Mopar factory trailer brake controller - my impressions and review

[Dardvl]

Sorry for the stupid question but, where does the controller mount under the dash? I see the holes on the far drivers side but cannot get it to fit.

You got the right spot, the instructions are wrong, and chances are you have to disconnect the controller from the mounting plate and spin it the correct orientation like I did.

Sponsored

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Fixed it! The black dial attachment has three tabs to connect it to the main board. Mine was assembled wrong. Surprise! LoL. I disassembled it, made the adjustment, snapped it back together and all is well now. I get to put my baby back together and lesson learned....never buy Mopar parts the day they come out, give it time for the bugs to be worked out first

PROBABLY wouldn't matter WHEN you bought it - the issue is most likely with the TRUCK since it's based on year made - of the truck.

The only thing that would have been different is the instruction sheet - but it would still have been lame, they would have just corrected the harness thing and the sales code ADH part.

This is basically a third party controller packed in a Mopar box with a Mopar part number and Mopar's worse than lame instructions that are of course wrong.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

You got the right spot, the instructions are wrong, and chances are you have to disconnect the controller from the mounting plate and spin it the correct orientation like I did.

Actually it fits better as shipped - or it was for MY truck. Several of us installed it as shipped.
I tried turning it on the bracket but it caused interference with the truck wiring harness, so I put it back and it was easier to wire in.

I have a feeling the instructions are wrong - or they tried it as pictured and decided it was too tight against the wiring so started to ship them differently than the pic.
Those instructions are soooo very bad! Even the dealer tech said the instructions were "crappy".

 

[xerootg]

It seems, from following this conversation, that this controller works fine on newer trucks. I have a over-featured 2021 ecodiesel that should be delivered any day now that I'd like to put a controller on. Is there reason to think the mopar controller will do crazy stuff on a 2021?

 

[ShadowsPapa]

It seems, from following this conversation, that this controller works fine on newer trucks. I have a over-featured 2021 ecodiesel that should be delivered any day now that I'd like to put a controller on. Is there reason to think the mopar controller will do crazy stuff on a 2021?

Have you read this? It's been posted several times.
(as have some of my spreadsheet showing a correlation between build dates and errors)

Trucks built January 2020 and later are fine.

 

[xerootg]

Have you read this? It's been posted several times.
(as have some of my spreadsheet showing a correlation between build dates and errors)

Trucks built January 2020 and later are fine.

It was unclear to me if that was just an admission of guilt on the older vehicles and the newer ones were still TBD. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

There are several more to add to this, but it shows the 2020 builds to be ok -

User​	Errors?​	Build date​
Aberk​	Y​	06/09/19​
jwilson2899​	Y​	07/06/19​
atoy74​	Y​	07/09/19​
ShadowsPapa​	Y​	11/09/19​
Jsands​	Y​	12/06/19​
jeepfitter​	N​	02/17/20​
Pdiddy​	N​	06/25/20​
Pitch​	N​	08/20/20​
jaxmax​	N​	08/21/20​
kclendaniel​	N​	09/11/20​
Monte.Trumbull​	N​	10/16/20​

 

[Dardvl]

There are several more to add to this, but it shows the 2020 builds to be ok -

User​	Errors?​	Build date​
Aberk​	Y​	06/09/19​
jwilson2899​	Y​	07/06/19​
atoy74​	Y​	07/09/19​
ShadowsPapa​	Y​	11/09/19​
Jsands​	Y​	12/06/19​
jeepfitter​	N​	02/17/20​
Pdiddy​	N​	06/25/20​
Pitch​	N​	08/20/20​
jaxmax​	N​	08/21/20​
kclendaniel​	N​	09/11/20​
Monte.Trumbull​	N​	10/16/20​

Dardvl, build date 2-20, push the button, dash goes clicky clicky, trailer brakes hook. Wish I could've gone aftermarket, but I'm a lease and Mopar keeps my warranty good :-/

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Dardvl, build date 2-20, push the button, dash goes clicky clicky, trailer brakes hook. Wish I could've gone aftermarket, but I'm a lease and Mopar keeps my warranty good :-/

At least it just goes clicky clicky and doesn't look like the light show in my wife's Christmas room... LOL

 

[Jtleng]

At least it just goes clicky clicky and doesn't look like the light show in my wife's Christmas room... LOL

Today I replace the factory break controller harness with this one and it fixed to dash lighting up and disabling the traction control. Now when I push on the manual trailer break button it works perfectly.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Today I replace the factory break controller harness with this one and it fixed to dash lighting up and disabling the traction control. Now when I push on the manual trailer break button it works perfectly.

Yes because of the diode. We knew the harness with the diode prevented the issue because it resolved it when we used the Ram harness with diode with the Redarc controller.

