Help me bring home my camper.

[ross neill]

I’ve picked up my trailers with a WDH …the dealer will help you install and set it good enough to get home safely. The weight of your camper isn’t extreme but still helps with better road manners esp if you are highway driving.

You need both a controller and WDH. I have the FCA factory controller installed in mine. It's amazing. As I've not used any of the others with a Gladiator I can't speak to them first hand, but there are a number of threads about them. With that size trailer, I'd highly recommend an Anderson of the appropriate weight rating. They're relatively inexpensive, light weight, and easy to install and use. I had one on an MPG 19' trailer I towed with an FJ Cruiser.

I had dealer install factory brake control when I purchased gladiator there’s a utube on how to install it but you lose 12 volt power plug on dashboard. Be very careful stay off interstate you might need a sway control I did on a 2500 lb camper and add extra air to tires helps control sway

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[Mr._Bill]

Does a factory towing package come with a brake controller or at least one of the pins in the round plug help with providing brake power to the trailer if equipped?

To have the maximum towing capacity available for the truck requires a factory installed Tow Package.

None of the Tow Packages include a Brake controller.

All Gladiators come from the factory with the Brake Controller connector and the Tow wiring and trailer connector.

 

[MattKay]

I vote for the curt echo. It plugs into the receiver on the tailgate. No install and the app works great. I plug my phone into the jeep and leave the app open so I have access to the emergency brake button. Towed 5 hours that way. Easy peasy. And yes I have tow mirrors, sway control, and WDH as well. Because safety safety safety! Also to the OP, towing is an art. Get comfy testing it out on an open road before going on the freeway and having to learn the hard way.

 

[LouisvEarlleJT]

You don't need a trailer brake controller, the truck is rated to stop both itself and the maximum tow weight that your model is rated for without a brake controller. Give yourself more stopping distance to account for the extra weight pushing you when you stop and you'll be fine. Likewise an empty camper shouldn't require a WDH as it should be empty and relatively balanced. Just bring a few different drop hitches and pick the right one for the job.

-Signed, random internet person who has towed many a trailer but will never be able to provide enough receipts to prove to the masses that the above approach is viable.

 

[MattKay]

You don't need a trailer brake controller, the truck is rated to stop both itself and the maximum tow weight that your model is rated for without a brake controller. Give yourself more stopping distance to account for the extra weight pushing you when you stop and you'll be fine. Likewise an empty camper shouldn't require a WDH as it should be empty and relatively balanced. Just bring a few different drop hitches and pick the right one for the job.

-Signed, random internet person who has towed many a trailer but will never be able to provide enough receipts to prove to the masses that the above approach is viable.

back roads going 45mph? Sure your way will work to get it home.

But Once a trailer starts moving side to side you are in for a sh*t show.

And that sh*t show compounds if you don’t have a brake controller, don’t have sway control, don’t have a wdh.

 

[Mr._Bill]

You don't need a trailer brake controller, the truck is rated to stop both itself and the maximum tow weight that your model is rated for without a brake controller. Give yourself more stopping distance to account for the extra weight pushing you when you stop and you'll be fine. Likewise an empty camper shouldn't require a WDH as it should be empty and relatively balanced. Just bring a few different drop hitches and pick the right one for the job.

-Signed, random internet person who has towed many a trailer but will never be able to provide enough receipts to prove to the masses that the above approach is viable.

Most states require a brake controller for any trailer 3000 pounds or more. Some require it for as little as 1500 pounds.

 

[LouisvEarlleJT]

back roads going 45mph? Sure your way will work to get it home.

But Once a trailer starts moving side to side you are in for a sh*t show.

And that sh*t show compounds if you don’t have a brake controller, don’t have sway control, don’t have a wdh.

If your load is set up correctly you shouldn't get any sway, also all these trucks have sway control built it for what that's worth (modulates the braking on either side of the truck depending on what the sensor is picking up). At least it was standard on the 2023's.

I'm not saying WDH wouldn't be helpful, especially if someone has never pulled anything, but the amount of folks acting like it's a do-or-die necessity is a bit much.

 

[CyberHero]

Wow some conflicting info lol

 

[bucolic]

Get a brake controller. You may be able to limp home safely without one. But I have learned things are going good until they aren't and the time it takes from going good to they aren't is a fraction of a second.

Also, do yourself a favor and make sure to get weight distribution AND sway control hitch. It might be a light trailer but crosswinds and crazy semi's can blow you all over the road. I have this one to to tow a 5000lb trailer with my GMC and it works very well.

https://www.equalizerhitch.com/

 

[Bonanza]

You don't need a trailer brake controller, the truck is rated to stop both itself and the maximum tow weight that your model is rated for without a brake controller. Give yourself more stopping distance to account for the extra weight pushing you when you stop and you'll be fine. Likewise an empty camper shouldn't require a WDH as it should be empty and relatively balanced. Just bring a few different drop hitches and pick the right one for the job.

