I have a 2008 Ram SXT, 5.7L. i am llooking at renting a 6 person camper to tow down to a family reunion. On my bumper i have the 7 point attachment for the trailer and the tow package. The camper weighs about 3700 pounds dry.

My question is..... Am i going to HAVE to have a electric brake controller on my truck, if i have this camper in tow? Any help with towing for my vehicle would be greatly appreciated. i am very ignorant when it comes to these specifications. Thank you.

 

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Check the trailer to see what kind of connection it has. Its either going to be a standard 4 pin w/o brakes or the 7 w/brakes. If its the 4 your good without the controller and the 4 pin connector hangs down behind the bumper. If its 7 pin it probably would be wise to get a controller.

 

generally 4-pinners have axle rating of 3500# max. 7-pin plugs start from there, unless it's a homeade job, but at a rental place I dont think thats the case.
With 3700#'s, it'd be wise to have trailer brakes. If the trailer has brakes, then you'll need a brake controller. Since you have 7-pin plug already, you have a factory pigtail tucked up underneath your dash by your left foot. Blue plug i believe? You can buy a nice progressive brake controller with a plug'n'play harness. HERE

4,000lbs will push you all over the road especially on hills. if it's a rental, it may have surge brakes. That's a 4pin connector and surge style tongue(uhaul trailers are like this). As you hit the brakes, the trailer puts pressure on the tongue and applies it's own brakes. No controller is needed for this style.
If the trailer is longer than the truck, I'd use an anit-sway attachment. it'll stop the trailer from swaying. Most rental places have these already on the trailer if they are needed.

 

Well, no offense, but if you are RENTING a trailer, it sounds that you don't have very much towing experience as it is, so I'd highly recommend brakes...like mentioned, most rental trailers will have surge brakes so you need nothing. The tongue has a hydralic mechanism that has an inner and outer tube that slides. As the truck slows down, the trailer wants to keep going and slides the mechanism, activating the trailer brakes. If not, then it will have standard electric brakes in which you will need a controller, in which the rental place may even sell them and even install them...if you are not in a hurry then online would be your cheapest bet you need a controller and a pigtail. If you plan on installing it yourself, you can search one of my threads about how the dealer "effed" mine up when they installed the tow package on my truck when new. It doesn't give an instructional, but it explains what to look for that the instructions may not explain.

Now witht that said, I have had my truck for 6 years (actually to the day a couple of days ago) and have pulled MANY MANY VERY HEAVY trailers and the controller was never installed properly so the trailer brakes never worked...it's all explianed in my thread. However, I would NOT recommend it for even amature tower's...I have an a TON of experience so I wasn't that worried about it, though I was aware and drove much more carefully knowing that I had only truck brakes. So yes, it can be done without them, but I doubt the rental place will let you pull out of there without functioning brakes.

If you install the controller yourself, or anyone besides the rental place installs it, you may want to go to the rental place a couple days early to hook up and make sure it works. I had a problem with the 4 wire to 7 wire pigtail at the rear bumper getting corrosion and rotting all of the pins so no lights or anything worked on the trailer, at which point I just twisted and soldered the wires instead of buying a new connector that can corrode again. So you may want to check that out before messing with anything else.

Another popular question related to this, is mounting of the controller. I have mine mounted on the underdash right in front of my right knee...I am 6'3" and have the seat slid all the way back. On a car pick up road trip, a buddy of mine who was 5'8" HATED the controller there as he had the seat slid up a ways and the controller was right at his knee. He was a whiner and cried about it every time it was his turn to drive...at which point I asked him if it was ok for me to mount MY controller whereever I want to in MY truck...and asked him if he wants HIS car to safely stop in the case of any emergency (at this point I was unaware that the brakes were never hooked up correctly)

If you have any more questions just let us know...there are MANY knowledgeable people here, especially in the truck section