OEM Controller vs Voyager Brake Controller

Long Islander · Jun 12, 2014

I will be hitching up with a 2010 Ram 2500 6.7 4.10 which contains the OEM brake controller.

Is there anything I should know about? I towed with the Voyager and a 1500 many many times.

Hows the settings on the OEM one?

jlb · Jun 12, 2014

The OEM one sucks as it only has a gain controller, but no adjustment for gain rate based on applied braking.

It is sufficient however.

sicmadek · Jun 14, 2014

The OEM brake controller works off the speed sensor in the rear end. So I always set it to 10 and the ecu adjust the brakes based on my speed. I set it to 10 because the manual brake will only go as high as you have the gain.

Long Islander · Jun 14, 2014

sicmadek said:
The OEM brake controller works off the speed sensor in the rear end. So I always set it to 10 and the ecu adjust the brakes based on my speed. I set it to 10 because the manual brake will only go as high as you have the gain.

Ok thanks for the tip. I will be towing in two weeks.
Can I hook up my aftermarket with the connector from my 05 ram 1500 or did that change.
Im thinking I will keep the aftermarket one just incase I need to hot swap during pulling with the family.

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sicmadek · Jun 15, 2014

Long Islander said:
Ok thanks for the tip. I will be towing in two weeks.
Can I hook up my aftermarket with the connector from my 05 ram 1500 or did that change.
Im thinking I will keep the aftermarket one just incase I need to hot swap during pulling with the family.

Sent from Samsung S5 using Tapatalk

The plug will be under your dash above the gas pedal area. Take a look st it and see. In 2013 there was a mid year change that requires a different harness to be used.

Long Islander · Jun 15, 2014

sicmadek said:
The plug will be under your dash above the gas pedal area. Take a look st it and see. In 2013 there was a mid year change that requires a different harness to be used.

Is that harness plugged into the oem brake controller now?

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sicmadek · Jun 15, 2014

Long Islander said:
Is that harness plugged into the oem brake controller now?

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it may be. ive never had install a aftermarket controller into a dodge that had a oem controller. ive done it on chevy/gmc trucks and they still had seperate wiring for a aftermarket controller to be installed. in the chevy/gmc there is a extra wire going into the fuse panel under the hood for the oem controller.

did you look under your dash yet?

Long Islander · Jun 15, 2014

sicmadek said:
it may be. ive never had install a aftermarket controller into a dodge that had a oem controller. ive done it on chevy/gmc trucks and they still had seperate wiring for a aftermarket controller to be installed. in the chevy/gmc there is a extra wire going into the fuse panel under the hood for the oem controller.

did you look under your dash yet?

Unfortunately I didnt pick up my mew truck today.

Scheduled for tomorrow.

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sicmadek · Jun 16, 2014

Long Islander said:
Unfortunately I didnt pick up my mew truck today.

Scheduled for tomorrow.

Sent from Samsung S5 using Tapatalk

So you're getting a brand new truck? If so, your old harness definitely won't work.

jlb · Jun 16, 2014

How does it work off the speed sensor? By that I mean, what type of input can the speed sensor supply that impacts the operation of the brakes? I don't see how speed alone should make any difference in operation.

sicmadek · Jun 16, 2014

jlb said:
How does it work off the speed sensor? By that I mean, what type of input can the speed sensor supply that impacts the operation of the brakes? I don't see how speed alone should make any difference in operation.

it calculates the rate of deceleration from a given speed to determine how much brake shoud be sent to the camper. i agree that the oem ones dont give the driver total control for personal driving preference. the aftermarket controllers can definitely be set with a more insant sensitivity.

jlb · Jun 17, 2014

I guess since it is integrated it makes sense to eliminate the accelerometer.

WhiteExpress · Jun 18, 2014

From my weak understanding (only looked briefly at replacing OE with aftermarket, since I don't have an OE), you can purchase the aftermarket to OE harness (eTrailer for example sells them).

The '13+ Rams have a 2 plug system for the OE brake controller, the switch mounts in the dash, and wires to a separate box (Not 1 unit like the '09-12). There are 2 connectors off this. I'd assume you'd have to unplug both.

No promises that won't really **** off the truck tough.

sicmadek · Jun 18, 2014

WhiteExpress said:
From my weak understanding (only looked briefly at replacing OE with aftermarket, since I don't have an OE), you can purchase the aftermarket to OE harness (eTrailer for example sells them).

The '13+ Rams have a 2 plug system for the OE brake controller, the switch mounts in the dash, and wires to a separate box (Not 1 unit like the '09-12). There are 2 connectors off this. I'd assume you'd have to unplug both.

No promises that won't really **** off the truck tough.

Mid year '13s have 2 plugs even if you don't have a OEM controller. They changed something with the brake signal. Its called powernet I think. The signal wire has 12v now.

smiley · Jun 19, 2014

I know my truck is now pretty old but I really like the OEM look and when I tow the car trailer I have found the controller to work very well. I can only imagine they made it even better in the refresh.

DHDB · Jun 23, 2014

I used the Voyager on my last Ram ('04 2500) and hated it. Upgraded to the Prodigy P3, which is a fantastic unit. The P3 allows for a lot more adjusting (trailer size/gain setting) and tweaking of the controller. My new truck ('12 Ram 2500) has the OEM controller. Although I did not like this unit. I was advised to "give it a try". It took a little while, but now I am ok with it. My settings are much lower now (2.5-3.5) than they were with the P3 (7.9-8.3). I am towing a 35' 8800lb TT.

tjfdesmo · Jun 23, 2014

I had a Brakesmart in my '05, and it was remarkably good. The trailer just became part of the truck. It read brake system pressure via a transducer installed in a tee at the master cylinder, and gave proportional braking.

jlb · Jun 24, 2014

tjfdesmo said:
I had a Brakesmart in my '05, and it was remarkably good. The trailer just became part of the truck. It read brake system pressure via a transducer installed in a tee at the master cylinder, and gave proportional braking.

That is old school. I had something like that on my 85 Chevy, and I will admit, there wasn't much better than that for informing the controller what is going on! More costly to implement though unfortunately.

tjfdesmo · Jun 24, 2014

jlb said:
That is old school. I had something like that on my 85 Chevy, and I will admit, there wasn't much better than that for informing the controller what is going on! More costly to implement though unfortunately.

The Brakesmart was not like the old-school Kelsey-Hayes type units that were fed through a tee, and actually displaced fluid, which is a bad thing. Almost all the hot-shotters who towed super heavy ran Brakesmart controllers.

OEM Controller vs Voyager Brake Controller

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