trailer brake control how to access

[jerrymac3139]

I just recently bought a 2016 Ram 1500 Bighorn SLT. It came with an oem trailer hitch installed, The dash has trailer/tow button to place it in this mode. However I can not figure out how to access the trailer brake control. The truck has both 4 pin and 7 pin plugs for the trailer. I asked this question on whether it had integrated brake control. He showed me the gear+ and gear0- buttons on the steering wheel. However I have found out this not to be true. Is there an uconnect app to control the trailer brakes? Or where do I need to look for this control. This truck has features on it that we have never been exposed to. So it has been adventure learing how to properly operate this vehicle. Any info and/or assistance would be greatly appreciated.

 

[BrianandChrissy]

I just recently bought a 2016 Ram 1500 Bighorn SLT. It came with an oem trailer hitch installed, The dash has trailer/tow button to place it in this mode. However I can not figure out how to access the trailer brake control. The truck has both 4 pin and 7 pin plugs for the trailer. I asked this question on whether it had integrated brake control. He showed me the gear+ and gear0- buttons on the steering wheel. However I have found out this not to be true. Is there an uconnect app to control the trailer brakes? Or where do I need to look for this control. This truck has features on it that we have never been exposed to. So it has been adventure learing how to properly operate this vehicle. Any info and/or assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Underneath your heat controls should be a brake control switch, which allows you to adjust the Gain when a trailer is hooked up. If you don't have this, then you don't have trailer brake controller.

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[silver13]

X2


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[smithj603]

it looks similar to this

 

[BrianandChrissy]

Yep...here's mine

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[jerrymac3139]

Thanks for the info. I thought that was the case. But since the truck came with a trailer hitch and the 7 pin receptacle for the trailer. It made NO sense to build a vehicle with these features and NOT put in the brake controller. Why else would one have a need for the 7 pin receptacle?

 

[John Jensen]

Thanks for the info. I thought that was the case. But since the truck came with a trailer hitch and the 7 pin receptacle for the trailer. It made NO sense to build a vehicle with these features and NOT put in the brake controller. Why else would one have a need for the 7 pin receptacle?

That is the standard package for all Ram 1500 Bighorn SLTs. The brake controller is a separate "add-on".

Not everyone wants a brake controller or if they do they may want an aftermarket rather than an OEM. And, there are applications that call for a 7 pin plug and no brake controller. The main one is trailers with surge brakes (most boat trailers).

 

[rotwiler]

Is easy to buy and add, but needs flash from dealer to work properly.

 

[jerrymac3139]

Thanks for the info. I had an OEM trailer brake controller installed. Now I have a different and question. Since The service department has been NO help. I thought I would ask the question here. The owner's manual refers to go into settings and then go to trailer option where I can choose from one of 4 preset options on the controller for the type of trailer I have. My touch screen did not have this option prior to installation nor after the installation. Was the service dept. suppose to upgrade my settings or is there something I am suppose to do to upgrade my setting for this option?

 

[Jimmy07]

Thanks for the info. I had an OEM trailer brake controller installed. Now I have a different and question. Since The service department has been NO help. I thought I would ask the question here. The owner's manual refers to go into settings and then go to trailer option where I can choose from one of 4 preset options on the controller for the type of trailer I have. My touch screen did not have this option prior to installation nor after the installation. Was the service dept. suppose to upgrade my settings or is there something I am suppose to do to upgrade my setting for this option?

Did the dealer add sales code “XHC” to your truck?

 

[jerrymac3139]

IDK. Where or how do I check for this?

 

[Jimmy07]

Did you have the dealer install the brake controller? If so, you need to call them and ask them if they added sales code XHC to your truck. The controller itself will still function, but that sales code is what makes the settings appear on your screen to fully “integrate” it with your truck. It sounds like they either didn’t do it, or did it wrong. Either way you need to ask them.

 

[Ricks Ram]

If your trailer brake was installed correctly and the code was added in order for it to come up on your speedometer screen all you need to do is slide the controller and it'll automatically flash on the speedometer screen. I have a 7-inch screen so this is what mine looks like but it will also flash up if you have the smaller 3.5 inch screen. In order to adjusted you go into to your settings menu where you should have the trailer brake control option and then when you push on it it should show your four different configurations that you can store. If you don't have the trailer brake in your settings menu and it doesn't pop up on your screen when you slide the brake controller then either they did not flash the code or there's something wrong with the install. The whole unit basically just plugs in so there's really no way they could have screwed that up as long as they plugged everything in then as stated they most likely did not get the XHC code to set. I would recommend taking it back to the dealer and having them verify the code is set and check their installation because yours obviously appears not to be activated or working correctly. On a positive note once you do get it up and running they work great. I have been very happy with mine and I like the fact that I can store different trailers that I pull.

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[rotwiler]

If you haven't had the flash done once you add a oem trailer brake controller nothing will be on your radio settings. After I installed my oem trailer brake, I went to dealer, had flash done, that added the trailer brake option on my evic. Then when I went home I had to put my radio update usb stick in, the system automatically found I had a trailer brake added and updated on own. Then I had trailer brake option under settings. Really dealer should do that when flashing, but luckily they didn't because I put a 2015 8.4an in my 2013 truck. Aftermarket trailer brake is simple install. There's harness that costs about $14 and just plugs into aftermarket controller and you mount under dash. I used that for last year then found a oem trailer brake controller box on ebay for $60 so installed that.

 

[jerrymac3139]

Thanks everyone for the help. Rotwiler you referred to a radio update usb stick. This was not discussed by the seller at the time of the sell. And in the owner's info we did not receive anything like that Could you give me more info on it. To see if I need to fight with the dealer on that too.

 

[stimpy433]

You need to enter your vin here and then download the radio software update if needed.... you have to provide your own USB stick if you want to do the update yourself. Check out uTube for videos on how to do the update, search "uconnect update".

link: https://www.driveuconnect.com/support/software-update.html

Here's FCA's update video:

 

[Ricks Ram]

Thanks everyone for the help. Rotwiler you referred to a radio update usb stick. This was not discussed by the seller at the time of the sell. And in the owner's info we did not receive anything like that Could you give me more info on it. To see if I need to fight with the dealer on that too.

You don't necessarily need to update the firmware in your radio with a USB stick when you have the correct sales code added to your truck. In some rare cases when the code is added your radio won't pick up on it but it doesn't happen very often. As soon as the dealer puts the correct sales code in your truck is a should all function normally The first thing to do after you have the sales code flashed if it doesn't show up on your radio is push your volume and browse buttons together for 5 or 10 seconds and this will have your radio do a soft reboot . This will almost always bring up any new options installed in your truck on the radio screen. Anyone can go to the Uconnect website and type in their VIN number and download the latest firmware version for your radio to a USB stick. There is no USB that comes with the truck and many people never update their firmware if they don't have any issues with the truck or the radio. I recommend taking your truck to the dealer and getting the sales code flashed correctly and then go from there. You can also have the dealer update the firmware in the radio at the same time if you don't want to download it yourself. As I stated if the sales code is in your truck and you slide the trailer brake control button it should flash up on your screen like I showed in the picture and you should have the trailer brake option in your settings menu.

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