How To Install Brake Controller In Rv

East Coast Overland Adventures' ethos is to educate, encourage, and inspire other enthusiasts in the overland adventure community, whether that's through travel tips, informational guides or product advice.

After a risk meeting with REDARC at the 2022 Overland Expo Eastward event, Dean from ECOA decided to trial REDARC's Tow-Pro Elite electric trailer brake controller in his 2022 Jeep M Cherokee.

Hither are some of Dean'due south thoughts on the installation procedure of his REDARC restriction controller organisation.

plug and play brake controller jeep cherokee

A plug and play brake controller install for a Jeep One thousand Cherokee

If anyone has ever installed a brake controller in the by you know what a pain in the... but they are. You take to get up under the nuance, discover wires, splice into them, and and so wedge the controller upward in at that place in a fashion that is still oriented properly. Once all is said and done you lot have to pray no wires wiggle loose and then accept something to blindside your shin on for the rest of your life. Not so with the Tow-Pro Elite. REDARC fabricated this a very elegant solution for installation into a mod vehicle.

What actually makes this install easy is that this 2022 Grand Cherokee is equipped with a factory "tow prep" parcel. Last summer, shortly afterward the vehicle entered the family fleet, I installed a hitch to the back and the RV mode 7-wire outlet. This was an every bit easy install which required but a half dozen or so bolts and a pre-wired outlet that plugged into the manufacturing plant installed vehicle harness.

Like shooting fish in a barrel to install brake controller

Installing the REDARC controller is equally piece of cake because function of the "tow-prep" parcel is a factory installed brake controller outlet. This makes installing an aftermarket restriction controller like the Tow-Pro Elite very like shooting fish in a barrel. No splicing required. REDARC makes this piece of cake past offering a OEM uniform harness that is pre-terminated with their brake controller plug on 1 end and an OEM uniform plug on the other. Seriously folks, it does not get whatever easier than this.

Once the harness is plugged in information technology'southward time for the "brains" of the system. Now, for those have accept installed (or even used) an older style brake controller you lot know they demand to mounted in a very specific manner with a levelish orientation. Some models have an internal pendulum that require adjustment. This pendulum is designed to override the trailer brakes when information technology senses a change in momentum. Sadly it can also override the trailer brakes when you don't want it to such every bit an off-camber or steep-downhill scenario when off-road. In some instances in the past I accept been forced to manually dial-down the brake controller and resort to apply the transmission override button. Not exactly an piece of cake job when off-route. In dissimilarity, the REDARC controller is able to be installed in whatsoever orientation and has a lot of features making information technology much easier and more pleasant to use both on-route and off-road.

Once the control box is plugged in you can now move on to the control knob. The Tow-Pro Elite control knob is a dual-part combined switch and dial. The switch is both a "click" style push (click and release) every bit well every bit a "momentary" button (push button and hold). The punch turns from Null to TEN and is illuminated by a small LED at the summit of the switch assembly.

I opted for the Tow-Pro Switch Insert which would make mounting the switch assembly a piffling easier. It would also give it a cleaner "OEM" look when finished. I might fifty-fifty go so far as to fill the embossed text with some white paint only to give it an fifty-fifty more polished wait. As far as where to mount the switch, it'due south as easy as drilling a hole or employ an existing open switch slot in your vehicles OEM switch panel.

REDARC brake controller assembly

Calibrating the Tow-Pro Elite

Hither is where reading the directions actually pays off. In terms of functionality the REDARC Tow-Pro Aristocracy Trailer Brake Controller is light-years ahead of the restriction controller currently in my LJ.

Virtually older trailer brake controllers are pretty dumb in terms of functionality. The one in my LJ right at present is either engaged (when the restriction pedal or manual override button is pushed) or not. I can adjust the sensitivity a little fleck, meaning if I tap my brakes (like when disengaging prowl-control) or press my brakes lightly the trailer brakes don't appoint. Across that information technology'due south pretty much: press brakes = trailer brakes on.

What makes the REDARC Tow-Pro Aristocracy smarter than a basic restriction controller is that it goes through Active Calibration upon initial use. This will allow the command box to larn its mounted orientation and and so employ its onboard sensors to monitor vehicle telemetry. At this signal, once calibrated, the restriction controller will begin to function in Proportional Fashion. At that indicate you tin switch between modes.

Using the Tow-Pro Elite

The REDARC Tow-Pro Elite has 2 modes. Commencement is the default setting: Proportional Mode. This is where the control box progressively engages the trailer brakes based on the vehicles charge per unit of deceleration. The setting on the knob (0-10) determines how hard the trailer brakes are engaged with relation to the vehicle'due south deceleration. Although like to how older brake controllers work, this is a smarter feature and is less fickle than older models equipped with things like a pendulum. Second, is a User Controlled Mode where the control box volition engage the trailer brakes at the user-determined setting on the knob (over again, 0-10). This is much closer to the manual functionality of older restriction controllers where they are "on" or "off" based on the tow vehicle's brakes.

