What? No Brakes on My Trailer? Really?

[delaware dave]

Long story. Bought truck used from dealer. Advertised as 3.5 liter with max tow. Looked under hood but NO indication of engine size. Only found out months later that buried in the sales paperwork was engine size 2.7. Wish I had bigger engine, but I am only towing 4,700 lb Rockwood Roo. It tows great. Plan to put brake control in ASAP. Should be fine after that.

[TheWolfPaq82]

Originally Posted by Chuck_S

My wife (and bladder) is the break controller in my truck as well and my Garmin GPS reminds me every couple hours too.

I'm always astounded that guys buy pickup trucks or other "tow vehicles" with little engines and without HD Tow.

-- Chuck

my Colorado will do 7000lbs....NOT HD TOW.

[matt2778]

Originally Posted by Chuck_S

My wife (and bladder) is the break controller in my truck as well and my Garmin GPS reminds me every couple hours too.

I'm always astounded that guys buy pickup trucks or other "tow vehicles" with little engines and without HD Tow.

-- Chuck

There’s a lot of reasons to buy the “little engine”. The 2.7 is great towing engine, it makes the same torque as the 5.0 at half the rpm. We tow a 5,000 pound camper on weekends and the engine never revs over 3,000 rpms through the East coast mountains we travel while easily maintaining the speed limit. I can then commute with it and get 22-24 mpg. You can add the factory brake controller yourself for less than $200 so I don’t see that as an issue either.

[D W]

Originally Posted by matt2778

There’s a lot of reasons to buy the “little engine”. The 2.7 is great towing engine, it makes the same torque as the 5.0 at half the rpm. We tow a 5,000 pound camper on weekends and the engine never revs over 3,000 rpms through the East coast mountains we travel while easily maintaining the speed limit. I can then commute with it and get 22-24 mpg. You can add the factory brake controller yourself for less than $200 so I don’t see that as an issue either.

All well and good on the East Coast. Once you get west of the Mississippi and start pulling some serious elevations you find out quickly that there is "no replacement for displacement". Unless it's a diesel, those little engines will be tasked.

[matt2778]

Originally Posted by D W

All well and good on the East Coast. Once you get west of the Mississippi and start pulling some serious elevations you find out quickly that there is "no replacement for displacement". Unless it's a diesel, those little engines will be tasked.

Yes there is a replacement for displacement

It’s called forced induction.

[Mike134]

Originally Posted by D W

All well and good on the East Coast. Once you get west of the Mississippi and start pulling some serious elevations you find out quickly that there is "no replacement for displacement". Unless it's a diesel, those little engines will be tasked.

I have no experience with a 2.7 out west so I checked out this test.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...tail&FORM=VIRE

[Thatdarncat]

You guys need to take a break from those brakes. F150 owners seem to turn on each other a lot. Ram folks are a lot nicer

[Thatdarncat]

Originally Posted by matt2778

There’s a lot of reasons to buy the “little engine”. The 2.7 is great towing engine, it makes the same torque as the 5.0 at half the rpm. We tow a 5,000 pound camper on weekends and the engine never revs over 3,000 rpms through the East coast mountains we travel while easily maintaining the speed limit. I can then commute with it and get 22-24 mpg. You can add the factory brake controller yourself for less than $200 so I don’t see that as an issue either.

No way I would put 6k behind a f150...just because it says it can, doesn't mean you should....oh on the east coast mountain thing, try the saluda grade on 26 just inside North Carolina and see if that 2.7 can maintain the speed limit and not be a rolling road block with that load...if your head gasket survives it

[Axeman49]

If you enter your vin number on this site you can see the original window stickers listing what was on the truck when sold new.

https://www.fordf150.net/misc/window-sticker.php

[Midwest Ed]

Originally Posted by delaware dave

Yeh, I now think I have the tow package and not the max tow package. I also thought I was getting a 3.5 engine, but after purchase discovered the truck engine was 2.7. I am going to try and install the Ford factory brake myself. Thanks for your input.

Stick with the OEM controller. It fits and looks much nicer.

I'm almost certain you have the 53A Tow Package. Is your fuel tank 23 or 36 gallon? Max Tow 53A comes with the 36 gallon. Others are the 23 gallon.

Similar thing happened to me. Told dealer salesman I wanted a 1/2 ton, F150 I could tow with and I also wanted the 5L non-ECO. I was buying off the lot. They found one and stated it was "max tow". Indeed it had the larger 3.73 rear end, higher payload capacity, backup assist, transmission Tow/Haul mode, etc. But no brake controller!

I kept shaming the Ford dealer over and over for several weeks. I asked, "How can you sell me a truck rated to tow 11,500 lb when it's ILLEGAL to do so in almost every State?". The dealer owner told that HE did not sell me a truck w/o a controller, FORD did.

Eventually, behind the owners back, they sold me the OEM controller (at cost I believe) and installed it for free.

[Mike134]

Originally Posted by Thatdarncat

No way I would put 6k behind a f150...just because it says it can, doesn't mean you should....oh on the east coast mountain thing, try the saluda grade on 26 just inside North Carolina and see if that 2.7 can maintain the speed limit and not be a rolling road block with that load...if your head gasket survives it

So if he says off of 26 he's good to go no? Or you just don't like 6000lbs behind an F150. Don't look at my rig I have 7700 behind mine.

[HorstandTonia]

Originally Posted by delaware dave

Hi all! I am driving a 2017, F-150, 2.7 engine, XLT, with max tow package. I have had the truck about 6 months and very pleased. I am pulling a 2017 Roo 23ws. Everything seems to handle fine, but truck does not have a trailer brake controller. I thought it was braking the trailer, but Ford dealer says no brake controller/adjuster means no brakes on the trailer. Truck has backup assist and tow setting on the shifter. Is it really possible that Ford would sell a tow package truck without a adjuster to signal brakes on the trailer? That seems crazy. For what it’s worth, brake lights on trailer work fine. Adding a brake controller is going to cost me almost $500.

You can't have the max tow package... it is only available with the 3.5, not the 2.7. It also includes a brake controller. You "may" have the tow package but not max tow package.

[dmayo13]

I don’t think Ford would sell a truck with max tow package that doesn’t have a brake controller. If you’re paperwork shows “max tow” package I would get Ford documentation showing what a max tow package includes and make sure it meets specs.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by dmayo13

I don’t think Ford would sell a truck with max tow package that doesn’t have a brake controller. If you’re paperwork shows “max tow” package I would get Ford documentation showing what a max tow package includes and make sure it meets specs.

As far as I know, the 2.7 Ecoboost doesn't have the Max Tow package as an option nor the 36 gallon fuel tank.

[Kid Charlemagne]

My 2021 Ranger had a tow package but no brake controller. The OEM was not cheap and required the removal of many panels to install, but it works great and looks a lot better than the cheap Tekonsha in my last Ranger. But yeah, Ford shouldn't be marketing "tow packages" that don't include brake controllers.

[delaware dave]

I think you are right Dan. My 2.7 F-150 has a tow package, but not a max tow package. Strangely enough it does have the larger 36 gallon fuel tank.

[herdsman]

Although I believe you can install the OEM brake controller on any F150, realize that the lower the trim package the less functionality the OEM controller may offer. Seems crazy, but the XL trim trucks, which are intended to be work trucks, have a tiny fraction of the functionality of the higher trim levels. An after market controller, like a Tekonsha, will give you much more functionality at a fraction of the price. All the trucks are wired for plug 'n play for the after market controllers as well, and no Forscan required. The downsides are you need to mount the controller instead of it being neatly in the dash, and the OEM controller activates off the truck brakes rather than an external trigger.

[Underthedog]

in 2016 F150 Max Tow package did NOT include the brake controller itself.

Mine is 2016 3.5L ecoboost XLT S/CREW with Max tow package, pro backup assist, 36 gal tank and no brake controller ( which I did know, although the green salesman did NOT ). I purchased OEM off Amazon for $89 and installed myself; the dealer quoted about $150 for programming, then cut it to $65 (probably too embarrassed to take it all).

Mirrors are standard and while I could live with them towing the Roo, I added the molded style towing mirrors that snap over the existing ones.
.
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Holy moly! I see the 2021 is rated as high as 14000 for towing and 3325 for payload. I'm happy at 6K more or less.

[FrankG]

Originally Posted by herdsman

The downsides are you need to mount the controller instead of it being neatly in the dash, and the OEM controller activates off the truck brakes rather than an external trigger.

When a aftermarket brake controller is plugged into the provided wire harness it receives a signal (trigger) that the vehicle brakes are applied. What the aftermarket brake controller does with that signal is dependent with the aftermarket brake controller internal design.

[aeroshots]

Originally Posted by simiHal

You are correct. I misspelled brake. As far as MOST tow packages DoNot include the brake controller. You didn’t look at the brochure. They all include it but one (53C) which basically doesn’t have anything.
As far as a “break controller”. My guess is it would likely be some obnoxious administrator who is micro managing his/her subordinates.

I had to look up what a navylcdr is. Or is it was? She can correct me. I thought maybe an English teacher. Your last sentence is probably more accurate.
Good luck with your trailering adventures.