but I've never had a vehicle capable of towing anything. I got the tow group on my 2014 RT, but do i need to purchase a brake controller or does it already have an integrated one? If i need to purchase one, anyone have recommendations? And where is a good place to mount?

 

What do you plan on towing. If your just towing a small boat,camper or jet ski you dont need one.

 

How much are you planning to tow? Depending on what your towing, a brake controller is not needed. As per your question, the brake controller would have to be purchased but there are electrical connections on your truck. How these are connected depends on the controller and the trailer. When you apply the brakes to your truck, it will send a signal to the trailer to apply its brakes. Some trailers come with a motion detector that checks the speed of the road if it detects you are slowing applies the brakes.


In general, you only need a harness that is used to turn on the brake lights on the trailer.


It really comes down to what you are planning on towing and how heavy that load happens to be. In most states, you are required by law to have trailer brakes if what you are towing 3000lbs or greater. There are a few states where the limit is 2000lbs and a few at 4500lbs you need to check your local state laws (http://onlinetowingguide.com/towing_laws.html)


If you are below that limit, you only need a harness (that should be included) and connect the trailer brake lights to your harness on the truck.


All states require at a min brake lights, turn signals and safety chains

 

For the most part, not towing much, but we are planning to rent a travel trailer for camping this summer. The rental place requires one because so does Michigan law.

It'll probably be a yearly thing since renting one is way better than buying. $600 for a 7 day rental for a full travel trailer is a pretty decent deal. We've always just tent camped, but that's getting old now.

 

For light loads, you are ready to go. If you're towing 2500 lbs or more, you might want to consider going online and ordering a Prodigy P2 or P3 brake controller. They usually ship with a harness (Model specific) with two clips--one to the brake controller and the other to hook up under your dash. Factory supplied harness requires splicing as it only has a clip on one end. Mount brake controller and you now can control brakes on your trailer. If your camper is around 3,000 lbs, a simple weight distribution hitch is a good idea.

 

If you are going to tow a travel trailer, not only do you need a brake controller but you will need an anti sway device as well as a weight distribution hitch. Your max payload on the DD is 1200 lbs, so add up all of the weight of your occupants, any cargo inside the vehicle and then the hitch weight of the travel trailer. It cannot exceed 1200lbs. I will tell you 4 people and a small travel trailer is on the verge of exceeding that limit, so be careful. DOnt even think about towing w/out the WDH and anti sway, your rear end will sag on the DD and you will be fishtailing all over the place at any speed above 40mph, it will be a VERY stressful drive not to mention a huge safety concern. If you were to rent a pop up camper or something under 3000# and a light hitch weight you may get by without those items but a travel trailer will max it out. Its not about how much the DD can tow(7400lbs), thats all for advertising purposes. You have to look at your max payload capacity (on the drivers door panel) and dont exceed that.

I have a travel trailer I tow fine and Im at the 1200lb limit loaded up but have weighed my DD and trailer at the scales and know how to pack it to keep it all distributed properly. I had considered buying a truck to tow a larger camper and fun fact here, the DD can tow more payload wise than a Dode Ram 1500 quad cab! I was shocked. Dodge put coil springs on it for a nicer ride than leaf springs provide but it cant support the weight now. Anyway, thats another story. Best of luck, just be safe towing and you may want to consider changing out all of your fluids to a better quality. I put Amsoil in everything, diffs, transfer case and tranny and you can feel the difference in smoothness. The factory fluids looked bad when I drained them at 2000 miles and 2 tow trips under their belt.

 

Thank you. One of the rental places gives me a weight distributing hitch with the rental. I figured that would be necessary, but they're throwing it in.

 

Make sure you have a sway control as well, not just a wdh or you will be all over the place. You may ask for the hitch weight as well, anything over 450lbs and you will be exceeding your payload capacity assuming you have 4 occupants. If its just two you may get by with a slightly heavier hitch. Remember 1200 is max, your wdh is about 100 already, add your weight plus any occupant and then the hitch weight. If you are going to run with your water tank full (I suggest you don't) then that will add to your hitch weight. Its not as simple as hooking and towing as you can see.