is there an RPO code I can look for?  

Good luck with your rental experience.  It is a costly experiment but cheaper than buying and regretting!  I simply went to my GM dealer and had them put the brake controller they stock in the place they recommend.  No problem.   Last spring we looked into renting but we decided to do more research, save our money until this spring and put it towards a trailer to own.  I know that some companies will apply the rental cost to a future purchase but this wasn't offered for the trailer we chose.  If you do decide to purchase, there is a trailer section in this forum that you may find some helpful tips and advice.

[papageoff]

6 minutes ago, Donstar said:

Good luck with your rental experience.  It is a costly experiment but cheaper than buying and regretting!  I simply went to my GM dealer and had them put the brake controller they stock in the place they recommend.  No problem.   Last spring we looked into renting but we decided to do more research, save our money until this spring and put it towards a trailer to own.  I know that some companies will apply the rental cost to a future purchase but this wasn't offered for the trailer we chose.  If you do decide to purchase, there is a trailer section in this forum that you may find some helpful tips and advice.

Thanks.  My wife and I are very interested in it, but I've never stayed in one before.  I've been looking at renting one for a couple years now and always let the cost put me off.  This year, I figured we'd blow a similar amount of money on a cruise or something else so why not.  I love cruising, but it does get old.  My issue with buying an RV is the feeling that I have to use it for every trip or we wasted the money.  It's an irrational (to a degree) mental thing I have to get over.

 

Good luck with your purchase!  If we do like it, we'll probably have ours by this time next year.

 

Geoff 

[NoLand]

Here’s mine. I wanted something as low key and unobtrusive as possible.


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[papageoff]

3 hours ago, NoLand said:

Here’s mine. I wanted something as low key and unobtrusive as possible.


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Heh... That's so unobtrusive, I thought that was a joke at first.  That's a neat product, actually.  

[papageoff]

Out of curiosity, why does the TBC harness on the truck provide constant 12V power?  Is there a situation where the truck would be completely off and the brake controller need to be active?  I'm asking because I'm considering wiring in a relay to the RAP circuit I use for the CB.  Anybody see a problem with that plan?

 

For posterity's sake... I'm going to mount it with Velcro to the dash by the A-pillar since there's just a big enough gap to get the wires through.  It'll be front and center, but out of the way.  I'll add some pictures when I'm done.  

[Imcrazy]

8 hours ago, NoLand said:

Here’s mine. I wanted something as low key and unobtrusive as possible.


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That is cool, where is the display & brain box mounted? Also how did you remove that trim piece to install the switch...

[NoLand]

That is cool, where is the display & brain box mounted? Also how did you remove that trim piece to install the switch...

That’s it for the display. It’s got LEDs in the dial so you can tell what it’s doing but it doesn’t have the detailed read outs like some other controllers. To get that trim piece off you have to take off the fuse box cover on the side and then it just pops out.

The brain is located up under the dash. It’s omnidirectional so I just got it out of sight.

It was definitely a little more $$ than the P3 and some others, but I wanted something that wasn’t in my face all the time since I’m only towing a few times per year.

https://www.etrailer.com/tv-review-redarc-tow-pro-elite-brake-controller-331-ebrh-accv2.aspx


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