Congratulations. And thank you for owning one of the most sophisticated trailer braking systems available today. Whether you tow for work or play, you can depend on Tekonsha to enhance your towing experience by working to make sure both your tow vehicle and the trailer it is pulling slow down and stop at the same time. Over the next several minutes we will show you some important set up steps to be sure you have the smoothest braking experience possible. If you have questions or need more specific information, please refer to the installation and owners guide enclosed with your controller. If this is your first installation, please listen for a moment for some important tips. Performance braking controls are directional.
This means that the back of the control must be positioned toward the front of the vehicle or in the direction of travel. Locate the mounting position on the face of the dash in the most convenient position possible and within easy reach. Many brake controls have a primary operating range, nose up or nose down. Refer to your installation instructions for the range that applies to your control. Most newer vehicles have a brake control vehicle plug in point located in the primary electrical harness under the dash. Use the vehicles specific wiring harness, sometimes provided by the automobile manufacturer or available separately from your brake control supplier, to connect the break control wiring. Then plug it in under the dash.
If your vehicle is older, or does not provide a plug in point, use the generic wiring instructions provided with the brake control or see your dealer for installation details. If you have questions, please refer to the owners guide. The first step in positioning the sensor for a Tekonsha Voyager brake control is to park the tow vehicle and trailer on as level a surface as possible. With the trailers connector connected to the tow vehicle, the first thing that you will notice is the bi-colored LED on the front of the control will be glowing green. This will let you know that you have a complete circuit between the tow vehicle and the trailer. Next, find the power control knob on the right side of the control and turn it clockwise toward the front of the vehicle until the maximum setting is reached. Next, press the brake pedal and hold it. Look at the bi-colored LED on the control. If the light is green in color, find the level knob on the left side of the control and rotate it counter clockwise toward the front of the vehicle until the LED begins to pulsate between green and orange. You will want to move back into the green by rotating the level knob on the left side of the control clockwise toward the rear of the vehicle just a little at a time. What you are doing here is setting the sensor at the transition point just between the green and the flashing red. Tow the trailer at about 25 miles per hour and do a couple of slow speed stops as if coming to a stop sign. And notice the feel of the trailer.
Does it seem to pull a little at the end of the stop? If it does, your sensor setting is a little too aggressive. Simply move the level wheel clockwise very slightly and repeat the stop. Repeat the procedure until you feel the truck and trailer brake smoothly together. If you feel a pushing sensation from the trailer it is because the opposite has occurred. And you have a delayed setting on the sensor control. Simply move the level knob counter clockwise slightly into a more aggressive position. Once this is done the control is set and should not have to be reset until such a time that the road conditions change or the trailer weight changes significantly. Keep in mind that the power knob should never be used to fine tune your control. Harsh, aggressive braking at slow speed stops is usually caused by an improper sensor setting. After you have driven several miles and the trailer brakes have warmed up, you may want to repeat this process to further refine your stops. Please refer to the owners guide on warming the brakes. Because every trailer is different, your brake control needs to learn the weight of the trailer and condition of the trailer brakes. This is required to determine the optimum power necessary during an emergency stop without trailer wheel lock up. First, rotate the knob on the right side of the control so it is in the 12 o'clock position. Tow the trailer on as level a surface as possible and attain a constant speed of between 20 and 25 miles per hour and engage the manual slide bar found in the front of the control.
You will notice that the bi-colored LED will turn from green to orange to red indicating an increase of current to the brakes. Hold this for a few seconds and release. If the trailer brakes did not lock up, increase the power by turning the knob on the right side of the control clockwise toward t he front of the vehicle and repeating the manual engagement. Repeat these steps until such a time that the trailer brakes are just below wheel lock up. If at anytime the brakes do lock during this procedure, reduce the power by turning the knob counter clockwise toward the rear of the vehicle. Now the setting has been made so that the power output is just below wheel lock up. It is that easy. For information to fine tune your system, for optimal performance, check your owners guide for details.
Diagnosing a Brake Controller Problem
Alright, today on this 2009 Ford F-150 we are going to diagnose a brake controller problem. Now we can use these steps on any brake controller that is on the market to verify if it is working or not. Now our brake controller is already telling us that it has an error message. It is flashing an Er on top. Usually it means an internal problem. We tested our trailer so we know it is good. So, it is not that. So first off we will make sure we have a constant 12 volt power supply. We will check the black wire first. OK, we are good there. Now we will try our red wire for our brake signal. OK, that is good there. Now we will try our blue wire and that will be our output. So we should have output on this wire whenever we hit the foot brake or the manual override. OK, we get nothing on the foot brake and nothing on the manual override. So definitely the error is internal and this brake controller does have to be replaced.
Trailer Brake Controller Reverse Light Lead Installation
All right what we are going to do on this install is the reverse light lead to our electrical connector. For instance on a 5-pole you can use this on a boat trailer that has a reverse lock out for hydraulic brakes on it. Also you can use on a 7-pole application the trailer may have reverse lights on the back of it. Some RVs have a reverse light hook up on the back of it. I will show you the basic generic steps of how it is installed. 00:22
Trailer Brake Controller Comparison Review
Today we are going to talk about the two main kinds of brake controllers, the proportional and the time delay. The two we have here are the Journey HD and the Draw-Tite Activator II. These are what you call the time delay brake controllers. Basically what happens is that when you hit the brakes, they come on at a certain speed that you set on the brake controller. Like on this one here, we have a sync switch here that controls how fast it comes on and then this knob here controls how much power it takes to stop the trailer. Basically you hit your foot brake and it comes on at the rate you determine and at how much power you have set aside for it, and then it stays there until you completely let off the brake.
Trailer Brake Controller Wiring Colors
Today we are going to cover a frequently asked question. It really turns up a lot. And actually it is easier than you think. Basically, if you have a pickup and you got a tow package with it and you got one of these wire harnesses that plug underneath the dash and plugs into your brake controller, you might have five or sometimes even more wires coming off of it. And you notice that your brake controller only uses four. We have got one over here, we will show you, that has just the four wires and what do you do with the extra wires? The short answer is do not worry about it, because the brake controller has all that it needs from these four wires.
Trailer Brake Controller Wire Testing
Today we are going to cover a few notes on testing an electronic brake controller. What we are going to cover here is going to apply to virtually all brake controllers. Basically, if you run into a problem where you think your brake controller is not working, well, it could be a the brake controller or it could be something in the truck itself, in the connector or c it actually could be problems in the trailer. What we are going to show you today is how to look for problems that will either rule out the brake controller or make sure that it is the brake controllers fault. Just like any electronic devices, they seem to have a limited lifespan some will work for years and some will not. But this way you can also verify that it is working good.
Removing and Replacing Trailer Brake Shoes Review
Today we are going to show how to remove the break shoes on a typical electric break axle, this one in particular is a twelve inch drum. We are using that one because it is large and easy to see. This applies to virtually all electric brakes from this size on up and down to the smaller sizes. We will go over how it comes apart and the tools you will need to do it with.
