Troubleshooting Trailer Brakes Not Working With a 2015 Ram 1500 and Integrated Brake Controller

Updated 09/21/2024 | Published 01/13/2023

Question:

Hello, About 2-3 years ago I bought all new forward adjusting brakes from you for my 21 ft Cougar trailer. I changed the seals, had high quality bearings pressed in and had the mechanic look at the drums which were fine. I pull with a 2015 Ram 1500 Eco diesel. The brakes have never seemed to grab like they should. I took it to a repair shop the other day for roof work and with the hand controller they hardly worked. I checked the plug on the truck plus the wiring connection and it looks new. Where do I start to trouble shoot this? Most mechanics in the area dont know much about these brakes and the built in system on the truck. Thanks

asked by: John P

Expert Reply:

First you will want to ensure your 2015 Ram 1500 has the integrated brake controller set properly. Here are the steps to ensure your controller is set to the correct profile.

When a trailer with electric/EOH brakes is plugged in, the trailer connected message should appear in the EVIC/DID (if the connection is not recognized by the ITBM, braking functions will not be available), the GAIN setting will illuminate and the correct type of trailer must be selected from the EVIC/DID options. Press the UP or DOWN button on the steering wheel until “TRAILER TOW” appears on the screen. Press the RIGHT arrow on the steering wheel to enter “TRAILER TOW”. Press the UP or DOWN buttons until Trailer Brake Type appears on the screen. Press the RIGHT arrow and then press the UP or DOWN buttons until the proper Trailer Brake Type appears on the screen. I recommend setting it to Heavy Electric.

With the gain set to maximum you can test the voltage getting to the trailer brakes with a Multimeter # PT89ZR. By having someone activate the trailer brakes manually with the gain at maximum you should see around a 1 volt drop through the wiring. You will want to check the battery voltage usually between 12 and 13 volts on your Ram to ensure you know how much you should see. If you see more than a 1 volt drop there may be a short in the wiring getting to the trailer brakes or the integrated controller is not working correctly. If the voltage getting to the brakes is correct there may be something wrong with the brakes. As it is unusual to see all 4 brakes fail you will want to ensure they were installed on the correct side.

expert reply by: Bud M

Adam

9/21/2024

There is a flash update for the Brake controller that covers this concern Flash - Integrated Trailer Brake Module Software Enhancement NUMBER: 08-082-16 GROUP: Electrical DATE: October 18, 2016