However, we have yet to see what the real fix is or will be from Mopar in the end because these trucks built in the CALENDAR year 2020 don't have the issue, so something about the truck changed.

Anyone wanting to band-aide the situation can either install a diode in the brake lamp line from the controller to the truck's harness or use the Tekonsha harness.

 

[Jtleng]

Yes because of the diode. We knew the harness with the diode prevented the issue because it resolved it when we used the Ram harness with diode with the Redarc controller.

However, we have yet to see what the real fix is or will be from Mopar in the end because these trucks built in the CALENDAR year 2020 don't have the issue, so something about the truck changed.

Anyone wanting to band-aide the situation can either install a diode in the brake lamp line from the controller to the truck's harness or use the Tekonsha harness.

yeah I don’t like the band-aide but I have no choice until Mopar has a fix.
It amazes me that this works so easily and Mopar has nothing.
Something smells with this one.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

yeah I don’t like the band-aide but I have no choice until Mopar has a fix.
It amazes me that this works so easily and Mopar has nothing.
Something smells with this one.

Agreed. Something smells bad.
The instructions are version 2 - printed in March.
The trucks that have no problem were made from January 2020 forward.
The controller wasn't released until this fall - 9 months after the truck was changed and 6 months after the faulty, incorrect directions.
All they have to do is go back to their change control docs, their versioning and see what changed with the BCM and ABS in the truck.
The timing of this is all totally crazy! Obviously no one TESTED This thing. I mean - instructions already at version 2 in March means they had something designed or at least on the drawing board months ago - and they can't see what changed in the JT in January?
I have a feeling the right hand had no clue what the left was doing, and they can't rub their belly and chew gum at the same time while walking a straight line.

 

[Shack]

So I just got my JT Willys ecodiesel and have been following the threads on the Mopar brake controller pretty closely. I ordered mine before my truck arrived and on sighing day the controller was also ready for pickup. The dealer said that the “required wire harness was back ordered and that they could not install the controller that day. I showed them the star report and told them it was not needed but they pretty much ignored me and my advice, after all what do I know. In fairness I used to be a mechanic and before that a geek squad agent before my Airforce career so honestly, I get that logic. However I told them to give me the part and I’d install it myself. Couldn’t help but send pictures to my sales guy and service department for funssies. It installed pretty much perfectly, no need to swap the controller around on the bracket, and the knob now comes put together properly from the factory so it seems all the kinks have been worked out. I tested it on my travel trailer because it’s the biggest trailer I own and it worked exactly as it should. It even works when the button is pressed manually. I’m sorry people have had issues with this controller but on the 2021 model year it appears to work exactly as intended. I wish the knob was rubberized like the other ones on the dash, but it honestly looks so factory when I showed my wife she couldn’t tell what I’d been doing for the last two hours with the dash pulled apart, it blends right into the truck perfectly. If anyone has questions about install on a 2021 JT or functionality please feel free to message me, I’d be happy to walk you through it.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Luckily the dealer I normally use accepts that I was a tech/mechanic for years, a few of those years with my own shop, and they'll actually listen to me and not blow me off when I talk to them about the wiring and such. There's one service writer that has a bit of an attitude, but the others, 'no problem, what do you have there, let's take a look........' the other dealership where I bought - not so much, so I don't normally go there.

I would differ on one respect of your install write-up -
The "knob" was always normally put together just fine.
It wasn't that they finally figured it out. Most were always assembled fine, correctly.
It was only a small handful that were not.
So I'd not say " and the knob now comes put together properly " - it always was.
From what I've seen, only one person here, maybe two, had any issue. Even today with a new one, you may find one out of 100 that needs to be "Fixed". Mine was assembled correctly, most were.

I hope most feel better than mine, though - detents - if you were a great safe-cracker you might feel them on mine, otherwise, it drags. But that's another issue, not assembly. Again - most will work fine, I was unlucky in that mine drags and has no real defined detent. In the end it won't matter really because it won't get changed or moved more than 3 or 4 times a year.

The install of the knob part is totally a piece of cake. That's where the instructions are right, correct. I spent maybe a whopping 2 or 3 minutes putting the knob in place once I had the dash panels apart. (and that 2 or 3 minutes includes removing the Redarc dial/knob) Once the 12 volt outlet is out, putting that controller knob/dial in place takes seconds.

I'm with you - don't even bother with switching that controller on the bracket. I'd bet they figured out that it was easier to wire this other way and the instructions never got changed. For my truck, it's a better fit with the wire connection facing forward, not to the rear like the pictures show.

Anyone with a 2021 or a 2020 built 2020 model year should have NO issues with this controller.

Sponsored