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Aftermarket brake controller

Cj17067

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Does anyone know where the wiring harness is? I'm trying to plug in an aftermarket unit and cannot find the factory plug? Any suggestions? Picture would be amazing
 

grinch72

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OEM is so much better and not much more $$. It uses actual sensor data from the truck so the braking is much smoother. An OEM controller only uses inertia which is why they are so hard to adjust and drive differently all the time. Just my .2c. As far as the harness there are 2 plugs that up under the drivers side dash on the right hand side. They are taped to some other wire bundles.
 

Cj17067

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Does anyone know where the wiring harness is? I'm trying to plug in an aftermarket unit and cannot find the factory plug? Any suggestions? Picture would be amazing
Thanks. Had a look and didn't see them. I will look again
 

Mikent

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I picked up a Curt Echo, it’s a Bluetooth trailer brake controller. Around $180 and it works like a champ.
 

grinch72

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I picked up a Curt Echo, it’s a Bluetooth trailer brake controller. Around $180 and it works like a champ.
Ouch. That’s more than I paid for the factory controller. What’s the Bluetooth about? You adjust it via an app?
 

Mikent

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My truck didn’t come with a brake controller, to have the OEM controller installed was considerably more than $180. Yes you adjust thee amount of barking via an app on you phone. I’ve had factory controllers on other trucks I’ve owned and the Echo does a great job, no complaints, it’s applies the trailer brakes like it’s supposed to.
 

grinch72

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My truck didn’t come with a brake controller, to have the OEM controller installed was considerably more than $180. Yes you adjust thee amount of barking via an app on you phone. I’ve had factory controllers on other trucks I’ve owned and the Echo does a great job, no complaints, it’s applies the trailer brakes like it’s supposed to.
My truck didn’t come with one either. I paid $115 for the parts, installed them myself and the dealer added the sales code for $37.50. I don’t mind aftermarket controllers but I dislike the fact they use inertia instead sensor data from the vehicle to apply brake pressure. Considering the aftermarket and OEM cost basically the same, I went with the OEM.
 

Mikent

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You got a heck of a deal, my dealer wanted a lot more to install and flash my truck. I plugged the Echo into the trailer light socket, adjusted the brakes and took off. No installation or trip to the dealer.
 

grinch72

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You got a heck of a deal, my dealer wanted a lot more to install and flash my truck. I plugged the Echo into the trailer light socket, adjusted the brakes and took off. No installation or trip to the dealer.
I did the install myself. most likely saved a **** ton by doing that!
 

713bert

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Does anyone know where the wiring harness is? I'm trying to plug in an aftermarket unit and cannot find the factory plug? Any suggestions? Picture would be amazing
Found it! 2019 5th gen harness is going to require removing center display dash. Two screws on top (remove rubber pad) then carefully pry open with small then medium screwdrivers, internal wiring harnesses are long enough to pull off. Has about 8 push clips holding it on. When you have it off look through the cavity towards brake pedal, you will see two harnesses black taped together. The 4 pin plug is the brake controller plug. Plugged my Tekonsha adapter plug to it then to my new P3. I just could never see it looking under dash. Good luck.
 

Ch28

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I picked up a Curt Echo, it’s a Bluetooth trailer brake controller. Around $180 and it works like a champ.
Have you had any issues with this? As much as I'd love the oem brake controller, this would save me a decent amount of money. Plus allow me to connect to our suv as well.
 

Mikent

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Have you had any issues with this? As much as I'd love the oem brake controller, this would save me a decent amount of money. Plus allow me to connect to our suv as well.
It’s worked perfect since I began using it, no problems or issues.
 

thetalonguy

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Found it! 2019 5th gen harness is going to require removing center display dash. Two screws on top (remove rubber pad) then carefully pry open with small then medium screwdrivers, internal wiring harnesses are long enough to pull off. Has about 8 push clips holding it on. When you have it off look through the cavity towards brake pedal, you will see two harnesses black taped together. The 4 pin plug is the brake controller plug. Plugged my Tekonsha adapter plug to it then to my new P3. I just could never see it looking under dash. Good luck.
Hi,
Just wanted to throw it out there for reference for any future searches. At first, I couldn’t find the OEM harness plugs when looking for mine in my 2020. Looking at the etrailer tutorial, it made it sound like the factory plugs were pretty much just sticking out above the gas pedal area. So I searched and found this thread.

