Towing advice, Top Gear, 2018, dailycarblog.com
Aftermarket Brake Controllers: What Are They & How To Find The Best?
Features

Whatever you are driving, safety must always come first. Brakes play a huge part of your safety, which is why you want that piece of equipment to always be working perfectly. When you are driving with a trailer, you have to double the safety concerns. Consequently, you have to double the safety measures.

Click here for some tips on how to stay safe on the road with a trailer.

One thing you absolutely need is a brake controller. If you have never had experience with trailers before, you might be a bit confused about what a brake controller is. You shouldn’t be driving with a trailer at all if you don’t have a clue about this piece of equipment. Let me give you some useful insight.


What Is A Brake Controller?

Basically, this is the piece of equipment that allows you to integrate your vehicles braking system with the trailer. Simply put, you want the trailer to stop when your vehicle stops, instead of bumping into it. That’s exactly what this controller allows you to do. You’re surprised you didn’t think about this before, aren’t you? It’s just so logical.

Usually, you will need an aftermarket installed device in order to achieve this integration. It is set up on the driver’s dashboard of the tow vehicle, so the driver can easily control it. Most of these devices will feature a plus-minus gain adjustment. The most important thing to know is that the heavier the trailer, the higher the gain adjustment should be set. Learn more about this device: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trailer_brake_controller

How To Choose The Best One?

There are a lot of different types of these devices on the market, functioning in various ways. When you want to buy this device, you need to do extensive research in order to find the best one for your vehicle. There are a few crucial things you will need to take into consideration in order to end up buying the perfect brake controller. Here are some tips to help you in your decision.

Know What You Will Be Towing

Unsurprisingly, the most significant factor to take into consideration is the weight of whatever it is that you will be towing. If the cargo is heavy-duty and fragile, you should definitely get a proportional brake controller. The stops will be much smoother, which results in less stress on both the vehicle and the cargo.

In case you are planning to tow a lighter duty trailer, you can easily go with a time-delay brake controller. They should be enough for lightweight cargo and the fact that they are rather budget-friendly is a big plus. Of course, you should think about safety more than about money, but there’s no need to pay more than you should.

Know How Often You Will Be Towing

When you want to get the best brake controller for the money you have set aside for this device, you will also need to think about how often you will be doing the towing. This is because you don’t want the piece of equipment to break down after a short period of time. That would cost you a lot more money in the long run. It’s better to pay a bit more so as to get a high-quality device.

A proportional brake controller should definitely be your option if you are towing frequently. This is the perfect device for commercial uses. A time-delay brake can be great for occasional towing. It’s definitely not recommended for being used more than a couple of times a year. Of course, nobody is stopping you from trying that, but you’ll probably end up spending more money on buying multiple devices if you opt for this one and you are doing frequent towing.

Learn About Installation Types

The type of installation you will choose depends mostly on your personal preferences. Non-invasive and fully integrated are only some of the types of installation you should consider. If you aren’t well informed about this, the best thing to do is find someone who is and ask for a few tips and tricks on what to do. Nobody can give you better advice than the experts.


Towing advice, Top Gear, 2018, dailycarblog.com
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