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Most brake controllers stick out and take up knee room, but this one tucks the main unit behind the dash. All you see is a small knob on the console, just 9/16" wide and 1-7/8" long. It blends right into your interior and looks like a factory switch. That single knob handles everything—adjusting brake power, hitting manual override, and showing color-coded alerts through its LED light. The included universal panel gives the install a clean finish that doesn’t clutter your dash.
Sand, mud, or steep descents can make towing unpredictable. With off-road mode, you set a preset braking level for your trailer, independent of how hard you’re braking in your tow vehicle. Dial it down on soft terrain to keep your trailer from digging in or crank it up during steep descents to stop the trailer from pushing forward. A quick double tap on the knob activates the mode, and the LED glows green when it’s on.
The Tow-Pro Elite’s proportional control uses an internal 3-axis accelerometer to match your trailer braking with your own. Lightly step on your brakes and the trailer eases in; hit them harder and the trailer follows suit. It works with trailers that have 1 to 3 axles (6 brake assemblies) and supports both electric and electric-over-hydraulic brakes. The result is smooth stops, less wear on tires and pads, and better control when towing heavy loads.
Wiring a brake controller doesn’t have to mean splicing wires under the dash. This setup includes a plug-in harness that connects directly for a simple install. The compact main unit mounts out of sight using screws, tape, or zip ties anywhere within the 3-foot cable range from the control knob. It works with both 12-volt and 24-volt systems, draws up to 25 amps continuous within its 9V–32V output range, and stays calibrated automatically once installed.
Safety standards matter when you’re towing through tough conditions. The Tow-Pro Elite meets or exceeds UNECE R21 and FMVSS 201 regulations for safety and durability. It’s designed to handle long hauls, heavy trailers, and challenging environments without losing precision or reliability. That’s solid peace of mind every time you hook up and head out.
Customer Satisfaction Score:
92% were satisfied with this product
8% of customers were not satisfied
Ratings & Reviews
The Redark trailer brake controller installed easily. In my 2020 Toyota 4Runner. It looks like it came installed from the factory. It’s small and easy to reach when driving. It came with a plastic install panel. This is designed for installing in a hole that you drill in your dash. It will not fit in a knock out space in your dash. There is one that fits the dash perfectly that you can buy from etrailer.
etrailer automatically bundled the Redark trailer brake controller with the correct plug and play wiring harness for my vehicle. It was nice not to have to search for the wire harness. Everything installed perfectly.
I haven’t tested the function of the brake controller yet. I’ll hook up to a trailer this week.
The items arrived in less than a week and the package was in good condition. The order tracking worked great. The tech videos on the etrailer website were really helpful. I’ll purchase from hem again.
I have installed the brake controller and did prelim tests all seems to be OK!
I used a blank panel that was not used in my Honda Pilot, that took me awhile to trim and file the panel, I was going for a OEM look. The control unit I mounted to the parking brake assembly. The wiring was easy as I had a pigtail from my trailer wiring harness and the pigtail that came with the unit. When I fit the remote control in the panel it fit OK and the knob allowed the switch to operate correctly for the half dozen times I tested it. Once I installed the panel-remote combo in the dash all seemed well but then I noticed the knob seemed to slide down the reomte control knob a bit further and would not allow the switch to operate, I guess during my other trials it must not have bottomed out. I used some plastic shim stock I had and put that inside the knob (approx 30 mils thick) and the switch started to operate correctly. We still have a few weeks before we pickup the trailer, but for now it looks like the unit went through it's calibration routine and is ready to control the brakes once we get the trailer.
One thing to note the manual mentions sleep/breathing mode this just seemed to be a single cycle rather than a repeating cycle, but I was just using a test lamp.
Shipping was all messed up customer never got installed
I saw the great online reviews of this controller and took the plunge. I bought my 2002 Chevy Silverado K1500 extended cab short bed truck new in 2001. It came with the HD Towing package which include a factory plug in trailer brake wiring loom. I took my time over a 2 day period to carefully install and triple check my install. The Chevy and Redarc wiring wiring descriptions made it easy to join the two harnesses. I used HD crimped plug in connectors further protected with shrank tubing. All wiring was bundled with zip ties after encasing in HD harness protective cover. Zip ties held in place behind the removable panel beneath the steering wheel. The control button is installed on the right side of the steering column within easy reach. Nice install. I read that the light would not go on until a trailer was hooking up. I was elated when we picked up our new cargo trailer and the controller knob light lit up upon hitching up. the first mile of travel allowed easy testing of the system and fine tuning came a few miles further down the road. GREAT PRODUCT!
Works great. Very easy installation. Just got back from our first camping trip and not have the bulky trailer controller in the way is a nice feature. Highly recommend
Simple easy plug and play setup, only issue I had was would be nice if they provided a hole saw for the install, not everyone has a need to buy one, so had to wait for one to be delivered, otherwise very pleased with this product
Easy installation and great on road performance. Clean in cabin appearance with a single control knob as the only visible component. This makes old school brake controllers obsolete.
really like the product and how I was able to mount it into factory spot on my Toyota with a separately sold adapter. Added the factory harness adapter so everything was truly plug and play. first haul of travel trailer went really well.
