my 99 1500 4x4 Laramie according to serial no search at Dodge dealer is not factory wired for a trailer. what brake controller have you guys used,. im 70 retired alberta licenced mechanic with mainly GM experience,, this is my first Dodge in this series,, had a 74 600 tow truck and a 92 350 w cunnins tow truck.

 

My truck came with a towing package and had the wiring to make the trailer brake controller plug and play with the adapter harness that plugs into the connector hidden near the parking brake. I use this Tekonsha brake controller and haven't had any issues with it -

 

I usually Tekonsha controllers when I add them. The wiring should mostly be there but you need a harness adapter to put the controller in. I have a '96 but usually rent a trailer with surge brakes.

 

The only other company I've heard other people recomend besides Teconsha are the Redarc's. Supposedly they are better for offroad. I've never used either but am also interested in this.

 

Redarcs are a completely different beast, I have one on my Jeep Gladiator because they can be mounted hidden in any position but on old trucks there is plenty of space to mount a brake controller. Tekonsha seems to have wiring adapters for pretty much anything so that makes it easy to install.

As for the truck not having been equipped with a trailer hitch from the factory, my 2001 came like that and was missing the wiring for the brake and the constant 12V from the cab to the rear. It did have the trailer brake hookup under the dash and the wiring from inside to the connector under the left front cab corner though.

 

They may have changed things for different years but if i remember some of the other posts about this you either have the plug or don't. If you don't have the plug you will have to get one and the wiring. I don't remember what brake controller i bought but never had any issues with it.

 

On my '96 truck, the trailer controller plug was well hidden behind a clump of wires.

 

I've had good luck with Prodigys from Tekonsha.

Avoid the Voyager (also Tekonsha) which is absolutely ubiquitous-- I swear it's EVERYWHERE because it's less expensive but it SUCKS.

I've used both extensively and hated the Voyager -- difficult to adjust and always never enough or WAY too grabby. Not a problem with the trailer brakes. Same trailer is great with Prodigy

 

Really? Interfacing to my 2nd gen plastic dash with modern accessories and things like CB's, winch controls etc, has been one of the biggest pains compared to the other old trucks I've owned. That big old stick shifter for the 5 speed mine has is right up in the middle of everywhere you might want to try mounting something.

If I'm not mistaken that the Redarcs support both a proportional and a manual mode and the flexibility of being able to switch to manual mode for offroad situations is what is valued by offroaders.

I kind of get the impression the Tekonshas are glittery and whiz bang for no apparent reason. If they their proportional mode wasn't way better than Redarcs proportional mode in ways I cared about while actually towng, then I can't understand the appeal. Especially considering the clean looking mounting of the Redfarc.

Am I off base here? Do I have this all wrong?

 

Yes and no I have the Redarc Tow-Pro Liberty in the Gladiator and a Tekonsha Voyager in the 01 Ram 2500. Both are the low end models of the respective manufacturer and work fine for my purposes. The Tow-Pro Elite and Tekonsha P3 have additional features that in my view are a solution looking for a problem, the marketing teams needed a "differentiator" The Redarc allows for a nice clean installation but pushing the **** to manually apply the brakes is pretty much an on/off thing compared to the slider on the Tekonsha.