The easiest fashion to remember well-nigh the two settings is in User Mode (which is a green LED on the knob) the trailer brakes volition come on at the adamant setting if the trailer's brake lights are on. So, lights on = brakes on equal to the setting on the command knob. In Proportional Manner (which is a blue LED) the trailer brakes will come on in a more gradual manner in relation to how rapidly the vehicle is stopping.

And so, slam on the brakes = trailer brakes equal to the setting on the control knob; if you gently push the brakes = trailer brakes engage at a lower setting for a briefer amount of time. That said, it's really something yous'll have to play effectually with. I highly advise finding a big parking lot to practise some stop-and-go runs with your trailer of selection as you lot become things dialed in. Luckily though REDARC makes the initial setup pretty easy with their calibration way.

Customizable brake control system

Switching between modes requires the vehicle and trailer to exist stopped. At that point y'all tin can turn the setting knob to zero, depress the brake, and then "double click" the command knob. At this betoken you can release the brake and the controller will have changed modes as indicated by the modify in LED color.

To manually appoint the trailer brakes (known every bit manual override) you tin printing the control knob in a momentary fashion (press and hold). In Proportional Style this will lightly appoint the trailer brakes regardless of their level on the knob. In User Mode this will engage the brakes at the desired setting on the knob.

Again, this is something worth experimenting with in a safe and controlled setting like a parking lot. This will let y'all to get a literal "feel" for how the trailer brakes engage at their different settings. It'south besides a good habit to briefly manually appoint the brakes when you pull out to make sure not only the system is connected and operation, but that they are in the correct mode and desired intensity. I can't tell y'all the number of times I've gone to pull out and realized I had the controller set up besides-strong or too-weak based on what I was doing before.

helpful Tow-Pro Manual

Another trick characteristic of the REDARC Tow-Pro Aristocracy is its Parking Brake setting. This means, while the vehicle is stopped, if the brakes are held for more than three seconds the command box will engage the brakes. This will help take the load off the vehicles brakes. This can be useful on hills in order to go along the vehicle from rolling while stopped. If the control box thinks the trailer brakes are not needed to proceed the vehicle and trailer stationary (like on flat level footing) then it will disengage the trailer brakes.

First Impressions

If you've made it this far you lot deserve a cookie. I'm sad for the wall of text up to a higher place, simply there is a lot to this brake controller organisation. At that place'southward as well non much to take a picture of once it was all installed. That said, my first impressions of the REDARC Tow-Pro Elite Electric Trailer Brake Controller is very high.

First of all the components themselves are very well made. At that place is cypher present that doesn't need to be there and everything that is there is well packaged. Things similar the OEM compliant plugs and wire loom actually prove the attention to detail that REDARC puts into their products. Even optional accessories like switch panel prove they care how their product looks (even as minimalistic equally an install like this is) and want it to appear like information technology was there from the manufactory.

Most avant-garde brake controller on the market place

Secondly, the avant-garde features of this brake controller really show how seriously they take the functionality of their product. Being able to cull between progressive and user-defined modes and little touches similar the automatic parking brake really divide this controller the rest. They also didn't overly complicate things. There is one knob that is both a dial and a switch with 1 LED that tells you lot everything you demand to know.

Thirdly, the install is super easy. The plug-and-play nature of installing the Tow-Pro Elite into a vehicle like the Thousand Cherokee with a tow-prep package makes this such an piece of cake install. Information technology's quick. Information technology'southward simple. It's elegant. The pre-terminated harness fabricated this install equally easy as plugging your phone into accuse. Seriously.

At present, are in that location cheaper brake controllers on the market, sure. Notwithstanding when it comes to a much more valuable trailer and even more valuable tow-rig the terminal thing I want to be a cheapskate about is the trailer brake controller.

Even at $200 the REDARC controller is roughly twice to 3 times every bit expensive as almost bones controllers on the market. However, in my opinion, it's worth it. So very worth it. The quality of the components ways this controller is built to last. Having used some "upkeep make" controllers in the past, they aren't. The functionality of this controller is also more advanced than bones restriction controllers, and those increased features are worth the increment in toll.

This commodity was published with permission of Eastward Declension Overland Adventures and tin can be read in full hither.

Looking for an electrical trailer restriction controller to suit your vehicle make and model? Endeavour REDARC'south like shooting fish in a barrel to apply brake controller selector tool here.