Got my aftermarket brake controller and harness today, so I was about to rip out the dash and thought I would give a look see from under one more time.

This time I easily found it. Looking from under, I could see the two plugs snuggly taped together. Looking up from my under dash position they were slightly to the left and up. If you have huge hands and forearms, it may take some positioning, and skin cuts, to get to. Luckily I don’t, but took a little finesse to get the tape off. Once I got that off, there was plenty of room to work and plug my adapter harness into.

The brake controller came with a mounting bracket and sheet screws to mount somewhere. Under our dash, there’s a metal dash screw right about the gas pedal that works perfect to mount the bracket. I put on a zip tie as well to make sure it was extra secure. Zip tied the extra slack of the OEM harness and adapter harness under the dash.
Very easy install.
 

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AmericanRebelution

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Have you had any issues with this? As much as I'd love the oem brake controller, this would save me a decent amount of money. Plus allow me to connect to our suv as well.

Just a note regarding OEM trailer brake controllers during the COVID-19 pandemic... I talked to 2 dealers today and apparently there is no one to manufacture the units right now. Neither dealer could give me any idea when the parts would be available. This led me to the Curt Echo. Glad to see the positive reviews on the product.....If I can't find the OEM parts, I may end up with the Echo.
 

OldMarine

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I may be going with the Echo also...I grabbed one of the last OEM kits around about a month ago, figured I'd just get a local dealer to install when I'm ready. Called dealer closest to me last week..quote was $700!! Just to install & flash..mind you..I have the kit already...called the next dealer a little farther away, $770!!! even MORE!...like WTF? I see people on different posts around here talking about it being a 1.2 hour operation per factory...what gives? thinking of taking kit back for a credit towards a bed-step, then getting the Echo. Thoughts anyone?
 

AmericanRebelution

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I may be going with the Echo also...I grabbed one of the last OEM kits around about a month ago, figured I'd just get a local dealer to install when I'm ready. Called dealer closest to me last week..quote was $700!! Just to install & flash..mind you..I have the kit already...called the next dealer a little farther away, $770!!! even MORE!...like WTF? I see people on different posts around here talking about it being a 1.2 hour operation per factory...what gives? thinking of taking kit back for a credit towards a bed-step, then getting the Echo. Thoughts anyone?

Wow! That's outrageous! One of the dealers I talked to yesterday gave me an unofficial quote of about $430 for parts and labor.
 

OldMarine

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Wow! That's outrageous! One of the dealers I talked to yesterday gave me an unofficial quote of about $430 for parts and labor.
hey, if you don't mind, can you tell me exactly what dealer gave you that quote. If that's true, it would mean the labor part is about $200..I would love to shove that in the face of the 2 dealers I talked to so far.
 

Grilleguy

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Here's a link to a factory brake controller on eBay:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2019-2020-...105944?hash=item52251efc58:g:xO8AAOSwmxVdkkzh

I bought mine from them. It worked perfectly after the dealer flashed the computer while I was there for an oil change. I think they charged me $40-45.

I did the install myself, might have taken 90 minutes MAX, probably closer to an hour....

I like the factory controller because I don't have to worry about whacking my shin off it every time i get in or out of the truck because it's hanging below the dash.
 

Silv

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Tried to find an answer to this but could not find one using search bar. I have an aftermarket reese brakemann t209 which i took from my 2004 ram. It works fine. Truck is 2019 classic 5.7 slt. Controller is a 2014 model. What is the issue if I do not flash the computer? Does the unit work? If the only issue is that I can't see the unit in the screen I am fine with that. If i am breaking a rule posting this here please forgive this new to forum user.
 

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