-Signed, random internet person who has towed many a trailer but will never be able to provide enough receipts to prove to the masses that the above approach is viable.

Going to second this, but qualified.

My trailer had a WDH on it when I bought it. Whenever I'm moving it around the campsite without the sway bars, it's quite unnerving. I have a similar camper to OP, which is a darty, "lifted" version of the single axle camper. I'm going to vote for YES for WDH for a long tow.

The brake controller? Full confession here- I've towed for years without one. I literally just used my Curt Echo for the first time this past Sunday. Couldn't feel a difference. I'd rather have it than not have it, but by no means is it a NEED. I towed all over the place, on 37s, and never felt like the brakes were overloaded. Granted, my trailer brakes might be luckily tuned to my own brake pedal, but I wouldn't say a controller is NEEDED, as in OP will certainly die without one. I'm sure some added vigilance and reasonable driving will be fine for the journey home.

 

[Jaxmax]

WAIT! Cyberhero is just starting out towing a camper for the first time for a long drive home ,
Couple things:
Most states require brakes over 3,000 lbs. which he is, they can be surge hydraulic brakes without a controller or electric which require a controller.
WDH hitches are not just for sway but most also help with that or have provisions for a friction brake to be installed, Weight Distributing Hitch , help distribute the weight from the rear axle back onto the trailer suspension and the jeeps front Axle. That alone helps a lot with control as front end is not light and gives you control. Read your owners manual, Jeep requires a WDH for what you are towing. Cyber you are the only one responsible for what you are doing. Be very careful who you listen to on the net, including me!....Jack

 

[Mr._Bill]

Wow some conflicting info lol

There is what works best, what is legally required, and what you can get away with.

The responses are usually based on that person's experiences.

You should at least meet the minimum legal requirements. The rest is up to you to determine, based on how comfortable you are with the situation and how much risk you are willing to accept.

 

[Gvsukids]

Wow some conflicting info lol

Welcome to the Internet where there is no peer review.

 

[hepcat]

If your load is set up correctly you shouldn't get any sway, also all these trucks have sway control built it for what that's worth (modulates the braking on either side of the truck depending on what the sensor is picking up). At least it was standard on the 2023's.

I'm not saying WDH wouldn't be helpful, especially if someone has never pulled anything, but the amount of folks acting like it's a do-or-die necessity is a bit much.

Ok, I've gotta chime in here. I've towed travel trailers since 1980 from a Scamp 13 behind an '81 Jeep Scrambler, to a Scamp 16 behind a Honda Element to a 34' Airstream tri-axle behind a Ford Excursion. I'm curerently towing a 5400lb 23' Airstream Globetrotter FBQ behind my '22 Gladiator Overland. I've used various weight Reese Dual-Cam hitches for most of that time, but I've had an Anderson WD-sway control hitch on a 3500lb 19' MPG trailer and I'm using a Blue Ox sway control hitch with the Gladiator. I had the dealership set up the Blue Ox with the Airstream 23 tandem-axle, and I nearly lost the whole rig in a sway event at 50mph on the freeway a mile from the dealership. The truck's built-in "sway control" did nothing. I have no idea how much sway needs to happen before it kicks in, but it didn't kick in for me. Fortunately I have forty years and thousands of towing hours under my belt, and recognized immediately what was happening. This particular trailer is more difficult to get the correct amount of hitch weight on than any other Airstream. Once I figured out the proper hitch settings, and loaded the trailer differently, it's been <mostly> well behaved behind the Gladiator. I've got about 4,000 miles with the combo now.

The Overland with its soft-wall radial M+S tires and relatively low tire pressures is squirmy. Additionally I put a Helwig solid anti-sway bar in place of the hollow factory unit. The Gladiator did not give me confidence in towing prior to that.

My point is that there are just too many variables including the truck's suspension itself to pronounce any particular setup "safe" without some pretty specific individual scrutiny, and if you plan on counting on the "built in sway control," I hope you've got really good insurance. I've towed on a bare ball, with and without a sway-control bar, and the sway control hitches I mentioned. If you set your trailer up properly with about 13% of the total trailer weight on the tongue, sway control is just cheap insurance. Anyone who tows a trailer over 1500 lbs without trailer brakes is just irresponsible.

Although the Airstream 23 is towing well now with the Blue Ox hitch, I'm still considering installing a ProPride 3P hitch I already have. The side winds this past four months have been brutal at 40-60mph gusts, and the Blue Ox allows for more "hinged" movement Ihan I'd like. The ProPride should take of that. Under "normal" wind conditions up to 30mph though, the Blue Ox has been great.

 

[Hank_]

I too love the Redarc brake controller, it is fantastic. I also recommend the Andersen WDH. It is very easy to set up, does not use the noisy torsion bars and is much lighter. I use both of these to pull my camper.

hank

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