An electric brake controller could save your bacon if things go pear-shaped when you are towing your boat, caravan or toy hauler.
Whether you’re driving on or off-road, its important to understand how to navigate and control your vehicle effectively when towing.
Many of the adverse situations associated with towing such as sway and getting bogged can easily be avoided by having the right equipment, one of which is an electric trailer brake controller.
Brake Controller Types
There are two common ways of applying the trailer brakes with a brake controller, manual control and proportional (or inertia sensing). Manual control is when the user adjusts the braking force via some interface with the controller, and when a brake light signal is given the trailer brakes will be applied.
Manual control method is generally used in low cost brake controllers with this setting alone, while more advanced controllers offer it in addition to a proportional mode for driver preference and off-road towing.
Quality proportional modes use accelerometers which are advanced pieces of electronics that are small and robust. They provide great accuracy of braking measurement across a range of conditions to give optimum braking in response to how hard the vehicle is braking.
When to use Proportional Mode
A good inertia sensing brake controller simplifies towing. In this setting, towing is experienced with precision and ease. If you brake soft and slow, so does the brake controller. When you brake hard and fast, so does the brake controller.
With all these scenarios, Proportional Mode will make it feel like the caravan is just an extension of your vehicle. On highway conditions, you can almost set-and-forget, as proportional mode will ensure the braking force will be applied in proportion to your vehicle’s brakes.
When to use Manual Mode
Manual mode provides complete control over trailer braking force without considering inertia. This is no different to picking the right gear and range in your vehicle in preparation of the upcoming terrain.
If you brake hard and fast in the sand, you don’t want your brake controller to do the same, as your trailer will anchor you in the sand as the tyres bite in – getting going again will be a challenge. In manual mode, this doesn’t happen as you will have set the low braking force of the trailer with the manual setting.
For example, if you are preparing for a descent, put your vehicle into low range, select manual mode and set a high brake setting. The engine braking is doing all the work for the vehicle here and touching brakes gives the reassuring tug from the rear and keeps the trailer tidy as you descend.
You don’t want to have to brake hard with the vehicle and compromise steering, but you need the trailer to behave and follow the same line.
Brake Controller location
In most instances, electric brake controllers, are set and forget. Adjust to the point where the trailer and car feel to be braking as a system together, without the trailer pushing or pulling the car – and you’re done.
Some brake controllers have a user interface installed in the vehicle, and in the case of the Tow-Pro Elite – a small LED lit knob allows adjustment to suit the towing combination of the vehicle and trailer.
Another important feature that good quality brake controllers have is an override function that allows you to operate the trailer brakes independently of the vehicle brakes. This override function is generally used in situations to avoid or rectify trailer sway.