Super easy to install took.me about 45 mins to an hour because i had all the tools already.
Attached trailer wires to truck this.morning and it seems to be reading the trailer already.
Got to test out the proportional and the manual features. Now to test drive on raod but so far id recomend this over the tekonsha wireless controll. I third the price and probably way better.
The hardest part of the install was routing the cabling the way I wanted from under the driver seat through the battery box and up under the dash. Install very strait forward. On the Mercedes Sprinter chassis the controller does not receive any power unless the trailer is connected, so performing the "active calibration" can only be done with the trailer connected.
Will update review after trying the controller out but install and packaging were great. Very easy to install. The dial/knob looks very minimal and cool. Found an empty accessory slot in the dash that was very easy to drill out. The device itself is small enough to tuck behind the knee bolster. etrailer sent out the jumper harness that plugged right into the factory provided connector. It took maybe 30 minutes, very awesome. Will update when we tow in a couple weeks.
3 issues....
1) in the Redarc box, (which seemed closed (but not sealed) a few of the small parts were floating around in the shipping box. But I found everything that I needed...
2) The supplied wiring harness (VW Touareg to Brake controller) did not just plug into the Redarc controller. I Had to cut the controller end off the supplied harness and splice to the pigtail from the Redarc controller. Luckly this job does not intimidate me, but I did believe I was purchasing a plug & Play. Perhaps this could be noted in the website page for this bundle.
3) as in the attached Photo, I inserted and fastened the Remote Head assembly as it is shown in the Diagram 3. The two small flanges are at the TOP of the diagram and the larger flanges and more body of the assembly is at the bottom in the diagram. After all was put together and I installed the knob, this is upside down. The Number 5 is at the top of the know, not the 0 and 10.
On the great side, the small know on the controller is a perfect fit for a place on the Touareg dashboard. Looks like a factory fit.
I have been pleased with the Redarc controller. I like that it's hidden away from sight except for the knob. It works as advertised with no issues whatsoever. I tow a dump trailer rated for 16,000 lbs with an 06 ram diesel and the brake controller makes it so much easier on the vehicle brakes. I highly recommend.
This worked perfect in our 2020 Acura MDX. Love how it looks and operates. I removed the center council (see link to video on how to below) and mounted everything in there.
The control knob looks great and is out of the way. I removed the 12 volt charger port and put the knob in its place. The only catch was it was not easy to find the fuse for the brake controller. After research and trial and error, I found the fuse was #17 in the rear fuse box. I appreciate the great service and support from etrailer.
Installation was as described in the Colorado video. My 2015 4x4 dash required a different location than where the knob is located in the video( where the 4x4 knob is ). The dial knob just fits inside the upper clips for the credit card slot. I used the left side for better visibility. I drilled a pilot hole and then slowly enlarged it, dragging it as needed to keep it centered under the dash clip. You will understand when you remove the card slot. Remove the lower dash to get to a hidden screw, then the card holder pops straight out.
Great product. Easy to install, especially if you already have a brake controller. The control unit is easy to mount almost anywhere since it automatically detects its orientation. The calibration process is automatic, you just drive and make a few stops (and calibration happens even when the trailer is not connected). Then it is a matter of dialing in the maximum braking force. The progressive action is smooth and stopping is jerk-free. Be sure to get the vehicle-specific mounting panel if one is available. Otherwise a generic panel is included. Attached is a photo of installation in a Toyota FJ Cruiser -- not much to see, as the control box is invisible under the dash.
Amazing Brake Controller- I pull a 6000lbs Rockwood trailer behind my 2015 Grand Cherokee and this controller has saved my tail a few times. Not only has the emergency feature pulled my trailer straight in a few clincher moments with wind, but the proportioning is truly amazing. Multiple times over the 4 years I have used it, and it has worked flawlessly in emergency situations. During my 12,000 plus miles I have never felt the trailer pushing me during braking, it actually feels like i have nothing behind me. Loaded it weighs in at 6800lbs. Thank you for designing an awesome product.
I installed on my 2019 durango without factory tow package, instructions were straight forward, managed to place in center consol, wires to battery. Seen videos sending wires to engine compartment. Worked out with the wires I had and able to place fuse as well. The brake light cable, had a little challenge, since car uses same light for turn signal, it gave intermittent signal, so I wired it to the center rear/3rd brake light. In all it worked amd made it easier to slow down, especially when I was towing nearly 6k. I didn't feel the push of the trailer. Don't have pics of the install, just the final location of my control.
The product itself is excellent. The shipping was on time as expected. We will see what results there are in the future, but on the part of Etrailer, everything was very good.
Worked as expected. Easy installation on Tundra SR 2022+.
Everything that you need for a 21 Tacoma is in the box. Easy install just a little bit fidgety to attach the control unit under the dash but no bigee. Excellent shipping which is what I needed and it was quick, so was totally worth the shipping cost.
ITS A NICE PACKAGE BUT IF I HAD TO DO IT AGAIN I WOULD BUY Tekonsha. have had great luck with those through the years. y'all did an excellent job in getting me what i needed and had great customer service. just not impressed with the all plastic Redarc
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