I hooked up the unit tonight. I haven't hooked the trailer to the truck yet though.

I was reading through the instruction booklet and it said to make sure to use a battery ground, and not a frame ground. Well I didn't ground the thing anywhere. The main pamplet didn't say anything about grounding. I just plugged it into my factory tow harness. I'm assuming it has the right kind of ground. What have you guy's done. Thank's.

 

When I installed my Brakesmart last year, I didn't hook it up to any particular ground, just the trailer harness under the dash. I would have to assume that is sufficient as I haven't had any issues yet.
mishkaya

 

so installing the brake smart is as simple as unplugging the old controller and pluggin the new one in correct?????? i was reading though there sight and it seems you have to install somthing on the master cylinder?

 

Thank's. I thought it would be all right. But just to quote page 4 of the owner's manuel, it say's:

"Use a battery ground, not a frame ground. Failure to provide proper grounding can result in a dangerous intermittent brake operation."

Now we wouldn't want that to happen now would we. I haven't heard anyone complaining about problem's, so I guess it's all right. Maybe I'll call the company and ask them just to be safe. I'll let you guy's know what I find out.




You basically take the front brake line loose from the master cylinder, install a brass T fitting there and reattach the line. Then you install a sensor to that fitting also, in wich you may or may not need to use a rubber brake hose. It depend's on wich way the fitting ends up pointing. I had to use the hose. Then you run a wire from the sensor into the cab and attach it to the controller. Then you hook up the main power feed to the factory tow harness and attach that to the controller. Then you bleed the line.

That's basically it. If you get one, it comes with good instruction's. It doesn't take long at all. I can't wait to try it out.

 

It's been a while since I installed mine but I think they are talking about either those who DO NOT have a factory installed (plug and play) wiring harness those who use the hitch to ground the trailer. Make sure you ground the trailer through the plug to the tow vehicle. If you ground through the hitch, you will have problems. The brakes will grab and release and you may get a warning from the Brakesmart unit telling you about a brake problem.

 

I just talked to Dr. Performance. You were totally right Totallyrad. He said that was for a universal type installation. I can rest easy now.

 

so what is so special about the brake smart

 

Dodgecowboy,

Some controllers only detect the tow vehicle's brake light switch is on, and the user sets the maximum power it will send to the trailer and how fast it will ramp up to that power (timer based). They apply trailer brakes the same whether you are easing up to to a stop behind a string of cars in town, or doing a panic stop when a deer jumped out while you are on the freeway.

Other controllers rely on the truck to create the initial deceleration, measured by solid state electronics or a pendulum.

Brakesmart and Jordan actually read the application of the tow vehicle’s brakes and apply the trailer brakes in proportion, the Jordan by a linkage and the Brakesmart (more elegantly, I think) by measuring the PSI of the tow vehicle’s hydraulic system. Previous controllers were based on hydraulic pressure, but they used a small slave cylinder acting against a spring, which displaces fluid and were not compatible with antilock brakes. The Brakesmart uses an electronic sensor that doesn’t displace fluid, so it doesn’t have that problem.

The result, with my Brakesmart anyway, is that the truck and trailer work like one system, exceptionally smooth. Towing my 5th wheel, the rig stops almost like the trailer isn’t there.

If you want to check mine out, let me know and I’ll drop by sometime.

Jeff

 

Best trailer brake Ive ever used. It is a very easy install. Very smooth operation.