ford integrated brake controller revisited - Montana Owners Club

rubble express · 11-06-2007, 03:45 PM

I couldn't find my old post about "why not set it at 100% and forget it)so here's a new one. We just got back from a 1600 hundred round trip. Haven't got the fuel bill yet but that's a different story. I didn't weigh this time but we were fully loaded (probably 11.5K on the trailer axles and 2500lbs on the pin). I tried the trailer only brakes from 30 mph at 7.5 with no lock up. I went to 10 at 30 mph although had much greater effect, still no lock up. Of course panic stopping with the TV might change this. Having said this, I have no issue with setting the controller at 10 with a full load and good, dry pavement. This controller comes on very slowly (too slowly, in fact.) and by the time you had to really "lay on" the brakes, you would be normally be below that speed and avoid lock up. I am not reccommending this to any one who is not comfortable with it, but am only saying that I have no problem with it. My brakes are new and adjusted properly (by me). I wish there was a way to adjust the bias so that the brakes would come on quicker. Under normal,reasonable braking, I rarely get above one or two bars on the display which means I am using the TV brakes more than I really want. The tow/haul feature of the Torque Shift transmission is really awesome and this may have something to do with it. Chevy and/or Dodge folks may have to set it a little lower in order to deal with their inherent short comings...(sorry, had to say it

). End of report...waiting on gas bill

. Barney

sailer · 11-06-2007, 04:14 PM

i also find it hard to get much more than 2 or 3 bars except at a quick change of a trafic light and it won't stop so i run it as we don't stop till we are half way through anyway so when i see the problem i look both ways lay on the horn and try to stop but maybe we were going tooo fast anyway maybe i have to slow down more in those times john

bsmeaton · 11-07-2007, 02:54 AM

Cmon over to the Rockies and I'll show ya 5 or 6 bars headin down Loveland Pass

.

If I set my controller to 10 - the rear tires would be bald and the trailer brakes on fire before I got to the bottom. I still think you have something wrong Barney, as I do not get the same results.
As I said before - when heading down Wolf Creek Pass last year with an empty trailer, heavy braking at a 6.5 setting was causing the trailer to lay down skid marks and I had to back it off to 5.5.

pud2 · 11-07-2007, 12:58 PM

You also have to remember that the ford intergrated controller also uses the antilock system on the trailer brakes. Therefore i don't think you should any lockup.

bsmeaton · 11-07-2007, 02:35 PM

Pud,

The Ford system integrates the trailer with the antilock brakes, but does not provide antilock for the trailer. It explains it in the manual.

timandsusan · 11-08-2007, 04:07 AM

When I got our Monty last year, we set the Ford controller around 2 to 3 so the trailer brakes would not lock up. So far--after about 20,000 miles in 2 years, everything is still set up the same and I can STOP!

Jim Jarvis · 11-08-2007, 05:09 AM

Does not seem to matter on mine if it is set to 1 or 10. It never locks up, even on gravel. If I squeeze the handles or whatever you call them it will lock up. I often wonder if there is a problem with my controller.

sreigle · 11-08-2007, 05:17 AM

If you set any controller too high you will heat the brake linings and cause stress cracks in the linings, along with excessive wear. I had this happen to me when setting a Prodigy controller too high a few years ago. Our dealer service manager told me to back off (I went from a 9 setting to 7) on the controller. The next year he said the brakes looked good but that first time he said the magnets were worn to nearly 45 degrees and the linings had stress cracks. When the magnet goes to or past 45 degrees the linings do not want to return to the non-braking position and will stick.

I can lock up the wheels at 15 or 20 mph using the lever on the controller on this 3400. On our 3295 I could not quite lock them up.

I agree your controller doesn't sound right. On my 2005 Ford that integrated controller worked better than any controller I ever owned, including the Prodigy. It came on quickly and worked well. You might see if you can have yours checked.

Also, on any Ford built before sometime in March 2003 the controller limited output under 10 mph. That was an issue I took up with Ford because it meant I couldn't use the controller to lock the trailer wheels in order to slide the slider. After mid-March 2003 they changed it to put normal power to the brakes at the low speed too.

Fire5er · 11-08-2007, 05:48 AM

I though it wasn't a good idea for the trailer brakes to lock-up during a stop??? I know that when I test my trailer breaks prior to getting on the road, by sliding the bar together on the break controller, the trailer brakes hold the truck from moving forward. What more do you want? My break controller is set at 8.5. Please educate me if that is the wrong way.

Karl

BB_TX · 11-08-2007, 06:09 AM

Ford's instructions say to test your brake controller by driving at about 20 mph and applying the trailer brakes by sliding the bar to max. If the brakes do not lock up, increase the gain and try again until they do lock up. Then back the gain off a little. You are correct, you do not want them to lock up when towing.

Jim Jarvis · 11-08-2007, 12:06 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by BB_TX

Ford's instructions say to test your brake controller by driving at about 20 mph and applying the trailer brakes by sliding the bar to max. If the brakes do not lock up, increase the gain and try again until they do lock up. Then back the gain off a little. You are correct, you do not want them to lock up when towing.

I will have to experiment with mine. At 10 I would have thought they would lock up on gravel but they did not. Recently when my truck was out of commission a friend hauled my Big Sky, he had a Reese controller and it locked the first time he applied the brakes. He adjusted from there but I've never had a lock up and I have tried every setting. I will experiment this weekend in a parking lot using your method above. Thanks. Also thank you for your post Steve.

jretz · 11-08-2007, 12:28 PM

In over 7,000 miles around the U.S. I have had my indicator bars go clear across on several down hill grades. I keep mine set at 8.0, at 8.5 with the control on the dash I can lock my trailer brakes as described in the manual. Today I had to make a quick, not quite a panic stop, and I was supprised how fast the rig stopped, and with no brake lock-up.

rubble express · 11-08-2007, 04:36 PM

I'm pretty sure my set up is working just fine. During my post-hookup check, with the hand controller "squeezed" I cannot pull the unit from a stadstill even when it is set at 7. As I said before, I am amazed how quickly this rig will stop when needed. If it were very lightly loaded it might be a different story, but as we normally are pretty close to max gross, locking up the wheels is near impossible as far as I can see. Of course I have only tried it by the "squeeze" method in anger, so maybe I will get a big suprise one day. As the big rig stops just fine at 7 or 8 I will probably run at this setting in case we come across some unseen moisture, etc. but I still think you would be ok setting it higher.

BB_TX · 11-09-2007, 12:31 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by pud2

You also have to remember that the ford intergrated controller also uses the antilock system on the trailer brakes. Therefore i don't think you should any lockup.

As Brad said, the trailer does not have anti lock brakes. Your TV has wheel speed sensors and pump controls at each wheel. Your trailer is not going to have that.
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/anti-lock-brake.htm

sreigle · 11-09-2007, 06:38 AM

I might comment that when I said I changed mine to a 7 setting, that was on a Prodigy. Each controller is different. If I recall, on the Ford I used 8.5. You probably all know that already but I wanted to mention it in case someone with a different controller is thinking they must have the wrong setting because of the numbers they see here. The best way to set the controller is the method described in the controller manual. If you can get the wheels to lock up, that is.

You may also like: