OEM brake controller advise

[Ram Air Rick 23]

I purchased a new 2023 RAM 1500 Bighorn , 5.7 Hemi with etorque about two weeks ago.

Love this new whip!

I plan on occasionally towing a car trailer with car (about 7000 lbs total).

While it does have the towing package, it did not come with the integral OE brake controller. It wasn't a deal killer for me.

I have a used Tekonsha Prodigy brake controller I can installed but thought I'd reach out here to see if maybe there's a place to purchase OEM and any tips/thoughts that you'd have on either. I should also add that I looked into the OEM controller while purchasing the truck at the dealer. The controller was like $ 500+ and installation was $400. The kicker is the part is back ordered 45 days as of two weeks ago.

Any advise is greatly appreciated.

 

[Tulecreeper]

I purchased a new 2023 RAM 1500 Bighorn , 5.7 Hemi with etorque about two weeks ago.

Love this new whip!

I plan on occasionally towing a car trailer with car (about 7000 lbs total).

While it does have the towing package, it did not come with the integral OE brake controller. It wasn't a deal killer for me.

I have a used Tekonsha Prodigy brake controller I can installed but thought I'd reach out here to see if maybe there's a place to purchase OEM and any tips/thoughts that you'd have on either. I should also add that I looked into the OEM controller while purchasing the truck at the dealer. The controller was like $ 500+ and installation was $400. The kicker is the part is back ordered 45 days as of two weeks ago.

Any advise is greatly appreciated.

Really? I added it as an option when I bought this truck in January and it was a $395 add.

 

[SniperDroid]

I believe the Tekonsha P3 controller is a better controller than Stock. I have used both, just too lazy to put the one I have in my Ram.

 

[Ram Air Rick 23]

Really? I added it as an option when I bought this truck in January and it was a $395 add.

That was the quote for the installation that they gave me. If you ordered your truck new, it may have been a $395 option.

I purchased mine off the lot, so it wouldn't have been optional at that point, but would fall into the dealer installed option category in my mind. Was yours a dealer installed option? If so, at $395 installed, I'd be interested!

 

[crash68]

There isn't an aftermarket brake controller that comes anywhere near the integration with the vehicle like the OEM. The OEM uses vehicle speed and braking force along with vehicle stability sensors to determine trailer braking force. The OEM trailer brake controller even has trailer stability routines.
Those that think aftermarket controllers are better than the OEM don't fully understand how it functions. Usually the biggest complaint is the OEM won't "lock up" the trailer brakes, in no way do you want them to lock up as that's how the trailer owns you.
I've had over 8K behind my 1500 and with the OEM controller set properly don't feel the trailer pushing or pulling the truck when braking.

 

[John Jensen]

There isn't an aftermarket brake controller that comes anywhere near the integration with the vehicle like the OEM. The OEM uses vehicle speed and braking force along with vehicle stability sensors to determine trailer braking force. The OEM trailer brake controller even has trailer stability routines.
Those that think aftermarket controllers are better than the OEM don't fully understand how it functions. Usually the biggest complaint is the OEM won't "lock up" the trailer brakes, in no way do you want them to lock up as that's how the trailer owns you.
I've had over 8K behind my 1500 and with the OEM controller set properly don't feel the trailer pushing or pulling the truck when braking.

Well said. The OEM won't lock up the brakes when relying on its normal operation, which as you said, that's good. However, both my 1500 and 3500 can lock up the trailer brakes using the manual power lever.

 

[John Jensen]

I believe the Tekonsha P3 controller is a better controller than Stock. I have used both, just too lazy to put the one I have in my Ram.

I had the opposite experience. The OEM was much better than the P3 knee knocker

 

[Tulecreeper]

That was the quote for the installation that they gave me. If you ordered your truck new, it may have been a $395 option.

I purchased mine off the lot, so it wouldn't have been optional at that point, but would fall into the dealer installed option category in my mind. Was yours a dealer installed option? If so, at $395 installed, I'd be interested!

No, it was an option I added when I ordered the truck. Sorry, I forgot that most vehicles are bought off the lot. All the trucks they had on the lot were way more than I needed or wanted; too many bells and whistles.

I really like this truck so far, but in all honesty I went to Chevy first because my last truck was a Silverado that I bought new in Oct 1999 and it had given me very few problems in 20+ years. Unfortunately, neither Chevy nor Ford would (at least then) let me order a truck, I had to choose one from their stock. Again, all of them had way too much stuff on them that I wasn't willing to pay for.

I've heard that Tekonsha is a good aftermarket brand.

 

[Loudram]

I've heard that Tekonsha is a good aftermarket brand.

The Tekonsha P3 is arguably the best aftermarket controller. Check out the reviews on Amazon. Both the P3 and the OEM work great. I had the P3 in my '19 Classic and I have the OEM one in my current truck. I never had a problem with either except for the P3 being a knee knocker. That's a legitimate gripe.

 

[Ram Air Rick 23]

No, it was an option I added when I ordered the truck. Sorry, I forgot that most vehicles are bought off the lot. All the trucks they had on the lot were way more than I needed or wanted; too many bells and whistles.

I really like this truck so far, but in all honesty I went to Chevy first because my last truck was a Silverado that I bought new in Oct 1999 and it had given me very few problems in 20+ years. Unfortunately, neither Chevy nor Ford would (at least then) let me order a truck, I had to choose one from their stock. Again, all of them had way too much stuff on them that I wasn't willing to pay for.

I've heard that Tekonsha is a good aftermarket brand.

That makes sense, and I agree that most of the trucks have too many bells and whistles.
This one caught my attention because while it may have had more bells and whistles than desired, it had what I wanted and at a pricepoint that made sense to me. I did a lot of passive shopping and was fed up with seeing 40k mile trucks selling at or above what I wanted to pay for new.


Kinda went out on a limb with etorque. I bought an extended warranty for it, and all the other electronic do dads that cost up the *****, when they fail.

Thanks for the excellent perspectives so far guys!

 

[stevenP]

You can add the tekonsha with the adaptor harness for less than half the OEM controller. Its plug and play, took me 2o minutes for the install.

 

[lezmark7]

I was able to buy an OEM (from a dealer in the midwest) on EBAY for $200. The dealer charged me $475 to install and program. They also told me the part could take a couple months to get.

 

[crash68]

To save money on the installation, the OP could install everything then just bring it to the dealership for programming(may charge 1 hour for labor).
Maybe someone will chime in if it's possible to enable the OEM brake controller with AlfaOBD on the Gen5 trucks.

 

[Tulecreeper]

To save money on the installation, the OP could install everything then just bring it to the dealership for programming(may charge 1 hour for labor).
Maybe someone will chime in if it's possible to enable the OEM brake controller with AlfaOBD on the Gen5 trucks.

If the engineers would have just left everything alone, there would be no "programming" necessary. A simple rheostat switch that you could adjust manually used to be all that was required.

 

[crash68]

If the engineers would have just left everything alone, there would be no "programming" necessary. A simple rheostat switch that you could adjust manually used to be all that was required.

Just a rheostat would be worse than surge trailer brakes.
One of my older friends told me that "they don't build vehicles the way the used to, and thank goodness they don't". In the good old days one was lucky to hit 100K miles with a vehicle and it usually required a tune up every year. Nowadays it's commonplace for tune ups to be 100K miles apart.

 

[turkeybird56]

Just a rheostat would be worse than surge trailer brakes.
One of my older friends told me that "they don't build vehicles the way the used to, and thank goodness they don't". In the good old days one was lucky to hit 100K miles with a vehicle and it usually required a tune up every year. Nowadays it's commonplace for tune ups to be 100K miles apart.

I do wish THEY would go back to Grease zerks for all joints and areas instead of the for life grease stuff, THAT I wish they would go back to.

 

[Ramfanski]

My dealer purchased and installed the factory trailer brake on my truck as a condition of the purchase for 350$. They wanted 650$ to begin with for the purchase and installation.

After using it, I would pay the full cost.

 

[Ram Air Rick 23]

I'd like to thank everyone for chiming in !

This is exactly what Forums are all about! You also get to meet some really cool people along the way!

"RAMble On!"

 

[2003F350]

Man, some of your dealers are committing highway robbery.

I was quoted $350 installed and activated on my wife's new truck. I just haven't pulled the trigger yet because she hasn't needed it. Probably should soon though.

 

[Spiritrider1]

Factory Mopar brake controller kits available on EBay for $139.00. Bought one and installed it myself. Took it to Dealer to have it flashed, charged me $100.00. Working great with my travel trailer.